How to Use Scatter Diagrams to Make Better Management Decisions

Join the Wily Manager guys this week, as they put on the Stats-hat, and talk about Scatter Diagrams, and spotting correlations.  Jed and Bob are committed to making this easy, and you might even learn how to use stats to make better management decisions.

Monday’s Tip:  Get over your fear, and give it a try.  Your stats prof was probably an idiot who made number far more intimidating than need be.  It is possible to dive into your business numbers a bit without having your brain explode.

Tuesday’s Tip:  Find something you suspect is correlated (positively or negatively).  You intuitively may know that when something happens, there is a result effect of something else.  Now follow up with some numbers to confirm your intuition.

Wednesday’s Tip:  Gather some data.  Go find some numbers that relate to what you trying to prove or disprove.  Usually 20 or 30 data points will suffice, but if you have more, then use them.

Thursday’s Tip:  Seek out someone who is good at Excel.  Every one knows someone who gets around a spreadsheet well.  Ask for 10 minutes of that person’s time.

Friday’s Tip:  Do something about what you learn.  You analysis may confirm what you already thought, or refute it.  Either way, figure out how your analysis can influence the business decisions you make.

How To Motivate People Using Attribution Theory

Join the Wily Managers guys this week, when they talk about how to use Attribution Theory to help improve the performance of your people.

Monday’s Tip: Be Aware of Attributions.  Listen carefully to your people for cues as to how they may explain things – both good and bad.

Tuesday’s Tip: Focus on Internal Attributions.  People need to feel they have influence or control over their performance.  Leaders can encourage this through positive reinforcement, and by addressing External Attributions like “victim mentality”.

Wednesday’s Tip: Sequence tasks to create confidence.  Success breeds more success, and if people can feel successful at increasingly difficult tasks, they are more likely to feel they can control the outcome – an attribution you want to encourage.

Thursday’s Tip: Allow some External Attributions.  If someone has been working very hard at something, but has not yet been successful, it can be helpful to allow them to attribute this to external factors – just don’t let them completely avoid responsibility for too long.

Friday’s Tip: Use Positive Reinforcement as often as possible.  The best way to influence improved performance, is to look for opportunities to positively reinforce people’s efforts.

How to Motivate People Using Attribution Theory

Join the Wily Managers guys this week, when they talk about how to use Attribution Theory to help improve the performance of your people.

Watch the ‘Attribution Theory’ Video (15 mins 00 sec):


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How to Motivate People Using Attribution Theory

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Attribution Theory is more than an academic concept.  It has real application in the business world.  Below we talk about the following aspects of Attribution Theory:

  • What is Attribution Theory?
  • Why Should I care about Attribution Theory?
  • How do I use Attribution Theory?

What is Attribution Theory?

Quite simply, Attribution Theory explains how people tend to explain things.  Whenever things happen, either good or bad, people will assign a cause to those events.

  • An external attribution assigns causality to an outside agent or force.
  • An internal attribution claims that the person was directly responsible for the event.

Attribution Theory can be used to explain things about your own performance, or about others’ performance.  People can easily default to attributing success or failure in ways that favorable fits their view of the world.  For example:

  • When good things happen to me, I attribute my own efforts to that outcome.
  • When bad things happen to me, I attribute the influence of others, or external forces as being responsible.
  • When good things happen to others, I may attribute external factors such as luck to that person’s good fortune.
  • When bad things happen to others, it is easy to say that the person brought that outcome upon themselves.

Why Should I Care About Attribution Theory?

Consider this chain of events:

  1. An event (either positive or negative) occurs.
  2. The world asks me, “Why?”
  3. I provide an attribution, or an explanation as to those events.
  4. My future behavior depends on the type of attribution.  However I rationalize or explain those events will significantly influence my future behavior when similar circumstances occur in the future.

As leaders of people, if we can influence the attributions people make, then we can influence their future behavior.

How do I use Attribution Theory?

  • Research has shown that athletes who make more internal attributions were better able to improve their performance (Roesch and Amirkham 1997).
  • So your job as a leader is to help employees make more internal attributions about their performance.  If people feel they can largely control the outcomes of their behaviors, they are more likely to work to influence those outcomes.
  • Occasional external attributions are sometimes also helpful to motivation – particularly if someone has been working very hard at something, but has yet to achieve success.
  • Leaders should arrange tasks so that employees are able to perceive themselves as successful.
  • Use positive reinforcement whenever possible to drive performance
  • Use Attribution assigning questions to help people get to the right frame of mind about their own performance.  For example, ask people what they might do differently to affect a different outcome in the future.

Three Things to Remember About Attribution Theory

  1. It’s another tool to help managers manage the performance of their people.  It’s not the only tool we suggest you use.
  2. In general, it is best for employees to believe that it is their own behavior rather than external circumstances that leads to success or failure.
  3. Take advantage of the coaching opportunity. (Listen for employees making untrue/external attributions.)
Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Attribution Theory (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

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Idiots, Maniacs and Me

When I drive my car, no matter where I go, there are only three types of drivers on the road:

1)   Idiots – those driving slower than me.

2)   Maniacs – those driving faster than me.

3)   Me

Of course, the fact that to all the Idiots out there, I appear to be a Maniac, and to all the Maniacs, I appear an Idiot is not lost on me.  Nor is the fact that I am simultaneously and Idiot and a Maniac – a pairing that is about as easy to achieve as someone willingly volunteering to go hunting with Dick Cheney.  It’s all part of the dynamic of dealing with traffic, and one of the reasons I’m a huge proponent of Public Transit.

I’ve experienced this same dynamic in the workplace.

However you choose to define success, there are three necessary ingredients:  hard work, smarts, and luck.  The proportion of each may vary widely from situation to situation, but all three elements are always present.

Some managers achieve some success, and think it’s because they’re much smarter than everyone else.  These same people are to be avoided at cocktail parties, and are typically very poor listeners.

Other managers are sure they’ve achieved success because they have always worked harder than everyone else.  These people are the ones that work insane hours, and expect everyone else to do likewise.  They are mostly dysfunctional as human beings, and don’t have time to go to cocktail parties.

Finally, there are some managers who believe they have achieved success because of overwhelming good luck.  They likely suffer from Imposter Syndrome, and don’t believe they actually deserve the success they’ve had.  They will be really thankful to be invited to the cocktail party, but will stand with their back to wall to ensure that no one sneaks up behind them, and asks them to leave.

There are two important things to take from this.

1)   If you’ve done very well, don’t ever discount the role that luck has played.

2)   If you’ve faced some challenges achieving success, you may want to try working smarter, or working harder.

Think about it next time you’re driving to work.

 

Decoding Interview Questions

Many years ago when I was working inside a Fortune 100 company (that shall remain nameless, but it’s a major grocery retailer that starts with ‘S’), I was applying internally for a job for which I thought I was well suited.  One of the well-intentioned, but tragically naïve HR people advised me to “be myself, and be honest and truthful” in the interview.

“Being yourself” at a job interview is about as smart as making toast in the bathtub, and could produce similar results.  Being honest is always a good rule, but you need to tailor the truth to your situation.  In a job interview, they don’t want to hear your honest responses – they want to hear the responses they have pre-written.

With the benefit of a couple of decades of hindsight, and having now sat on the opposite side of the interview table, I offer a deconstruction of that interview many years ago:

Question:  “Are you willing to relocate?”

My Answer: “Right now, I’m ready, willing, and able to relocate anywhere.  At some point, if I have a spouse’s career, or children to consider, then I’ll have to consider all the factors at that time to make the decision.”

The Required Answer:  “I’ll move any time, any place, for any reason, and will do so on one day’s notice.”

 

Question:  “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

My Answer:  “I’d like to be a Facility Manager who is active and involved in his community, and making a positive contribution to society.”

The Required Answer:  “I’ll be working morning, day and night in order to scramble my way up the corporate food chain, and any other considerations are secondary.  I’ll be an empty hollow shell of a man because I will not have taken a day off in the past five years.”

 

Question:  “What do you think your weaknesses are?”

My Answer:  “I sometimes have difficulty towing the line when given certain direction.  For example, our parent company sent us directive X last month that is a clear violation of the local labor code, so I could not legally implement it.”

The Required Answer:  “I work too hard” or “I’m impatient for results” or any other lie I could have trot out to confirm that I was as dysfunctional as the organization.

 

Question:  “Tell us about a time when you became angry at work.”

My Answer:  “My nature is not really that of someone who becomes angry.  Sometimes a bit frustrated maybe, but there are so many important issues in the world that are worthy of my anger, that I find it hard to get angry about things that happen in the workplace.”

The Required Answer:  “I become inconsolably irate when I see employees not pulling their weight.  We pay them a good wage, and they need to earn it.”

I honestly thought these were the responses that were going to separate me from the herd.  Nobody has botched an interaction this badly since the Lee Harvey Oswald prison transfer.  Needless to say, I didn’t get the job.

Is She ‘The One’? – Conducting a Job Interview

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Conducting a Job Interview is a key managerial function, yet one that few take the time to do well.  Below we discuss the following aspects of Conducting a Job Interview:

  • The difference between great interviews, and bad interviews
  • The interview format
  • Assessing the candidate
  • Interview questions
  • Analyzing responses

Great Interviews

Conducting a Job Interview well means that you have mutually respectful conversation that determines the quality of the match between a candidate’s skills and the competencies required for a specific position.

Bad Interviews

Conducting a Job Interview poorly means it becomes an inquisition that provides the illusion of power to the interviewer and a high level of anxiety to the candidate.

Conducting a Job Interview:  Interview Format

  • Introduction – ensure the candidate knows everyone else in the room, and provide any context that may be relevant to Conducting the Job Interview
  • Explain the process – remind the candidate what to expect.  You should have set these expectations prior to the interview, but it is always good to review it again.
  • Ask your questions – use a mix of Situational and Behavioral based interview questions.  It is also suggested you prepare in advance 3 – 5 “Killer Questions” that you ask each of the candidates, and score them on their response.  The rest of your questions can vary slightly from candidate to candidate.
  • Describe the job – A key part of Conducting a Job Interview well is giving the candidate enough information to determine the appropriate fit for themselves.  It can also act as a catalyst for the candidate to ask questions.
  • Let them ask questions – Make sure you allow time for the candidate to ask as many questions as s/he likes.  Given that you have likely spent a great deal of time asking them questions, it is only fair to reciprocate.
  • Indication of timeline – Tell the candidate what will happen after the interview, and in what time frame s/he can expect to hear from you.
  • Close – always thank the candidate for coming to see you, and escort them out of the building if need be. 

Conducting a Job Interview: Assessing a Candidate

  • What skills are nice to have, and what can be taught?
  • Where are you comfortable to compromise?
  • What is not up for negotiation?
  • Try to involve at least one other person to assist you in the interview, and the interview debrief.
  • Debrief right after the interview whenever possible
  • Score and rank interview performance.  Use the Wily Manager scoring tool to do so.
  • Your intuition is a powerful tool in the interviewing process, but it is not the only one.  By scoring each interview, it doesn’t necessarily mean we hire the person with the highest score, but rather encourages you to ask critical questions if you are not hiring the person with the highest score.

Conducting a Job Interview: Interview Questions 

  • Create questions that are based on the key needs identified in the job description
  • Design questions that build understanding
  • Use open and closed questions
  • Use situational and behavioral questions

Examples of Situational Questions

  • “What would you do if……?”
  • “What would you do if you were given a project timeline that you knew you could not meet?”
  • “What would you do if you had a direct conflict with another employee?” 

Examples of Behavioral Questions

  • “Tell me about a specific time when….?”
  • “Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer.  How did you handle it and what was the outcome?”
  • “Describe a time when you had to sacrifice your own goals for the good of the team”
  • Make sure you challenge the role they actually played and how much they were responsible as opposed to being part of a team’s success. 

Conducting a Job Interview: Analyzing the Responses

  • Write down what themes you would like to see in their responses
  • Answer the questions yourself – how would you successfully answer the question?
  • Do you believe them?
  • Are they simply saying what they think you want to hear?
  • Challenge the candidate if you are not convinced.

Conducting a Job Interview: Bring to a Close

  • Provide a realistic view on how long it will take to make a decision and stick to it
  • If you are keen on them ask them to let you know if their circumstances change in the interim.
  • Don’t promise anything until you have seen all candidates.
  • Call unsuccessful candidates later out of courtesy.

3 Things to Remember About Conducting a Job Interview

  1. Don’t underestimate the importance of interviews, and the risk of doing it badly
  2. Think of it as establishing a good match between competencies required, and the profile of a candidate.
  3. Take the time to do them well.

Free Extras for Wily Manager Members – get them here

  • Examples of Interview Questions:
    • Good questions
    • Bad questions
    • Behavioral based questions
    • Situational based questions
  • Common Interview Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
  • Resume and Interview Scoring Tool

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Conducting a Job Interview (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

Looking for the Full-Length Podcast/Video? …

Get Instant Access to 200+ Cheat Sheets, Videos, and Other Immediately Usable Tools for Busy Managers – Try Out a Wily Manager Membership Today!

Is She ‘The One’? – Conducting an Interview

Join Jed and Bob as they continue their discussion on how leaders should manage the interview process.  This week, they talk about how to conduct the actual interview, and offer suggestions on the various questions an interviewer can ask.  Also learn the value of the question, “Tell me about your weaknesses.”

Watch the ‘Conducting an Interview’ Video (15 mins 00 sec):


Download the ‘Conducting an Interview’ Cheat Sheet, Video, Audio, and Slides

How to Conduct a Great Interview

Interviewing prospective employees is a critical manager function, yet it is often done poorly.  Join the Wily Manager guys this week, as they continue their discussion about how to conduct a great interview.

Monday’s Tip:     Score and rank your interview.  Don’t rely on your memory – you need to take good notes, and score and rank each candidate immediately after the interview.  This is why it is important to have more than one person in the interview – so you can compare assessments.

Tuesday’s Tip:     Have 3 – 5 “Killer Questions”.  Much of the interview can be conversational, but you want to have some minimum number of standard questions so you can compare responses across your candidates.

Wednesday’s Tip:     Create questions based on the job description.  Ultimately, you are testing for a match between required competencies, and those possessed by the candidate.  As such, you need to know what those desired competencies are.

Thursday’s Tip:     Do not allow yourself to be distracted during the interview.  Leave your phone out of the room, and request no interruptions during an interview.

Friday’s Tip:     Take the time to do interviews well.  If you rush an interview, you will do it poorly.  If you do it poorly, you don’t get a good fit.  Poor fit leads to unwanted turnover.  You need to invest time in the interview process.

How to Prepare to Conduct An Interview

Conducting job interviews are amongst the most important jobs a manager does, yet they are often done with little thought or preparation.  Join the Wily Manager guys this week, as they talk about how to prepare for conducting an interview.

Monday’s Tip:    Know what you’re hiring for.  You need an up to date job description before preparing for any interview.  This is the only way you can be sure you know what you’re hiring for.

Tuesday’s Tip:    Know what questions you can and cannot answer.  Minimize your legal risk during the interview process by knowing in advance what questions are out of bounds.

Wednesday’s Tip:    Wean down your list of candidates.  Interviewing is time consuming work, so you’ll want to wean down your list of candidates in advance.  First carefully look and screen the resumes, then conduct telephone “pre-interviews”.

Thursday’s Tip:    Prepare the candidate for the interview.  The more information you give the candidate about what to expect in the interview, the more likely you are get the most accurate picture of the candidates potential match with your organization.

Friday’s Tip:    Prepare yourself for the interview.  Read the candidate’s resume right before the interview, and remind yourself of the interview process and the questions you want to ask.

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