Strategy Mapping Tips

Does strategy matter to the individual manager, or is it only a consideration for the senior levels of the organization?  This week we discuss how to translate strategic drivers into more operational activities using Strategy Maps.

Monday’s Tip: Keep it simple. Strategy Mapping is brilliant in its simplicity.  Don’t negate this advantage by taking a simple idea and making it complex.

Tuesday’s Tip: Include your people in the development of a strategy map. Part of the purpose of a Strategy Map is connect people’s activities to higher level business drivers.  It much easier to make this connection if you include people in the development of the strategy map.

Wednesday’s Tip: Be clear on the larger organizational goals. If you are unclear on the higher level business drivers, then your strategy map will be confused and useless.

Thursday’s Tip: Change the categories to meet your needs. Kaplan and Norton have suggested four categories as a starting point.  You should adjust them as your situation warrants.

Friday’s Tip: Put Your Strategy Map Front & Center. Represent your strategy map visually, and put it where people can see it.  It is important to constantly reinforce how their efforts connect to the larger picture.

The Grand-Mal Resignation: Great Theatre, Bad Practice

I worked with a client, who confided in me that he was about to quit his job in a senior leadership role within the organization.  Mike was really smart, and hard working, but had a bit of a blind-spot when it came to political considerations within the workplace.  He always insisted that he didn’t play politics.  What he failed to realize is that you can’t choose whether to play workplace politics or not.  You play, or you get played.

Mike and I role-played his resignation conversation a bit, and it became clear to me very early that this was going to be a disaster of epic proportions.  Mike was determined to teach his boss, and the organization a lesson on his way out.  No one was safe – his boss, his peers, and his direct reports were all targets of his wrath.

In completely unrelated news, Mike was a smoker.  Putting the addictive nature of tobacco use aside, people smoke because the short-term consequences of smoking are immediate, certain and generally positive.  How else can you look cool, get a nicotine high and relax yourself?  It feels good.  The longer-term death and illness are problems for another day.

Mike’s choice in how he chose to leave the organization was parallel reasoning, and equally as stupid.  He had watched too many crap-TV shows that erroneously illustrate people quitting their jobs by sticking it to their boss and the organization, feeling a huge sense of relief and a temporary euphoria before moving on to bigger and better things.

The reality of a grand-mal resignation is more like the eventual cancer and emphysema that smokers get.  It feels good for a few minutes, but ultimately sabotages the quitter’s longer-term career prospects.

Before Mike chose to light his future with the glow of the bridges he’d burned behind him, he may have wanted to consider how and when he might run into some of these people again.

Mike didn’t know which one of the peers he burned on his way out might be a hiring manager at another organization five years from now.  He also had no way to know that the boss he called everything short of illegitimate would also be submitting his notice shortly because he was taking on a new role at the same firm Mike was moving to.

Oh, that’s going to be awkward.  But they never talk about that on the sitcoms.

 

 

The Best Way to Quit Your Job

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The best way to quit your job, is to do it in a planned and deliberate way.  Below, we discuss why you should think about the best way to quit your job, what to do beforehand, how to make the actual meeting easier, what to do during the transition, and what to do after you quit.

“Don’t Let Your Future Be Lit by the Fires of the Bridges You’ve Burned Behind You”

Why You Want to Consider the Best Way to Quit Your Job:

  • You may want to “Boomerang”.  Many people have left their employer only to return a short time later because things didn’t work out.  If you don’t consider the best way to quit your job, you potentially close a door in the future.
  • You may need a reference.  If you consider the best way to quit your job, and do it well, you can call upon that employer for a reference in the future.  You may not think you need it now, but eventually you might.
  • You don’t know else might leave the organization.  One of your current peers, or perhaps a supervisor could change companies and be your boss one day.  If you don’t consider the best way to quit your job, you will leave a sour taste in everyone’s mouth that will not serve you well in the future.

The Best Way to Quit Your Job — Before You Quit

  • Plan a communications strategy.  It is critical you manage how the news of your departure will permeate the organization.  Some people you will want to tell in person.  Always consider the impact of your departure on others:
    • Your boss
    • Your peers
    • Your mentor, someone you might have a special relationship with.
    • Prepare your “story” and stick to it.  You cannot tell your boss you are leaving for a better opportunity, and tell everyone else you’re leaving because you hate your boss.  You need to pick a story, and stick to it.
    • Manage the grapevine.  The best way to quit your job is to control as much of the grapevine as you can.  Do not leak information to anyone in advance, and proactively manage how the news is distributed.
    • Give appropriate notice.  Often two weeks is not enough time for an employer to replace you and transition your work.  You need to ensure you have provided enough notice to minimize the hardship for your organization and your peers.
    • Prepare for the possibility of a counter-offer.  The organization may provide you with an opportunity that tempts you to stay.  If you’ve already accepted a position with another company, it makes any counter-offer complicated.  Make sure you have considered this possibility in advance.

The Best Way to Quit Your Job — Doing the Deed

  • Plan what you’re going to say, and keep it short.  You should not defend or over-explain you reasons for leaving.  Simply tell the recipient of the news that you intend to leave on a certain date for a simple reason.
  • It is not a forum to air your grievances.  The best way to quit your job is to say positive and supporting things during the meeting.  Any disagreements or problems you had with your boss or your employer are no longer relevant once you choose to submit your notice.
  • Be prepared to be escorted off site.  Some employers will require you to leave site immediately upon the submission of your notice.  Do not take it personally, and be prepared in advance:
    • Remove your personal effects prior to submitting your notice.  This may be tricky to do without revealing your intent.
    • Back up your contacts, or other information you want in advance of the meeting.  You may not have computer access after you have submit your notice.

The Best Way to Quit Your Job — During the Transition Period

  • Try to close out your work without creating a problem for others.
  • Keep any negativity in check.  You will be leaving shortly – there is no advantage to badmouthing the employer, or embellishing your reasons for leaving with your peers.
  • Collect future references.  You never know when you will need a reference from a former boss or a peer.  Cultivating these references during the transitionary period will serve you well.
  • You may want to consider a personal note to important peers, or perhaps a former boss.
  • Treat exit interviews with care.  You must assume that everything you say in an exit interview will be revealed to any targets of your criticism.  No promise of confidentiality should be entirely believed.

The Best Way to Quit Your Job — After Quitting

  • Cultivate alumni relationships.  Make the attempt to keep up with people from your former employer.  This will serve you well professionally and personally.
  • Maintain networks where you can.  Networks are powerful things, and may new employment opportunities do not work out – in which case, you will be tapping into you network again quickly.
  • Don’t bad-mouth the employer.  You must assume that your comments will always get back, and as such, your mother was right:  “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
  • Be available for an occasional question from your replacement.  You can elevate your credibility considerably by being available to the organization, and specifically for your replacement to follow up on some of your previous work.

3 Things to Remember About The Best Way To Quit Your Job:

  1. You need to have a well thought-out plan.  You don’t want to improvise this important part of career management.
  2. It is in your best interest to leave “well”.  You never know when you will run across people again, and you want them to speak well of you.
  3. Stick to your story.  You need to have a departure “script”, and stick to that script regardless of who you are speaking with.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about The Best Way to Quit Your Job (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

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How to Quit Your Job Gracefully

Learn how to quit your job without completely derailing your career.

Watch the ‘How To Quit Your Job Gracefully’ Video (14 mins 34 sec):

Download ‘The Best Way to Quit Your Job’ Cheat Sheet, Video, Audio, and Slides

The Best Way to Quit Your Job

Apparently, we are all going to have several careers over our working lives, so knowing the best way to quit your job is an important career management skill.  Join us this week, as discuss the best way to quit your job.

Monday’s Tip: Prepare in advance. Quitting your job is one of the most important career management discussions you’ll ever have.  Don’t improvise – be very clear about what you want to say.

Tuesday’s Tip: Preserve and enhance relationships on your way out. You don’t know where former bosses and peers are going to end up.  Your best bet is to assume you’ll need a productive relationship with anyone and everyone in the future.

Wednesday’s Tip: Get your story straight.  Manage the grapevine. You cannot give reasons for leaving to your boss, and say something different to your peers.  You need to carefully craft your story, and then stick with it.

Thursday’s Tip: Clean out your desk before you submit your notice. Don’t take it personally when you are escorted to the exit, but do anticipate it happening in advance, and quietly, and discretely clean out your desk prior to submitting your notice.

Friday’s Tip: Don’t badmouth anyone or the organization on your way out. Assume that anything you say will be repeated, and say only good things upon your departure.

Managing the Balding and Grey

How did this happen?  When you were a teenager, you were very clearly smarter than your parents.  Then you went on, and got yourself a whole bunch of education, worked hard, and are now leading a team of people.  Half of them are old enough to be your parents.

Managing your mom?  You didn’t sign up for this.

Oh to be a Baby Boomer — The single most important demographic cohort in the history of the planet.  The baby boomers have absolutely dominated the workplace since the 1960s, and are only slowly giving up their grip now.  If you were born after about 1965, then it is a good news/bad news story for you.

The bad news is the Boomers racked up your “societal credit card debt”, that will take several generations to pay off.  The good news is they’ve already cured erectile dysfunction, and they are bound and determined to stay youthful forever, which bodes well for all those that follow.

In the workplace, this has a number of ramifications.  If you’ve got a boomer working for you, you might have to put up with the occasional tardy arrival, if you are to believe the Cialis commercials.  It also means when you start talking about ISPs, ASPs and HTML, their eyes will glaze over faster than Paris Hilton’s would on Jeopardy.

Keep in mind that there is something to be learned from this generation.  Yes they were financially reckless with your future, and made the planet into an environmental disaster, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know a thing or two about whatever business you are in.

The Boomers have seen several business cycles come and go, and will tell you (with certain credibility) that they’ve seen it all previously.  Everything in business comes full circle – just the details are marginally different.  If you listen carefully to the Boomers working for you, you just might get a jump on whatever is going to happen next.

They can’t manage email to save their life, and they think microwaves and fax machines are high tech, but if you discount their input and feedback, it is at your peril.

Baby Boomers: Managing People Older Than You

Learn how to lead and manage the balding and grey.

Watch the ‘Baby Boomers in the Workforce’ Video (13 mins 46 sec):

Download the ‘Managing Baby Boomers in the Workforce’ Cheat Sheet, Video, Audio, and Slides

Managing Baby Boomers in the Workforce

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Baby Boomers in the workforce are a force to be reckoned with.  They are the single largest cohort in the history of the planet, and they have dominated culture, economics, and the workplace for the past half century in countries where the Baby Boom phenomenon exists.

Baby Boomers in the workforce are most pronounced in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada (presumably because the Second World War was six years long for these countries, but when they returned home, they did not have to rebuild their cities), followed by the United States and Western Europe.

First, we should define Baby Boomers in the Workforce:

 

Traditionalists:  1925 – 1945

Baby Boomers:  1946 – 1965

Generation X:    1966 – 1980

Millennials:         1980 – 1999

Who Cares About Baby Boomers in the Workforce?

 

  • Clashes between generations can directly affect turnover. If team members do not feel like they “fit in” or that their values are not reflected in the workplace, the there is a risk of unwanted turnover.
  • Baby Boomers in the workforce have been influenced by different life events than other generations and thus have different perspectives that can impact motivation and performance.  Understanding this better ensures the capture of discretionary effort.
  • A 2011 Robert Half survey revealed that 72% of hiring managers find it challenging to manage teams composed of members of different generations.  This is particularly challenging when younger generations are put in the position of managing Baby Boomers in the workforce.

Factors that Shaped Baby Boomers in the Workforce:

 

  • Birth of Rock n Roll.
  • Many Baby Boomers in the workforce are the former hippees of the 1960s.
  • Space exploration.  Many Baby Boomers in the workforce can remember a time before regular space travel.
  • Baby Boomers in the workforce are the most affluent generation in history.
  • Unlike previous generations, Baby Boomers in the workforce grew up in peaceful times, and most of them have never gone to war.
  • Baby Boomers in the workforce were the first to reject traditional values, after having grown up during the Civil Rights Movement, and other significant social changes.

Expectations of Baby Boomers in the Workforce:

 

  • Baby Boomers in the workforce value peer competition.
  • Boomers started the “workaholic” trend.  Where Traditionalists saw hard work as the right thing to do, Baby Boomers in the workforce see it as a way to get to the next level of success.
  • Baby Boomers in the workforce are committed to climbing the ladder of success.  They are seeking status, prestige, and money.
  • Baby Boomers in the workforce don’t like restrictive rules and regulations.

How to Lead and Motivate Baby Boomers in the Workforce:

 

  • Position, Titles and Prestige.  Baby Boomers in the workforce are achievement oriented, and respond to status represented by titles and position.
  • Provide Stability.  Baby Boomers in the workforce are mostly a loyal group, so even though many are close to retirement, longer term incentives are important to this cohort.
  • Recognize Their Experience and Contributions. Baby Boomers in the workforce have a wealth of experience that younger generations have yet to achieve.  Recognizing this allows other generations to learn from the Boomers, and also motivates Baby Boomers in the workforce.
  • Respect their knowledge and experience.  Set up formal opportunities for Baby Boomers in the Workforce to share their expertise with younger workers.
  • Personal Relationships. Deal with Boomers face to face.  Do not rely solely on email with this cohort.

Three Things that Frustrate Baby Boomers in the Workforce About Other generations:

 

  1. Generation X has no company loyalty.  They will jump ship quickly, and without regard for the organization.
  2. Generation Y has no patience.  They seem to be unwilling to “pay their dues”.
  3. Traditionalists rules and values are out of touch with modern reality.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Managing Baby Boomers in the Workforce (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

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How to Lead and Manage Baby Boomers in the Workforce

So you’ve worked hard, and now you’ve got a team of people working for you.  Unfortunately, half that team is older than you, and some of them are an entire generation removed from your reality.  It’s like having your mum as a direct report.  Now what do you do?  Find out this week at Wily Manager.

Monday’s Tip: Remember what shaped them: Many of today’s Baby Boomers are the Hippees of yesteryear.  They are affluent, and grew up in a time of relative peace.  They bring all these influences to work with them everyday.

Tuesday’s Tip: Boomers work hard. Boomers legitimized workoholism, and do not value work-life balance for themselves, or for others in the way that subsequent generations do.

Wednesday’s Tip: Boomers respond to prestige and status more so than other generations. Important Job Titles, and corner offices are important to this generation.  Younger generations sometimes have difficulty understanding this.

Thursday’s Tip: They are beginning to age (reluctantly). Some respect for the fact that many Baby Boomers are beginning to deal with the early symptoms of growing older is required when managing them.

Friday’s Tip: You can learn from Boomers. They have seen many things come and go, and it is wise to listen carefully to Boomers for your own learning, as well as to acknowledge the fact they are valued.  Just don’t communicate by text message!

A Zero Accountability Corporate Culture

Several years ago, I became involved in a finance audit with a public sector client.  These things are about as much fun as a boot in the butt with a frozen mukluk in any organization, but public sector organizations are even worse because of their inherent risk aversion.

It turns out the finance clerks were spending a ridiculous amount of time processing expense accounts for the considerable number of employees that were constantly travelling for business purposes.

Without doing the necessary internal investigating first, I got the bright idea to check with the relevant tax authorities as to whether we could simply offer people a per diem and dispense with all the $10 lunch receipts that were clogging up the system.

The federal tax agency did indeed have a provision for this that I thought would solve a considerable problem, and make everyone’s lives easier.

I was incredibly wrong.  I hadn’t been this wrong since I predicted Whitney Houston’s big comeback.

After lobbying hard inside the Finance group for such a change to be implemented, I was told in no uncertain terms, that we couldn’t do this because the people who didn’t spend the entire amount would pocket the difference, and that would be unacceptable.  Never mind that the amount was only about $50/day for a person on the road to pay for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Further, this policy could not be adopted because two senior managers had been caught abusing their expense accounts while travelling for business.

The VP of Finance initiated a root cause analysis of this problem, and concluded they did not have adequate control measures, and poor policy on expenses accounts.

He got it wrong.  He was treating a symptom of a much greater problem.  The root cause of his problem was a corporate culture with zero accountability.  Had a similar expense account abuse taken place in the private sector, the offending employees would have been terminated with cause, and common sense on a per diem expense policy would have prevailed.

Instead the VP of Finance chose to treat a symptom of a far larger problem by adding more bureaucracy.  He also chose to disregard the thousands of hours of labor required to process lunch receipts.  It’s a good thing he didn’t have the burden of worrying about shareholder value.

So instead of addressing the root cause, the Finance Department spent months rewriting the expense account policies, and ultimately came up with a completely ridiculous 75 page document that all employees with expense accounts were expected to adhere to.

Another genius example of your tax dollars hard at work.

 

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