One day my colleague Patrick’s ace executive assistant Rita gave her two-week notice out of the blue. Patrick was taken by surprise, especially since Rita wasn’t getting a significant raise in pay or benefits. Rita admitted that she was fed up because of an ongoing conflict with another colleague, Tim, who kept barking orders and demanding that she drop what she was doing whenever he needed help on his projects. Over the course of several meetings, Patrick, Rita, and Tim resolved their differences. It was a valuable lesson for Patrick, as it opened his eyes to the fact that he needed to:

A manager we know sent his employees a memo about the upheavals in the marketplace, stating, “We’ll have to shift around resources and job alignments. That means you’ll have new responsibilities, perhaps even extra work.” Immediately, they groaned: “Oh, no, they’re gonna ask us to do more work with fewer resources.” Employees and managers are always ready to fight that, especially if they’re in panic mode. They see each other as stubborn, closed-minded, and negative. The employees are unhappy because, in their view, the problem is the company… the marketplace…the management… the products… basically, everything and everyone else except them —“It’s not me, it’s you guys!” 

One of our colleagues enjoys reading Urban Dictionary, where readers submit tongue-in-cheek definitions of words and phrases they’ve dreamed up. In the April 5th edition, our colleague noticed a definition that hits close to home for many managers and their team members:

Office Quarterback: A manager who is infamously known for handing off work and other useless assignments to you that they could and should be doing themselves.

Example: The office quarterback just handed off a bunch of her assignments to me, AGAIN!

It’s frustrating when managers become Office Quarterbacks. They don’t understand that there’s a fine line between delegating duties and just dumping an unwanted task upon someone else. Ideally, delegating should be about empowering others to grow and leveraging your team members’ strengths, while sharing the load and cultivating your subordinates’ talents so you can hand your designated employee(s) the reins when you get promoted. We touched upon delegating in a recent blog post: To Delegate Well, Find the Right Person for the Job.

Recently, we discussed the difference between the goals and dreams that you have as a manager: Four Steps Toward Turning Dreams Into Solid Goals

Your next step is to do a personal inventory: but what exactly are your goals? You need a clear direction in mind; where you want to see yourself and your team members heading . This helps you maximize your efforts and help figure out what you need from your team.

These questions include:

• What’s my vision of the future?
• What’s my definition of success?
• How do I want others to perceive me in the future — my boss, peers, family, employees, customers, clients?

Take the time to think carefully about your own goals—personal as well as professional. Once you’re certain of what you want, you’ll be better prepared to help your employees decide what they want

Ever been faced with an employee who doesn’t seem the least bit motivated? To get to the root of the problem and uncover his or her motivational needs, start with sincere praise of their strengths. Even the most ornery employees usually have at least one characteristic you can admire, even if it means spinning their negative traits into positives!

To an employee who stews all day in his office:
“I like your intensity. Have you always been so intense when it comes to your work? What can I do to help your time here be less stressful?”

To an employee who has trouble meeting deadlines:
“I appreciate all the time and attention you spend on your reports. Unlike the reports I get from others, yours never have mistakes. What steps do you take to make sure your reports are flawless? How long does that process usually take? Do our usual deadlines give you enough time to prepare your reports? What can we do to help so that your reports arrive before the deadline, without losing your trademark accuracy?”