Taking Corrective Action - With Your Boss

Every supervisor has to take corrective action with their direct reports from time to time. But what do you do when your boss … even a good one …crosses the line? Most people simmer in quiet anger, which can build up and boil over into destructive actions over what are usually insignificant matters. To be certain, it’s a scary endeavor to take corrective action when you believe your supervisor (or supervisor’s supervisor) is in the wrong and you need them to change course. But there are incidents that if left unchecked will decrease your job satisfaction and performance. In these instances, you owe it to yourself and your organization to take corrective action with your boss. Here’s how you can approach it so you, your boss and the organization get what they need.

Can You Live With an Undesirable Result?

That is the first and most important question you need to answer before you approach your boss. What will be the result of this? What is the worst result possible? Can you live with that result? Just because the issue is a problem to you, doesn’t mean your boss will agree. They have their own perspective on things so you should be ready for differences of opinion. If you will feel better for having addressed the issue even if the outcome is not desirable to you, then go ahead and talk to your boss about what they did that you think needs correcting. If you think the worst possible outcome will lead to bigger problems, you may need to wait for a better time to make your opinion known.

Try to See Things from Their Perspective

Once you’ve decided to take corrective action with your boss remember that they probably will have different perspectives and even different motivators than you. If their greatest intrinsic reward for working is to be in control while yours is taking on new adventures, you will have quite different viewpoints. If their greatest workplace extrinsic reward is money and yours is security, you have differing values and you will need to speak from their most important value to relate. Show them how the issue not only affects you, but by them changing the way they would approach it in the future, they will be better able to meet their important work rewards, in this case greater control and greater pay.

Be Cause and Effect Oriented

Feelings are valid, but dwelling on them too much while taking corrective action, especially with a superior, will come off as personal and emotional. It’s okay to say that what the boss did made you feel angry or hurt, but don’t stop there. Focus on the business need. Talk about what this issue could have or did cause in business dealings and the negative effect it generated or could have. Your emotional reaction to the situation will come off as more justified and more professional because it’s related to business success, not personal feelings.

Offer a Solution

Nobody likes a whiner. Especially at work where a challenging economy puts stress on everyone. How you approach the situation is a big determinant to how it will get resolved. Keep your cool and after explaining why the boss’s words or actions are unacceptable, offer what you believe is a solution that will benefit everyone. That requires forethought before you speak. Thinking about what you need will also put the focus on resolution, not on anger. Your boss may have a new appreciation for you as a team member and hold you in higher professional esteem. That may be the best solution of all to your situation, because you will have turned a negative into a positive.

Taking Corrective Action - With a Peer

Even very small businesses require that its employees work in cross functional teams. Those experiences are usually very positive. You forge friendships with co-workers and you learn something from outside of your particular area of expertise. But what happens when this goes wrong? When a peer is doing something that need correcting and you are the one that needs to correct them? Here are some steps that may help you.

Clearly Explain the Business Ramifications of Their Actions

If your peer works in a different department, chances are they don’t always know how their actions affect you and your department. Explain to them why you need what you need and how their actions hinder your department’s chances for success. Assume they don’t know this and if you haven’t had any previous negative experiences with them, give them the benefit of the doubt. Being positive and rationally explaining the situation and your needs will get the results you need and strengthen your work relationship with your peer.

Don’t Wait

If you like and respect your peer, you may not want to call attention to the issue that needs correcting. It is wise to judge the situation and determine if it’s worth pursuing corrective action. If it is, don’t wait to discuss it. Bring it up at the earliest, most appropriate time. If you don’t, chances are it will repeat itself. Your peer needs to function well but they are not required to be mind readers. Tell them what you think, again keeping it on a business level, and why their course of action needs to change. You may have shed light on a negative practice they didn’t know they were doing and you may have a better functioning peer and team as a result.

Positive, Negative, Positive

Framing your corrective action discussion is as important as clearly explaining what needs to be corrected. When doing so, use the tried and tested “positive, negative, positive” feedback model. Start with something they do well and praise them for it. Relate that to the negative action they took and explain how it is incongruent with their usual performance. Wrap it up with a positive conclusion on how and why you believe they will be even better after taking your suggestion.

Be Open Minded

Taking corrective action is a dialogue, not a monologue. Listen to what your peer has to say. They may have insight as to why they needed to take the action they took. Be an active listener, engaging them with thoughtful, non-combative questions. This will do at least three positive things. It will allow you to identify possible circumstances that may lead to further negative actions and you can correct them now versus cleaning up a mess later. It will also teach you more about what your peer needs in their job and will give you a greater appreciation for them. This will lead to the third positive thing; you will have a stronger team and working relationship as a result.

Do Unto Others

The Golden Rule applies here; treat others as you would like to be treated. By putting yourself in their shoes, you’ll see how you would like the situation to be handled and may handle it better. Because the goal of taking this form of corrective action is not to make your peer feel bad. It is to make the team and your working relationship better.

Reducing Anxiety In the Office

Even if you have a job you love, you will be stressed at work on occasion. Just as each office has different workers with different skills, the anxiety triggers for workers are as varied as the workers themselves. As a worker or manager, you will never completely eliminate workplace anxiety in yourself or your employees. But you can help reduce or relieve it with several simple steps.

Know Yourself and Your People

Recognizing what triggers anxiety in you or your staff is the most important step to reducing it. Not everybody is the same. We all have different talents and are stressed by different factors. Take stock in yourself. What ties your stomach in knots in the workplace? In what situations are your colleagues or employees uncomfortable? Knowledge is power, so know what triggers anxiety and to the best of your ability minimize those situations for yourself and your staff.

Communicate

Communication is the essential element to a healthy, productive relationship. Work relationships are no exception. If you are feeling anxiety, talk about it to your supervisor. Not in a complaining way, but rationally. Explain what makes you anxious and be solutions oriented. You may not be able to eliminate the duties that make you anxious, but talking about them may help reduce your anxiety and help you cope. If you notice someone is anxious, ask them why. It may be something unrelated to work, but if not, that person will most likely be able to explain why. There may be an underlying business problem they see that nobody else does. If they uncover that problem, a solution to it is more readily found.

Breathe and Walk

When anxious, a person’s heart rate increases and they hyperventilate. If you notice this happening, pause. Take a moment and take several deep breaths. Even if this is happening during a tense meeting, your pause will make people believe you are thinking about the issue and if you silently breathe deep, you’ll get the same results as if you did it audibly. Breath is essential to life and breathing deeply adds more oxygen to your bloodstream and makes tense muscles relax, relieving physical signs of anxiety. If possible, take a brisk walk, hopefully outdoors to clear your head for 5 minutes. That brief respite may be all you need to refocus on a solution to the issue instead of the anxiety it’s causing you.

Deal With the Issue Now

Breathing and taking a walk are not meant to avoid the problem, they are meant to alleviate the physical symptoms of stress. Ignoring the problems that cause anxiety is not the answer. That only allows problems to fester and cause greater anxiety. Dealing with them early on actually reduces their anxiety producing effects. If you are angry, then it is best to walk away for a moment until you can approach the situation or people that caused the anxiety and anger more rationally. But don’t wait too long. People may forget about the problem they caused and your efforts to correct the situation will be lost.

Remember, You’ve Seen This Movie Before

Most anxiety triggers probably have been with you for a long time. Remember how you dealt effectively with them in the past and put that plan into action. Or remember what you wished you had done and do it this time. Remembering the past challenges you overcame will diminish the anxiety and help you cope. If your anxiety is because of new duties, remember the times where you took on new duties in the past. Once you mastered them, the anxiety faded. And so it will this time. You are up to any challenge. Remember that, have a healthy dose of self-efficacy, and realize that you are bigger than any problem or anxiety that comes your way.

Coping With Sources of Work Stress

Where there is work, there will always be workplace stress. Some of it is situational. The days before the April 15th tax deadline for an accounting firm, a cleaning service whose largest client hired them for a big, time sensitive job, a catering company preparing a big order for a premiere event that evening. These are performance related stressors that actually cause positive stress called Eustress. But there are common work stressors that are negative, and they need to be dealt with

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Having too much or too little work to do

When you are facing work overload or too many task demands on a regular basis, you can feel overwhelmed. Surprisingly, the same is true when a worker has too little to do. Especially in this economy of job elimination, nobody wants to appear to be expendable. The solution may be as simple as letting your supervisor know and getting a better distribution of duties. If you’re in a self-managing team, ask co-workers if you can shift or share some duties. Speak up. The worst thing you can do is suffer in silence and let the problem fester.

Role ambiguities and conflicts

Role ambiguity is not knowing what is expected of you in your job or how you will be evaluated. Role conflict is feeling unable to satisfy multiple or conflicting job expectations. Both bring on stress. If you have a job description, read it and make sure that what you’re doing is in line with it. Reading and knowing your job description may help you define your role better and relieve stress. If it doesn’t, talk to your supervisor or HR and suggest duties that are more in line with what you are capable of. If you have a well thought out description, your company may just allow you to implement your plan. If you are a supervisor and you feel this stress, it’s time to effectively delegate some duties to your staff.

Conflict with co-workers

A sour work relationship can bring lots of stress. You can hope the offending party transfers or takes another job. Communication is the key. If you can talk it out with them, do it. If you can’t, then avoid them as much as possible while still doing your job well. Bring in a supervisor or HR if things get really bad.

Physical setting

A bad work environment where there is too much noise, bad lighting, temperatures not conducive to doing your job and other elements create workplace stress. Make these known to the office manager or your supervisor and when these changes are made, stress could be reduced.

Other ways to cope with stress

The first key to solving workplace stress is to communicate with as much professionalism and calm as you can. But there are proactive measures you can take to help cope with workplace stress as well. Studies show that regular exercise reduces stress. Adopt a regular workout routine. The first two weeks may be challenging as your energy may sap. But after that period, you will feel invigorated and the endorphins released from a vigorous workout provide physiological stress relief. Also get organized. Prioritizing duties and removing clutter are two steps to getting organized and reducing stress. There are a variety of Organizational Coaches you can choose from to help you manage this stress reducing step. Stress will always be a part of workplace life. That is an unpleasant fact. But by communicating with those who can help change things and taking proactive steps such as organizing and adopting a personal wellness plan, stress can be reduced.

Creating a Vision That Others Will Buy Into

Eureka! You’ve had a vision for success for your business or team and you’re ready to share it. Now what? You’ve got to spell it out for your team and get them as excited about the prospect of carrying it out as you are. Without their buy in, your vision is just a dream. Here’s how you can get your team involved and make this vision a reality.

Spell it out clearly

You had the vision, others didn’t. You remember the soaring emotions you felt when you had it, they probably won’t connect with that experience. What you need to do is spell out clearly what the vision is and why you believe it will be successful. Tell it with passion and make your team or co-workers feel part of it. Your experience wasn’t theirs. Make it theirs by articulating what the vision is and clearly define it.

Talk about the short and long term applications for success

Clearly defining the vision is the “what” of the equation. Now your people need to see the “why.” Why is the vision so important? Explain why turning this vision into an action plan will benefit the organization both in the short and long term. Be specific. Don’t talk about “gut feelings” or something that is non-tangible. Spell out in as great a detail as possible what the benefits are. This is a great exercise for you to do before you try to rally your people’s support. If you find that you can’t articulate why implementing your vision will benefit the organization when you’re alone, you won’t be able to do it in front of others. In that case, your vision, while inspiring to you, may not be compelling enough for others.

Tell your people what’s in it for them

You’re asking for your team’s buy in, so you need to tell them of the pay off. Specifically, how it will benefit them. This requires that you know what they need before you explain the vision. If you’re not clear about their needs, ask them before you share your vision. Then you can truly show whether your vision will meet their wants and needs and is right for them.

Make your people feel needed

One of the biggest elements of job satisfaction is for workers to feel needed. Empower your people. Tell and show them that though the vision was yours to start with, you can’t do it without them. By telling what you need from them and how they can help, your vision may become a shared vision. When the vision is shared, you are more likely to get the buy in you need.

Tie it back to your Mission Statement

Is the vision about your entire organization? Then compare it to the company mission statement. Will it help the organization achieve its mission and goals? If so, articulate that. Every once in a while people need to reconnect with what they’re in the business of doing. Looking at a mission statement will do that. Showing how your vision will help meet that statement will help you sell it to your people. If your vision statement is about a team versus the organization, ask yourself if it will help the team achieve its objectives and how. If it passes this test, make sure you effectively articulate this to your people.

A vision may have come from you, but if it’s not about the “we” in your organization, chances are you won’t get much cooperation. If you believe in the vision and you know it’s right for the organization, put it out there with passion. But make sure it has enough room for everyone involved to share the credit when it succeeds.

Ways to Influence People When You Have No Authority

No matter what business you’re in or what job you do, you will need to influence others. If you’re the boss, influencing is easier. But what if you need to influence a colleague or even your supervisor? Just because you don’t have the job title to force a decision doesn’t mean you can’t have tremendous influence. Here’s how you can be influential, despite not having the authority.

Be respected because you’re good at what you do

The people that have the most influence in an organization aren’t always the ones with the biggest titles. It’s the people that are good at what they do. When you do your job well and take initiative, people notice. By being good at what you do, you become a professional resource for your co-workers. They will value your opinion more because they value your work. And if they value your opinion, they are more likely to be influenced by you.

Have solid reasoning behind your suggestions

Do your homework. If you think there is a work issue to be solved or a methodology your organization needs to adopt, make sure you have good reasons why. Don’t just offer your opinion. Offer facts, statistics, experiences and industry knowledge if possible. Be a credible source of information and you may be able to influence your colleagues.

Think win-win

As helpful as your co-workers can be, they still want to know what’s in it for them. Think about how your solutions or needs will benefit them. That’s a good check-up for you to make sure your motives are benign. Nobody wants to accommodate someone who is a constant self-server. It’s best for your workplace if you think about what would benefit the organization and everyone involved. Does your idea pass this test? If so, then make your opinion known and try to influence others.

Know your co-workers

If you want to influence things or people at work, then you need to know your co-workers. Be as cordial as possible to everyone and get involved with company functions. Don’t make the mistake of being a chatty time waster, but simple and earnest pleasantries can help you build your work relationships. If your work relationships are strong, you have a better chance of influencing things.

Channel the masters

There were many great influencers throughout history. Three of which were Niccolo Machiavelli, Confucius and Rousseau. Each of whom had a specific methodology for influence. Machiavelli gets a bad rap for being underhanded and manipulative. While manipulation was part of his methodology, Machiavelli pointed out what motivates people and how to deal with those forces. He was more practical than people give him credit for. In his piece, The Prince, Machiavelli talks about how to manage and use people’s own motivations to wield influence. Confucius was concerned with virtue and Rousseau wrote about how regulate the needs of people and organizations in his work The Social Contract. There are many other people you can study who had great influential skills. Some may be in your own organization. Look at what works and try to emulate those tactics while still being true to yourself. Because at the end of the day, those who influence are the ones who are authentic

How to Predict The Most Effective Leaders in an Organization

Keeping your organization in top running shape requires you to know who the most effective leaders are.

As your organization grows, you will need to recruit more managers. A key component of this is recognizing leadership talent early. While some people grow into leadership roles later, others have a natural knack for leadership. You will want to rely upon these people whenever possible.

Leaders Put Themselves Second

It’s not that leaders are selfless. In fact, selflessness is not a leadership quality. However, leaders know that they are part of a team. They put that team’s success above their own personal success, because they know the group success is where they sink or swim.

People Go To Leaders

Your team will tell you who the most effective leaders are without your even having to ask. Who do your team members go to when there is a problem? Who do they feel they can trust? This person is the most effective leader in the organization. He inspires the rest of the team and they view him as someone they can confide in or bring thorny problems to.

Leaders are Innovators

Leaders will tell you they’re leaders by doing something new or in a different way. The person you reprimanded for doing the wrong thing without permission might be a leader: The initiatory impulse is one that shows leadership qualities. Often times it is raw and needs to be honed. Other times, it requires little in the way of training. Who is doing things without your knowledge -- good or bad -- at your company? Keep your eye on them. They could be the next member of management.

Leaders Help Others

Every organization is a bell curve. People on one end excel, people on another end struggle. Leaders are people from the excelling end (though not necessary the most excellent employees) who take time to help the people at the struggling end. This is part of putting yourself second. A leader recognizes implicitly that his team is only as good as its weakest link. He consciously strives to strengthen that link and improve the team.

Leaders are Communicators

Leaders communicate ideas in ways other people cannot. It is a basic cornerstone of leadership. One can have all the ideas in the world, but if he can’t communicate them in a way others understand, he will never be someone others look to for leadership.

Leaders Have Integrity

A leader owns up to mistakes. A leader always acts in good faith, even when he is wrong. In short, a leader has integrity. He is someone that you can trust. A leader is someone you will, in theory, trust with executive decisions and keys to your business. What could be more important in a leader than trustworthiness and personal integrity?

Finding Leaders In Your Organization

Pay attention to your employees. Hear what they say about each other. Cutting through petty office gossip, it will be easy to see who is respected in the organization -- and who is not. A leader will be respected by his peers, as well as an excellent worker.