What is wrong with appraisals?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by charlotte

The end of January heralds the first talk of the annual performance reviews or appraisals.  HR having recovered from Christmas and New Year is busy reading up on the latest Employment Law updates when the managers coming knocking on their door for help and advice.  Many managers despair at the thought of stopping work (as they see it) to have to run the annual appraisal.  There are the usual mutterings about it being a waste of time, or they lack the skills or have no time to prepare or……..simply they are put off because the paperwork is so onerous and complicated.  The documentation has completely taken over the process and everyone has to learn again how to fill in all those forms again.

And why is it so onerous?  One of the reasons is that many company schemes have been developed over time and with lots of different inputs.  New managers bring in favourite bits from their old company’s scheme and add those to the original.  Someone reads a book on competencies or hears on the grapevine of other ways to record information and these are added to the mix.  Eventually any scheme will just buckle under the weight of documentation.  And how do they try to sort it?  Often by putting it all online or on the company intranet and the system then separates reality from the people.  It recreates itself as it blossoms and grows.

A major shock to this organic method of getting an appraisal system is introduction of competencies.  Wow, it gives us more to measure and more to score.  It’s not difficult to see why people find appraisals so unpopular. So when people question why they don’t deliver improved performance it time to start again.

I have been working recently with a company who have created software to enable an organisation to run their whole performance management online.  Looking a little like Facebook it allows staff and managers to check regularly on their progress against objectives and feed back the quick wins or seek help to achieve.  Of course you still need the one to one conversation but this way it ensures both parties know exactly what they should be talking about and the summary of that conversation agreed and uploaded.  Afterwards learning needs can be identified and a manager can see at a glance those who want or need help to improve performance and those who may be their rising stars.

Of course this is much easier, less time consuming and much more beneficial.  It works all through the year so there is no need to re-learn how to do it each time.   And it enables the annual appraisal meeting to be what should always have been – a splendid occasion to encourage and improve performance to the benefit of the individual and for the organisation.

The performance management system is transparent anyone from the board to the workers can access their role and see how their objectives work to the overall success of the business.

Quicklearn offers practical support for  organisations considering implementing performance management systems  as well as training in face to face skills so as to improve communications.   Read about our performance management workshops here

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Tips for Teaching Top Quality Customer Service

Posted on January 24, 2012 by charlotte

I have been working with a group of enthusiastic managers who are responsible for the staff who deliver customer service as part of their main role in their company.  These are some of the key tips we agreed would help them to help,  monitor and support their staff.

  • Determine what we  really mean by excellent customer service.  We have to have a thorough understanding of what we want to provide so that we can provide it consistently.
  • If we really don’t know what our customers want and expect from us, we need to do some research. Talk to focus groups and ask our staff what the most common complaints are relating to customer service.
  • Give our staff the freedom to go above and beyond the call of duty without criticism. Let them know they have a wide array of responses to choose from and that we trust their judgment. Train our staff to share pertinent customer information among themselves – likes, dislikes, quirks, needs, interests, etc. – it can all be useful knowledge.
  • Give our staff an example to model by committing ourselves to excellent customer service as well. Show them what we expect through our own interactions with customers. In addition, always reward those who go beyond the call of duty.
  • Provide training for all staff – not just those on the front line.

At the end of the morning the managers took away these key ideas and have started to share them with their staff.  My message to them is not to expect change immediately. It will take time for a new standards to be set into an organisation. Expect mistakes and acknowledge them. Use these incidents as an opportunity to recommit yourself and your organization to superior service. Apologise for any slip-ups and really listen to the customers complaints.

Why not try it yourself in your organisation and tell us how you got on.

Quicklearn runs customer service workshops and creates bespoke training for specific issues or circumstances Here are some examples of programmes we have run for other companies.

 

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How boring does a meeting have to be?

Posted on January 17, 2012 by charlotte

I am delighted to welcome Hannah Jones of Blue Kite Coaching as our guest blogger this week.  Hannah works with senior leaders in schools and says she was inspired by my recent post on meetings and decided to top it! 

I hate meetings where we are sent documents to read beforehand and then the documents are read out during the meeting.

What is worse, when this is done and then no one has much to comment on them, what was the point? What would you do if you had made time to read it beforehand, made notes of the points you wanted to raise and then heard it all again?

I certainly wouldn’t be as keen to read it in advance next time. If I haven’t made time before a meeting to read the paperwork then it can’t have been that important to me and it devalues the time of anyone who has read it already.

Thankfully I have learnt some great tools and habits to make my meetings effective and engaging. I do get to lead or facilitate many of the meeting I attend now, but still prickle at a poorly run meeting where I leave feeling worse than when I arrived.

There was one meeting I remember vividly, for all the wrong reasons, when I left feeling that I would never get that time back. It wasn’t even a meeting full of doom and gloom or where we had messed something up. It was just REALLY BORING, dragged on far too long and there was far too much talking from one or two voices (the management). I couldn’t believe that, as a team we only got to see each other once a month and the opportunity had not been taken to fire us all up ready for the next month. Instead it was as if someone had thrown a bucket of water over any burning ember of enthusiasm I had. Incidentally, I did give the manager feedback and meetings did improve, but I regularly use this memory as a reminder to make the time teams spend together as beneficial to all.

When we make meetings productive, timely and engaging we send a message to our team that their time is important and that their input is valued.

I recently had the privilege to work with a Senior Leadership Team (SLT) where the Headteacher and Deputy Head wanted the rest of the team to speak up more in meetings and actively said so, but it just wasn’t happening.

Through a short programme of Learning PlayTimes with the SLT I :

  • introduced them to simple      tools to improve their effectiveness
  • encouraged the team to see      themselves as learners and leaders
  • introduced the team to a      shared language to describe leadership
  • openly challenged the      headteacher to give the rest of the leadership team space to learn how to      be their own brand of leader

This team found their own voice in SLT meetings (I didn’t attend a single meeting!) and here is what some of the team thought and felt as as result of us working together:

  • all understand each other      better as leaders
  • I feel more valued as a team      leader and part of the leadership team
  • I feel more supported and in      tune with my colleagues
  • I have a greater      understanding of what it takes to be a successful leader within the school      environment
  • SLT has a clearer vision and      understanding of each others needs

Wouldn’t it be great if the next meeting you attended left you feeing supported and valued?
What could you do to make this a reality?

  Read more of  Hannah Jones’s Blue Kite Coaching Posts here

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Another way to alleviate presentation fears

Posted on January 10, 2012 by charlotte

If you are worried about giving presentations and pitches – and, let’s face it, very few people don’t feel at least some nerves – then here is a bit of advice which has come about from a new piece of research.  According to a study published in the journal Science, writing down worries before a stressful situation greatly boosts your performance. Just jotting down what your concerns are appears to help you focus on the job in hand.

The research was carried out among students about to sit exams. The technique was shown to be so powerful that students had a 20 per cent improvement in exam marks if they used the method just before sitting down. New as the research is I believe it is just reaffirming what we have always said: prepare, prepare, prepare – including writing down your fears and anxieties – and you are more likely to succeed.

Prof Sian Beilock of the University of Chicago, who is responsible for this research, put it succinctly. “People are in a stressful situation and worry about it and the consequences. These worries are taking up resources that should be dedicated to the task. Putting pen to paper appears to offload these worries.”

At Quicklearn, we run one to one and small group sessions helping people with their presentation skills.  Our purpose to give the ‘worried presenter’ several techniques on how to present, as well as how to handle nerves. The workshops include games and practical activities, concentrating on ‘learning by doing’ in a safe environment. If you can’t wait  you can download the Useful Guide to Public Speaking  written by Charlotte Mannion and published by Pansophix at £5.95  – It is a step by step workbook to enable you prepare a speech or a presentation from scratch.

 

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Are you writing for effect?

Posted on January 3, 2012 by charlotte

There is nothing more likely to lose your audience than having an article or blog which contains poor spelling or typos.  When you present neat, high-quality and well written documents, letters, reports and proposals, you send a message to the reader that your organisation has a high self-image and cares about delivering a quality service.
Like body language signals which tell you how people are feeling, your written communications pass on messages as well.  after all when you find errors in other people’s writing you tend to focus on those rather than the message.  If you want to write effectively you need to check your work carefully so that all errors are eliminated.  And  in order to ensure that all  your written communications are presented well you need to be skilled at proof reading.  Proof reading is easier with a fresh eye.  If possible you should set your writing aside for a day or two before checking it.

• Read sentences aloud so you can hear the sentence structure or word usage mistakes.

• Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation.  If the same things come up regularly make a list of the correct words to keep by you when you are checking.

• Make sure your punctuation helps the reader to make sense of your writing.

• Check for typing errors.  A useful technique is to read each sentence from right to left.

• Check for clichés and excessive words

• A great approach is to ask a colleague to proof read for you and you can return the favour when they need help.

Finally use the readability stats provided by Microsoft Word. You should be aiming at a reading ease of above 55% and reading grade level below 10.
This blog is marked at 64.5 for reading ease and a reading grade of 8.3.  So it  should have been an easy and undemanding read!

 
Quicklearn runs workshops covering business writing including minute writing, report writing, writing for marketing, letters and emails.   Check them out here

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Christmas Crackers – which ones are best?

Posted on December 20, 2011 by charlotte

As Christmas is almost upon us  the Sunday Telegraph carried out a survey to find the best crackers on offer and top of the (Christmas) tree was Morrisons’ – the second cheapest at only 42p per cracker. The most expensive – Harrods’ offering, at £3.74 – came in only fourth place. The survey panel looked at appearance, loudness of bang, quality of gifts, hats and jokes. Morrisons’ crackers triumphed, in part because of the very loud – 8.2decibel – bang they made. They were also considered the most child-friendly in appearance.

It appears to me that what made the Morrison crackers special was that they did exactly what a cracker should – they looked fun for children, contained corny but funny gags and gifts, and frightened the life out of people when they were pulled.

they say ‘if it ain’t broke don’t mend it’.  And it so true.  If you try to make a cracker into something it isn’t it will be less successful. Keep it simple and let it do (to pinch that famous slogan) ‘just what it says on the tin’.

The same applies to communications. Keep your communications simple, clear, and do what you say you’ll do. Don’t dress up your verbal and written communications with long words and frilly phrases, or you’ll be the equivalent of a Harrods cracker – you’ll look good at first glance but you won’t be offering what your customers want and they may not ‘get’ you.

Finally  let us ‘communicate’ this simple message: here’s to a very festive and peaceful Christmas for all our Quicklearn clients, colleagues and friends.

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Top Tips for Quality Customer Service

Posted on December 14, 2011 by charlotte

If you are thinking of reminding your staff of the importance and benefits of giving good service all of the time to improve the service on offer you need to determine what you really mean by excellent customer service.  You and your staff  have to have a thorough understanding of what you want to provide so that you can provide it consistently.

So here are some handy hints

  1. If you really don’t know what your customers want and expect from you, do some research.  Set up a focus group and ask your staff what the most common complaints are relating to customer service.
  2. Give your staff the freedom to go above and beyond the call of duty without criticism.  Let them know they have a wide array of responses to choose from and that you trust their judgment.
  3. Train your staff to share pertinent customer information among themselves – likes, dislikes, quirks, needs, interests, etc. – it can all be useful knowledge.
  4. Give your staff an example to model by committing yourself to excellent customer service as well.  Show them what you expect through your own interactions with customers.  In addition, always reward those who go beyond the call of duty.
  5. Provide training for all staff – not just those on the front line.
  6. Don’t expect change immediately.  It will take time for a new standard to be set in your organisation.
  7. Expect mistakes and acknowledge them.  Use these incidents as an opportunity to recommit yourself and your organization to superior service.  Apologise for any slip-ups and really listen to the customers complaints.

Quicklearn provides customer service workshops and programmes based on your own specific needs.  Each programme is developed against your own life scenarios so staff can test and practice good techniques in a safe environment.  Look here for examples of some of the workshops we have created for individual clients.  References and testimonials are available on request

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Are you holding another meeting?

Posted on December 7, 2011 by charlotte

I have just returned from a client management board meeting.  I like being involved and want to be useful to my client but I have no idea why I am there.  Today’s meeting was classic.  The key reports had been sent out beforehand but they still get read out in case the managers hadn’t read them.  We are asked if we have questions but most of the comments are of the ‘this seems to be OK’ type.  I can do that in an email.  I can read the reports at my desk,  I can ask questions on the telephone or by email, I can send praise and voting preferences  through email so why am I here in person?

How often have you sat through a meeting wondering why you are there and wondering what’s expected from you.  To my mind far too many meetings are held without a purpose other than to keep people informed and that can be done far more efficiently by email.  When I complained I was told that the participants might not read emails. That’s still no reason for the meeting.  I’m sorry but if they don’t read stuff they probably won’t listen either. The single most important rule is to make sure everyone is present for a purpose and that they know what is expected of them.

So please ensure that every single individual invited to the meeting is there for a reason. More importantly, make sure each attendee clearly understands his/her specific role.
When planning your meeting consider team members’ roles. How can they contribute? Do they have key information, skills, experience that you can leverage in the meeting?
Help them feel useful by letting them know the important role you’d like them to play.

It is helpful to assign meeting management roles before you begin the meetings.
These roles might include:
• Scribe: to record key information, and meeting minutes
• Flipchart recorder: to capture key points, questions visually on flipcharts
• Timekeeper: to help keep to the agenda
• “Devil’s advocate”: should the group tend to always passively agree to all suggestions, it might be helpful (and fun) to assign someone to play devil’s advocate purely for the purpose of creating debate and discussion.

Then before the end of the meeting you can review the agreed action items, along with the responsible parties for each item as discussed during the meeting.  If you’ve assigned meeting scribes or flipchart recorders, then this step should be relatively simple.

I would have loved to have something I could have tackled from board meeting I attended which would have tapped into my skills.  As it is I  only know when we are holding the next really dull meeting.

Quicklearn helps organisations to get the best from their meetings though coaching, training and facilitation.  To learn more about out team building workshops visit here.  But you need to want to make them better.

Email us with your name, organisation and email and we’ll send you our popular Eight Steps to Effective Meetings

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What makes you an expert?

Posted on November 26, 2011 by charlotte

This question is troubling me at the moment ever since shopping last week for cat food.  I came across a new brand which seemed cheaper than our current one but it was not the price that caught my eye more the large message on the side stating the product had been tested by experts!

So who are these experts?

Are they cats?  If so how did they get to be elevated to experts?  Was there some sort of job application process?   Maybe a beauty parade or were only the fattest or hungriest cats chosen for this accolade.  Someone told me they thought the cat food testing experts were in fact humans but again if that is true how does one become an expert on food for cats?
So I started to wonder then about all this expert stuff and more importantly how do we decide who is an expert and who isn’t.  I, certainly, like most people receive lots of emails purporting to be from experts in social media, email marketing and website development.  How can we sort our experts from those we believe in to those who just tell us they are experts.   Kim Davis of Sarsaparilla Marketing says she started her marketing business with tag line ‘protecting companies from the three Fs Flash, Fluff and Fakers’ because too many people are around offering help and advice with little more than a day more than you in knowledge.   I was delighted to have the chance to meet and talk to Kim and her experience, personality and style convinced me she was an expert and that without yet testing her out.

So do you trust experts? 

Do you have a favourite expert you are working with right now?  How did you choose them and how did you know they were right for you.
I don’t want to disappoint you but my cats were not impressed with the new brand despite my explaining to them the experts test.  We have returned to our former and more expensive brand and peace reigns again in our household.

Charlotte Mannion is the founder and a director of Quick Learn Limited a small communications consultancy based in Wiltshire.  She is the author of a number of Useful Guides covering Report Writing, Public Speaking, and Mentoring as well as How to Give the Perfect Wedding Speech.

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Procrastination or Fear …… Do you put off writing reports?

Posted on October 27, 2011 by charlotte

Very few of us are formally taught the skills of writing for business.  Despite that we are usually expected to know how to communicate effectively in writing in a business style.

For those people who were educated in the halcyon days when schools taught only ‘creative writing’ many of us missed out on learning the basic rules and structure of our language.  This of course means that it is difficult to know how to set out and argue a clear and unambiguous case in a style that reflects the needs of the readers.

I know because I was thrown in at the deep end when joining a management consultancy as their learning and development consultant.  I was sent out to review a client’s training needs by talking to the managers and the staff and then write a report of my findings and subsequent recommendations.

I had never written anything like this before.  I knew there was some sort of structure but for what purpose?  I was nervous because like many people I thought reports were difficult, time consuming and packed with complicated and seldom used words.  No wonder we all avoided them.

So like many new report writers I found a template with report headings on the internet and started writing.  Wrong!  Despite being described as report writing the writing part is the last part of the process.  Hemingway when interviewed about his novels said” Writing is long periods of planning and short periods of writing.” And so it is with report writing.  The more you think and plan at the front end the easier the writing part will be.  The
Useful Guide to Report Writing published by Pansophix  is designed to help you put together a report which will inform, evaluate and advise your readers accurately, briefly and clearly in the shortest possible time.

Every written communication involves the writer, the reader and the message itself. In order for the message to be understood the writer must clarify his or her ideas, order the information, select the right words and present it in a way which is understandable.

The reader’s role is to read, to check understanding, to provide feedback and to act on the results.  As a result it should be clear that the most important person in this relationship is the reader.  The message must be geared to the needs of the reader(s).

Charlotte Mannion is the founder and a director of Quicklearn.  As well as delivering communication skills learning to large and small groups she has written a number of Useful Guides for Pansophix.  Her latest Guide Report Writing was published on the 7 November 2011

 

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