As a manager things get thrown at you; often lots of things, some with important deadlines.

Your job is NOT to CATCH and then DO all these things. Your job is to CATCH and then DEAL with them.

What’s the difference?

Step 1 is the CATCH. This you must do. Ignoring or dropping things just makes you look unreliable. You will lose trust and credibility. So make the CATCH and let the person throwing it know what will happen to it. Keep a list of what you have caught and keep it updated as you do step 2.

Step 2 is to DEAL with what you have caught. This might mean throwing it back, throwing it sideways, delegating it, or keeping it on the shelf for a while, or sometimes doing it yourself. You need to decide what happens.

Your job is to assess what you CATCH. That is why people throw you stuff. They want you to think about it first, and then DEAL with it.

Clearly one of the tools for any manager to DEAL with things is delegation. How good are you at delegation?

My best wishes, Paul

By Paul Matthews – Speaker/Author/Guru on Informal Learning and Workforce Capability
Author of “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times”
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and Google+

Dr. Adam Grant (in his book “Give and Take”) describes three types of people: Takers, Matchers, or Givers. ‘Takers’ strive to get as much as possible from others and ‘Matchers’ aim to trade evenly. ‘Givers’ are the rare breed of people who contribute to others without expecting anything in return.

Which are you?

How about people you know?

Who do you most like to be around?

Which of these three types would you want on your team?

Which would you prefer as your boss?

Which of these types would your team like you to be?

Who would you rather help with their projects and goals? A Taker, a Matcher or a Giver?

Your success is heavily dependent on how you interact with others, and how they choose to interact with you.

Which do you think gives you a better shot at long term success in your job and fulfilment in your life? Being a Taker, a Matcher or a Giver?

My best wishes, Paul

By Paul Matthews – Speaker/Author/Guru on Informal Learning and Workforce Capability
Author of “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times”
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and Google+

There is just one little problem, and Einstein said it so well.
“I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.”

Who will you be?

Think about the person you want to be. Write down a list of their values and beliefs, and a description of how they look and how they behave.

What aspects of who you are now have no place in who you will be?

What do you currently do that would never be done by who you will be?

What do you currently believe that would never be believed by who you will be?

What do you need to give up in order to make the change?

What is holding you stuck?

It’s up to you whether you tolerate who you are or start thinking differently, and then doing things differently.

Any change you want at work (or at home) begins with you. How do you react?

My best wishes, Paul

By Paul Matthews – Speaker/Author/Guru on Informal Learning and Workforce Capability
Author of “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times”
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and Google+

“Here’s what I’m thinking”…

What did you expect me to say, and are you interested?

Turn that around and realise that people on your team are interested in what you are thinking.

You are in charge, but that doesn’t mean you are smarter, or more insightful than everyone else.

Back up your statements and decisions. Give reasons and share your thinking. Justify with logic and benefits, not just with position or authority.

Taking the time to explain your decisions opens those decisions up to discussion and criticism. The advantage is that it also opens up your decisions to improvement.

Authority can make you “right”, and might be good for your ego. But collaboration makes everyone right; and makes everyone pull together.

Here are a few other tips on engaging people in your team.

My best wishes, Paul

By Paul Matthews – Speaker/Author/Guru on Informal Learning and Workforce Capability
Author of “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times”
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and Google+

When did you last give your staff a good listening to?

To be really listened to is a unique experience for many people. It is a gift they seldom receive. There is a great deal of difference in being listened to, and being heard.

When was the last time you received such a gift when someone was present for you, and really listened in order to understand?

If you can remember, how did that feel? And do you like them as a person?

If you can’t remember, and many people can’t, how do you think you would feel?

Every week, give a member of your team, or your friend or your spouse, or your child a good listening to. Who will you listen to this week?

Listen without any intent to reply.

Listen to empathise and understand.

Listen so that at the end, they don’t even know your position on the topic because you haven’t said anything about you or your stuff; they just know that you understand.

Here is a short test to measure how good you are as a listener.

My best wishes, Paul

By Paul Matthews – Speaker/Author/Guru on Informal Learning and Workforce Capability
Author of “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times”
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and Google+

I read a rather provocative blog post the other day titled “get rid of job descriptions and you’ll hire better people”.

Lou Adler, who wrote the blog, advocates a performance profile rather than a job/candidate description. For him a performance profile is a description of the work that a person needs to successfully accomplish in their first 12 months on the job. It is a set of performance objectives rather than a list of qualifications and required years of experience.

I find this approach very seductive because right from the start it is focusing job candidates on the fact that this organisation values performance rather than seniority/experience in a role. It gives the opportunity in the interview process to describe actual projects and business objectives, and the candidate gets the opportunity to “sell” themselves to you as the person who can deliver on those objectives.

You will be focusing on finding the candidate most likely to succeed, but from a subtly different standpoint then the traditional CV/job description method. And unless you have the perfect candidate, you will also become aware of potential gaps in their ability to perform, and therefore have an idea of the performance support they will need in order to meet the stated objectives. It occurs to me that having a conversation with a candidate about their preferred methods for accessing performance support would be a good idea. This is about finding out what the candidate would need FROM you to deliver on your objectives rather than just focussing on what the candidate can do for you.

Here’s a link to the post

My best wishes, Paul

By Paul Matthews – Speaker/Author/Guru on Informal Learning and Workforce Capability
Author of “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times”
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and Google+

Aristotle said “Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole end and aim of human existence.”

Ask people what they want and they will give you many answers. Ask them WHY they want what they want, and most will give you a high level reason like happiness.

How do you know that getting what you want will make you happy?

As you go through the day, check in on your happiness level.

Learn what makes you happy. For these activities, what is it about them that adds the happiness factor?

And learn what activities you are simply tolerating, and what stifles your happiness.

Now here is the big question…

Do you choose to do something about it?

Here are some tips on what to do, if you decide to do something

My best wishes, Paul

By Paul Matthews – Speaker/Author/Guru on Informal Learning and Workforce Capability
Author of “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times”
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and Google+

The Golden Rule is ‘Treat others as you would like to be treated.’

But you are different to other people… aren’t you?

Some people like to be the centre of attention, others prefer the side-lines; some like to be given all the little details, others just want the big picture; some like to have everything planned in advance, others prefer to be more spontaneous.

Which do you prefer? What about your colleagues? You see, you already know this stuff.

You like to be treated the way you like to be treated, and others do to.

So the platinum rule is ‘Treat others the way THEY want to be treated.’

If you are unsure, or even if you think you are sure, ask them what they prefer.

For example, ‘That information you need each week about the London project… how much detail do you want?’

And you could also check their behavioural style (and yours) against this simple and very helpful model. Which one are you?

My best wishes, Paul

By Paul Matthews – Speaker/Author/Guru on Informal Learning and Workforce Capability
Author of “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times”
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and Google+

Did you know that you are wetware? I didn’t until recently.

The computer or smartphone you are using is the hardware, the programs or apps running on it are the software, and you, my friend, are the wetware.

The hardware and software go through regular upgrades to introduce new features and new capabilities to cope with changing needs due to our changing world.

When did you last get an upgrade?

What new upgraded capabilities do you need to cope with your changing world?

Where can you find the upgrade file, the information, the advice, the methods, the techniques and tools to move a capability to the next level?

If you have access, Alchemy for Managers is a good place to start

Or use Google, or ask your colleagues, or find a book.

Whatever you find, you will need to learn, because all upgrades require learning something new. To make this easier, find out your learning style here.

My best wishes, Paul

By Paul Matthews – Speaker/Author/Guru on Informal Learning and Workforce Capability
Author of “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times”
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and Google+

The term learnscape was coined during the 1970s to denote areas set aside in schools where pupils could interact with the environment and learn from that interaction. It could have been a special plot in the grounds where they planted seeds, a frog pond to observe the frog’s life cycle, or an ant farm in the classroom. The whole concept was about interaction and the involvement of all concerned: pupils, teachers and also parents and the community.

The term has evolved somewhat for use in an organizational context, but it still embodies the central ideas of collaboration, involvement and integration across different groups and stakeholders.

Every organization has a learning environment, or learnscape. It is the ecosystem that comprises all that is within or around an organization that has an impact on learning. Employees, and sometimes customers and suppliers, exist within this learnscape; how much or how easily they learn is dependent on how well the learnscape is functioning.

Now, here is the critical thing about a learnscape, and it’s something that many people don’t realize and need to understand: very little of the learning that happens is due to formal training. The majority of what people know how to do in order to fulfil their job roles, they have learnt outside the classroom or any formal training initiative. Most of the learning that goes on within any learnscape is informal learning and you can’t force informal learning. All you can do is provide a backdrop and an environment in which it is more likely to occur. To do this you need to manage your learnscape.

A learnscape is a learning ecosystem. You don’t create it; it is already there. You tend it and manage it to enhance it. This is analogous to a garden. You don’t create a garden out of thin air: the ground already exists, but you can tend it to bring harmony and beauty. You do this by ensuring the garden provides all that the plants need to thrive, including nutrients, water, shelter and so on. Gardeners do not control the growth of a plant directly, any more than managers can control learning. Gardeners know they can influence, but not control, the plants. All the same, they’ll be delighted when a plant bursts into bloom unexpectedly. It’s the same with a learnscape.

If people are working in an environment where they can flourish, most of them will. There are lots of elements you can introduce into a landscape to make things grow better, but how you introduce them makes a difference. You can pour fertilizer onto a garden, but if it’s not soluble in water, it won’t make any difference to the plants. It’s not bio-available. It’s the same with the learnscape. You can pour information into a learnscape, but if it’s not available for people to use, it won’t be of any benefit to them.

I see this happening in some companies. They say, “We have a glut of information. It’s all on the Intranet.” I ask them to show me some of the information and often they can’t find it because it’s not easily accessible. So, if you’re feeding information into a learnscape, you need to make sure that the information is bio-available.

With a plant, you can put a trellis up a wall for it to grow around, but you can’t make it grow the way you want it to. It will grow the way it pleases. You can direct plants, but there’s always a point at which the plants grow the way they want. It’s the same with people. You can encourage career progression. You can encourage learning and development in a certain direction, but ultimately it’s down to individuals to do what they want. Some will use the information and produce results and some, unfortunately, will not.

With new people, you can nurture their introduction into the organization, just as a gardener protects and nurtures seedlings until they are strong enough to cope. You can take newcomers through induction processes and protect them until they’re strong enough to stand on their own. For example, they might go through a training course on product knowledge, or shadow a veteran before you let them loose with real life customers.

Occasionally in a garden, you may find that a plant is doing badly or that weeds have begun to flourish. What do you do? You remove the poor performing plant or weeds. In an organization, people who aren’t pulling their weight are usually removed if all attempts at helping them to do better have failed. Not everybody is right for every company. Also, when you are pulling weeds, you need to be careful you don’t damage the good plants.

My best wishes, Paul

By Paul Matthews – Speaker/Author/Guru on Informal Learning and Workforce Capability
Author of “Informal Learning at Work: How to Boost Performance in Tough Times”
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn and Google+