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Shot in the arm or in the head?
VERY often desperate managements call me in to try interventions with teams to improve and boost morale and add zip to flagging spirits. I am successful. Sometimes. But mostly I have to struggle very hard because the malaise has been too long neglected and the dispiritedness has settled like a shroud over their zombie-like existences. Success, as in the case of life threatening disease comes from appropriate treatment administered well in time. And so, diagnosis should be effective and swift so that the malady can be caught in time.
Signs of the times
The first signs are when people start coming a few minutes late to the office everyday and asking to leave a little early. Now this could be for several legitimate, reasons. But mostly this is a way of telegraphing ennui. If the manager or supervisor agrees without quibbling, the reaction is often one of disappointment, not of relief or gratefulness! You see, this minor act of kindness by a tolerant supervisor is perceived as not caring! On the other hand if it is refused on the grounds that the employee came in late, the same feeling of ill-usage is felt, and again the manager is branded as uncaring! A lose-lose situation! So the correct and hoped-for reaction? A kind enquiry if there is a domestic crisis and whether the late entry in the morning had anything to do with it. In this way, the supervisor is signalling that he is aware of the late coming but is concerned more for the employee than for the rules. One brownie point. Then enquire about any problems at work and whether the employee has everything he needs for the conduct of his work. This indicates that you have noticed a mild fall in productivity and that you are not concerned so much for the work, but in your support and the employee's state of motivation. Second brownie point, this time in spades! Finally seeking the opinion of the employee on any office related matter wins you the last trick. Grand Slam, Pique, Repiqued and capotted, call it what you will but you have nipped the demon of insurgence and despair in the bud.
Often nothing further needs to be done. Check by noticing the in and out times for the next week. No late coming, no worry!
The missed bus syndrome
If, on the other hand you have left it a little too late then do not hesitate to call in the cavalry. Not little blue-uniformed puppets on fairground ponies but that ubiquitous breed of men and women called the external experts! Why? If matters have got a little out of hand, your people are not going to talk to you with the same candour that they used to. In fact, you will have become one of `them', meaning the guys on top and not one of the team anymore. You have become the representative of the `enemy' and not their ambassador plenipotentiary with the management. They are, therefore not going to trust you much and you will not be able to find out what their specific problem is anymore. The external resource on the other hand is an unknown quantity, and just as people talk to total strangers on trains, sharing intimate details about your personal philosophy, so will employees open up to the external expert. They are, after all wanting to tell someone who will listen to them. Anyone except the person they think is to blame; you! And if they are assured that information they share will not be identifiably attributable, you will get all you need to know to diffuse the situation before it gets any worse!
Ears to the ground
Its important to keep one's ears to the ground and not pinned back to one's head! There is always a perceptible groundswell and if you can sense it coming the better you'll be able to deal with it effectively. Many management types think that coming on the strong and strict taskmaster will serve them well. Perhaps it will. It will certainly augur early retirement! Once upon a time, employees expected to be downtrodden and suppressed. Not anymore! Today its all about openness and transparency and the magic `E' word, empowerment! If there's any treading to be done, they'll do it - on the management! Jackbooted tyranny doesn't work any more and will prove very prejudicial to any organisation's interest! Getting people to work for you is about showing that you can do it with them and that you are there for them... always. That's it! Availability! Good and effective managers of motivated teams are shining examples of people who are always there for their people. I often twist the saying "Don't just sit there - do something!" to a more appropriate, "Don't just do something - sit there!" That's what people want. They want someone who can be depended upon, someone who's always there for advice, succour, comfort and a quick shot in the arm!
Language, language!
Another good way to spread delight and motivation on the organisational slice of bread is a quick change of vocabulary. Going to one's team and saying, "Guys, we have a problem, two days to do a week's work!" may work once, perhaps even twice but after a while they are going to think, "This guy only seems to graduate from problem to problem!" and they'll all mentally groan when you heave to on their horizon! On the other hand a quick retouch to the old vocabulary will get you an enthusiastic response every time. If your were to rephrase to; "Gentlemen! We have a great exciting project to do and it requires your brains and my brawn! Lets show `em that we can break records with this one!" Its likely that the motivated team will rise to the challenge and actually do the project (the same thing you called a problem, remember?) in good time to make the late show!
Be calm to becalm
One thing that energises teams is the fact that you, their supervisor is unflappable. If you stay cool and collected no matter what the provocation, it's very likely that your team will find working with you a cinch. They will actually boast that they have no pressure despite the deadlines you have set for them! And this is because it does not seem to be a deadline to them! If you treat it as just another thing to do, they will too, and the pressure will seldom build up. When it does, all it takes for you to do is to go up to their workstation and apply a little of your pressure relief tactics. A joke or a shaft or two of lateral thought will steady the rocking boat again.
Motivation is something that comes with practice, and by watching an accomplished manager handling his super-team. No school teaches you these skills, but experience and habit will make you into a leader people like following!
S. RAMANUJACHARYA
professor1@sify.com
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