Learn to say ‘no’

It’s not easy to say no to a co-worker or boss, because we fear damaging the relationship or appearing incapable. We need to stop looking at saying no as a choice between confrontation and staying on good terms. Instead, say no when you have to, and keep a neutral demeanor. Be clear and firm. If you say no tentatively, you can give false hope — the person will think you might change your mind and will just keep pushing you. Give a good business reason for your refusal up front — and stick with it. If you try to soften the no by offering weak excuses and holding back the real reason, you’ll appear disingenuous. Saying no neutrally doesn’t come naturally, so try practicing beforehand with someone who will push back.

(Adapted from Say No Without Burning Bridges, by Holly Weeks)

Find new go-to employees

Many managers have a small circle of ‘usual suspects’ that they trust to handle key projects or initiatives. But relying on these key people too often — and constantly piling special assignments onto their regular duties — can wear them out and make their performance suffer. Take a step back and think about how to expand your talent pool to get the results you want and ensure that no one is being stretched too thin. Map out your committees, task forces and other special assignment groups to see if you have a ‘usual suspect’ bottleneck. If the same names keep coming up again and again, it’s time to prioritise assignments, consolidate teams and, most importantly, add other people to your list. Think of other employees who might welcome new assignments. Are there some high potentials who aren’t being fully challenged? Can you find other people to trust outside of your circle?

(Adapted from Good Managers Look Beyond Their ‘Usual Suspects’, by Ron Ashkenas)

Use smaller rewards to foster innovation

Offering big rewards for innovation can produce a flood of ideas — but that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Too many projects can overwhelm the pipeline, leaving you unable to execute and demoralising employees who keep walking away empty-handed. Try using low-powered incentives (e.g., 10pc of an idea’s value) because they produce a healthy number of small ideas, which are easier for a company to act on. Because true breakthrough ideas are so rare, the best approach is to focus on increasing the variety of ideas — and to weave smaller-scale incentives into a culture that encourages experimentation and doesn’t punish failure. Some companies even reward failures that are informative. Steps like these help employees get over the fear of failure and think beyond the ‘acceptable’ innovations that they think management wants to hear.

(Adapted from Don’t Offer Employees Big Rewards for Innovation, by Oliver Baumann and Nils Stieglitz)

Schedule important work for the right time

Most people have a time of day when they’re most productive, which means that if you calibrate the day’s activities to the right times, you can maximise your efficiency. Many people can get a lot done between 9 am and 11 am, but not so much at 3 pm (except for night owls). Think back to yesterday and the day before. At which points did you feel at your most energetic? Once you’ve identified these high-potential hours, guard them. Block them off your calendar, so people can’t schedule meetings during this valuable time. Use these hours for high-priority projects and tough decision-making, for tasks that require willpower and complex thinking.

(Adapted from When to Schedule Your Most Important Work, by Ron Friedman)

Create a candid culture

Leaders often try to create an open culture, where people feel comfortable speaking up and challenging one another, by saying they’re listening. But you can go further to demonstrate that your company is a safe place for people to raise issues.

Praise publicly. Create a safe forum for people to raise questions and concerns, and then laud those who ask them. Public acknowledgment is more about influencing those who hear it than those who receive it.

Model behaviour. You can show that it is safe to speak up by saying the hard things yourself. Raise difficult issues to show they’re not taboo and encourage people to contribute to the conversation.

Teach communication skills. Don’t just encourage openness. Teach people how to have difficult conversations that involve diffusing tensions, speaking candidly without provoking resistance and quickly building rapport. These new skills will leave people more confident in speaking up.

(Adapted from 4 Ways Leaders Can Create a Candid Culture, by Joseph Grenny)

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, September 29th, 2014