Manager's Minute 

When you've only got a minute for management you haven't got a minute to waste.

The power of a PACT

A critical management function is the ability to have effective meetings with colleagues at all levels (it is good to remember that everyone in the business is in fact a colleague. I am always amazed at the split caused by talking about Management and Employees. So far as my understanding goes managers are also employees)

I use the word PACT as an acronym for Purpose - Awareness - Choice - Transformation. Using this process keeps you focussed and in control of the meeting and it ensures that there is a definite outcome with defined deliverables.

P = Purpose

It is essential that you clarify the intent for the meeting. You need to know Why you are meeting and you need to know what you want to achieve so define outcomes.

With this knowledge you are able to guide, and control, the flow of the meeting to ensure that it is going in the right direction. all too often you can start off talking about one thing then get sidetracked and end up talking about something quite different. (This is called being "hijacked by feedback", but more on that later)

A = Awareness

Describe the existing situation. For you to be able to get to where you are going there are two critical bits of information, that, if lacking will lead to ineffective action.

1. You have to know where you are now, and 2. You have to know where you want to go.

Describing the existing situation in factual and logical, not fantasised and emotional, terms is essential. Rather than saying "this situation is a mess", describe what has happened that makes you think that it is a mess. Use only the 5 senses of "See, touch, taste, hear, smell". The risk that you run with emotional descriptions (your interpretation) is that an argument can develop over whether or not your interpretation is accurate and that is not the point of the meeting.

Two very important points to bear in mind.

Don't "AWFULIZE" by making the situation sound worse than it is. This will actually make the situation worse because you may over-react or you may feel that it is beyond salvage and so fail to react.

Don't "MINIMIZE" by making the situation sound less serious than it is. If you don't think that it is important you won't think that it is important to fix it. And, if it isn't important why are you wasting other people's time with it?

Make sure that you listen to all other points of view. In this stage you need to gather as much information as possible. (Tip: Suspend judgement of the information and/or the person delivering the information. Just gather, you'll sort later. If you interfere here the flow of information may either dry up or be diverted to what the others think you want to hear)

In this section HONESTY is vital.

C = Choice

Describe the desired situation and identify options available.

Now let's look at that 2nd critical piece of information. "You have to know where you want to go". So describe the desired situation. Here it is very important that you are very clear and specific regarding the desired outcome. No wishy/washy statements like "Do better" or "Work harder" etc. Describe in detail what the desired situation will look like when achieved. Use specific measurables such as:- by when - by who - how many - how fast - how accurate - cost - profit etc.

Just remember that if you do not know where you want to go the risk is that you will end up someplace that you do not want to be.

Now that you are clear on where you want to go you can identify options available to you that you can choose from. What have you got that you can use to get you from where you are to where you want to go? What must you get to get you from where you are now to where you want to go?

In this section CLARITY is critical.

T = Transformation

What activities are necessary to transform the existing situation into the desired situation.

Now it's time to take action so identify, and describe, the activities that are necessary to transform the existing situation into the desired situation.

Create an action plan with agreed responsibilities and deliverables and set to work to transform the existing situation into the desired situation.

This is where the PACT comes in. What is a PACT? It is a formal agreement between 2 or more people (you can make a pact even make a pact with yourself) All parties must agree on and commit to the action plan.

In this section ACTION is essential

That's it for today, I look forward to your comments and experiences related to this message. Mail them to me at johan@motivate.co.za

PS: Please pass this message on to any of your business colleagues you feel may benefit from it.

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Quote for the week

The essence of management is making good  decisions.

The foundation of good decisions is sufficient, accurate and relevant information.

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Did You Know?

To hit the nail on the head, meaning to be precisely right about something or to clearly identify a situation is an idiom that stems from an old trading tradition practised in markets of old. The "nails" were stone or later steel pillars about 1 meter high around which the traders would bargain. When the deal was agreed they would "hit the nail on the head" and the deal was sealed. Some of these old "nails" can still be seen at St Nicholas market in Bristol

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