What do great workplace mentoring and great haircuts have in common?

Mentoring and great haircuts have a lot in common, in my experience. I disguised Debbie Elliot Salon and Day Spa as “Looking Great Salon and Day Spa” in Chapter 8 of my book. Debbie, now a partner in Bailey and Elliot Consulting, had created an impressive workplace mentoring system that gave her business a significant competitive edge. And gave me great haircuts.
I never expected to find another impressive workplace mentoring system when I started to go to Acapello Salon. I just wanted great haircuts again. June Juliano, founder and owner of Acapello Salons and The Men’s Room, has steadily expanded her business throughout this economic downturn. Workplace mentoring is one key to her success. June and I are both honored to be featured in Salon Today Magazine, a nationally renowned publication that promotes best practices in the salon industry.

It’s the proverbial 98˚ in the shade on a late afternoon in August. A dozen or so men are outside a house, measuring, sawing, hammering, sweating, and putting the finishing touches on an extreme wheelchair ramp. It’s huge; it looks like a party deck. It sits on top of a new, paved wheelchair path that’s wide enough to be a driveway, stretching across a large lawn, landscaped perfectly. A team of other men built that. No one hired any of them to do this. No one paid them to do this. They saw a need, and filled it.
Edna, 91 years old, lives here, and she’s looking out from inside in amazement. Three days ago there was just the lawn, too bumpy to roll a wheelchair, too wet to just drive a car over. And unless her husband can be safely gotten between the far-away driveway and the door to the house, the rehabilitation hospital will not release him to come home. Charles, also 91, has been in hospital for three months, recovering from a life-threatening illness. They’ve been married for 68 years, friends for 86 years, and their hearts are breaking at being separated.
Edna has visited Charles every day. She does not drive, so a group of people have taken her to the hospital. They not only have transported her, they spend time with her, helping her stay strong. No one hired or paid them, either.
Fast forward a couple of weeks. Charles is home again, he and Edna deeply grateful for the help they never asked for. They often say “help is for people who need it, and others need it more than we.” Then comes still more unsolicited help. The president of an organization to which Charles and some of the ramp builders belong, stops by and says “We voted unanimously that we’re going to pay for the ramp and pathway materials, because everyone wanted a chance to contribute.”
Charles and Edna have lived lives of service to their community over the 60 years they’ve been there. Their list of significant volunteer involvements is much too long to cite. So, on one level, this is a story of “what you sow, you reap.” People wanted to help in proportion to how much help Charles and Edna had given others. One organizer even said “Charles is special. We wouldn’t do this for anyone but him.”
On another level, this is a story about three separate but interconnected groups of people coming together in collaboration. They were: the Town Agency on Aging, which Edna helped found decades ago and volunteered for until relatively recently; the Minutemen, a social group that is interested in the Revolutionary War, where for a very long time Charles was the entire marching fife and drum section; and an array of friends and neighbors.
The motivation for “Operation Get Charles and Edna Together Again” was rooted in admiration, neighborliness, gratitude, and friendship. Its effectiveness, though, is a study in the power of spontaneously created teams. Is this how teams function in businesses? Very rarely. With the help of some key players in this cause-based project, I will explore why and how they did what they did, and draw implications for how businesses can create space for such inspired teamwork.
I asked these people three questions: Why did you contribute to this project/service? How did you see your role? Why do you think the efforts were so successful? All of their names have been changed in this article, at their request. They are humble people, who point fingers at each other in giving credit. Each thinks the others played more important roles. Yet they are proud of what they did. Coincidentally, all of those with whom I spoke are successful business team leaders in their professional lives. They easily identified the aspects that such leaders should consider when a spontaneous team could contribute flexibility and expertise to a specific goal.
Inspire people with your cause. Anson Smith was the coordinator of the project. He is a professional contractor, so is highly skilled. Why did he contribute to this project? He says “I guess it’s because I seem to jump in where I see a problem and I have some ability to solve it. If I was rich, I would probably give lots of money to worthy causes. Lacking those resources, I share what others I do have, which take the form of talents, training and experience. I’m a civil engineer and a construction project manager; I have done lots of carpentry; I have experience dealing with my parents in their waning years; and I have managed/led many teams of people in a variety of settings. When I heard of the challenge Charles and Edna were up against, I knew I could help. I had the time, the ability, and I knew some others that would want to help to make it doable. Charles had been a great inspiration for me when I first joined the Minutemen. He coached me in playing the bass drum which I continue to this day with enthusiasm. He’s one of the more decent people I know. He deserves the help.
I saw my role generally as doing what was needed to make it happen, the organizer. I also wanted to be sure the family understood and agreed with all that we were planning, and they would help their parents through the emotional turmoil it was going to cause as we did it. It’s one thing to hear the instructions from the nursing home, but another to have swarms of strangers climbing all over and transforming your home according to those instructions. The changes can be pretty scary. So I saw my role as the communicator with Edna and her family members.
This project was successful because inspirational subjects energize communities. This was a cause people could relate to. There was great support from very good people in the community. Edna and her family were great to work with. People have an inherent need to be helpful, especially if the ones needing help seem vulnerable and the help will make a difference.”
How can you capture the hearts of those whom you wish to engage? If you want people to come forth and say “I want to help with this,” the cause must be vivid, compelling, and value-based. It must offer those who help a feeling of pride in accomplishing something they see as important. One ramp team member said “think barn-raising.”
Assess people’s strengths relative to the cause, and use those strengths. Frank Eishen calls himself an enthusiastic amateur. “I got involved, but did very little. I had given the town agency on aging an 11 ½ foot ramp that I’d built and didn’t need any more. I thought if Charles and Edna need a ramp in a hurry, it may work. It didn’t.
Charles and Edna are good and nice people. One of my wife’s prize possessions is a bluebird that Charles carved. Years ago, she was trying to get bluebirds into the yard, with no luck. I asked if Charles could carve a bluebird by that Christmas, and he did.
Anson ran everything. I didn’t do much except carry wood. My role was as a helper. The pros got involved, and that made the project work. There was a lot of unskilled labor, and the pros managed the amateurs to build the pathway and the ramp. We had very enthusiastic volunteers. The role that made it all come together was Anson’s. He is a professional coordinator. He planned and designed. We amateurs rallied behind the pros. A big lesson is that the amateurs and pros worked together. The amateurs speeded the process with bodies, and the pros made sure none of us used the nail guns. But we could use the saws, according to skill level.
My advice to businesses, based on this project: This has everything to do with teams in business. As a manager, I know certain people have and do not have certain skills. You have to find the strengths and use them. Shape roles to strengths. Use enthusiastic amateurs according to what they have to offer, use the pros to lead.
We identified who were the subject matter experts, and put them in charge of their areas of expertise. They used the enthusiastic amateurs to maximize their talents. ‘You hold the wood, I’ll nail it.’ Teams have to figure out who is doing what. The pros can get jaded and tired. Enthusiastic amateurs provide energy and great feedback. There was a lot of appreciative feedback. ‘Wow, this is super and great stuff. We appreciate your skills.’ Accentuate the positive and drop the negative. Don’t let amateurs use the nail guns, but do ask what their expertise is and use it.”
How can you shape roles to strengths? Put titles and job descriptions aside. This is not business as usual, it is a cause with specific needs. Identify what those needs are, and define corresponding talents and skills.
Do not hesitate to ask for help. Ben Roberts is one of those subject matter experts. He owns and runs a road construction company, in addition to being a professional firefighter. He donated machinery, materials, crew, and his own time to build the wheelchair path. He grew up with Charles and Edna’s children, and lives just up the road.
“Charles and Edna are very nice people. I’ve known them all my life. I’m a town boy, I’m a Pleasant Road boy. Charles is a Mason and fireman, so am I. I’m getting older, but there are people older than I am. You have to take care of them. It’s a nice town, and it’s nice to give back. When the Minutemen came to me, I said I could donate machines and labor, but couldn’t pay for all the materials. So I asked the materials supplier to donate half, and he did. All you have to do is communicate the need, and people are happy to help. I got my cousin involved to build the ramp. The Minutemen are great guys, but they don’t do this every day. My cousin and his crew do. There’s a world of talent in town. People can do all kinds of things. Some dig, some build, some coordinate. You just have to ask. Old people, new people, everyone pitches in together.”
How can you elicit help? Ask people personally, letting them know what you think they would bring to the cause, and why you think they would see their contribution as important. Educate them on what skills and talents are needed in general, and encourage them to personally elicit the help of others.
You reap what you sow. Ginny Hinson enjoys systematizing. Edna had so much to figure out: how to get to see her husband, go grocery shopping, remember to drink enough water to stay healthy herself. Ginny organized. And baked comfort goodies.
“I know Edna and Charles from town. I’ve always enjoyed talking with Edna. It was easy to get people together to transport Edna to see Charles, do errands, and certainly to spend time with her. Everyone loves Edna and Charles.
It is not my typical role to coordinate drivers, but I care, I’m organized, and I have had experience with volunteer transportation in the past. When Edna called me for a ride, I asked her if she would like me to coordinate the rides. She was grateful to have me pull people together. Anybody in town would have done it. It was a simple solution.
The people doing the driving were not necessarily affiliated with the town council on aging, they were just neighbors and friends. They were not on a list of any sort, I just called them. It was easy to find people who adore Edna.
My philosophy is that the community came together because Edna and Charles are loved in town. You reap what you sow. No one told people they should help, they wanted to. Maybe we wouldn’t have liked helping so much if we didn’t care for Edna and Charles so much. Our efforts to help captured realistic enthusiasm with no directive. That encourages people to do for each other. “
How can you model the energetic dedication you want to engender in others? Play a role, according to your own talents and strengths. Leave your own title and job description behind. You may find you are not the correct team leader for this causal effort. This work has no room for ego, only for collaboration.
There is probably room for everyone who wants to help. I could not interview everyone who played a part. Many did, and some continue to do so. Others who were not part of the project help with Edna’s and Charles’ new needs. Their next door neighbor, who has been close to Edna and Charles all his life, responded to Edna’s late night call that Charles was seriously ill, went to their house immediately, assessed, and called an ambulance. He helped save Charles’ life. Their best friend helped Edna orient to the hospital, where she volunteers, kept Edna company, visited Charles, took many turns taking Edna where she needed to go. She continues to be a constant support as well as a wonderful friend. Their neighbor, who plows their driveway, works second shift. During the pathway and ramp building project, he delivered a cooler full of cold drinks on his way to work, picked up the empty cooler late at night when he returned home. Another neighbor, a nurse who takes Edna’s and Charles’ blood pressure as a town volunteer, still sends her husband to collect their trash weekly and her sons to shovel the ramp and pathway in the winter. She visits with them at length, and even takes them to the library, which they love, at her own insistence. The director of the town agency on aging is both a formal resource and friend. She keeps her antennae up constantly. She sees and anticipates needs, and gets the word out.
How can you productively involve many hands? Alter team membership as needs alter. Encourage people to play very specific roles according to what they can most productively contribute. End the causal project when it is over, and only retain teamwork where it is still needed. Celebrate lasting value. In Edna’s and Charles’ case, the project and project team were finished when Charles came home. They have new or strengthened ties, though, to the people in their community who helped. Happily, Charles is no longer in a wheelchair, but the ramp and pathway are still essential to their safety. And serve as a daily reminder of the wonderful people in their community.
In summary, the five steps to launch the power of spontaneous, cause-based collaboration are:
1. Inspire people with your cause.
2. Assess people’s strengths relative to the cause.
3. Do not hesitate to ask for help.
4. Sow what you wish to reap.
5. Make room for everyone who wants to help.

Books to refresh your business and yourself

I love these books, and admire my brilliant colleagues who wrote them. They’re perfect Spring refreshers for your business and yourself. Click on the icons to go right to each book on Amazon. Enjoy!

Uncomplicating Management: Focus on Your Stars & Your Company Will Soar by Rick Dacri

Rick Dacri literally wrote the book on how to manage employees effectively. As we emerge from a devastating recession, employers need guidance with this post recession workplace. It is imperative that every effort, every person be productive every minute of the working day. Dacri minces no words in his recipe for managing successfully.

Dacri advises managers to “remove the deadwood” from their organizations. In this updated edition of his book he shows employers how to recognize the difference between star performers and problem employees, focus on the people who make their organizations work, and stop treating everyone the same. Dacri challenges managers to raise the bar in their organizations and to stop coddling the bottom. He teaches them how to hire, engage and retain star performers.

Uncomplicating Management provides insights to managers so that they can avoid problems and overcome challenges through the use of proven strategies developed by Dacri. The book provides a blueprint for eliminating workforce obstacles, improving long term performance issues, and protecting the organization from litigation.

This is a powerful guide to uncomplicating the art of managing people, providing straightforward advice that any manager in any sized organization can use on a daily basis. This book shows the reader how to make managing easy by “uncomplicating management”. Buy now!

Rick Dacri is the president and founder of Dacri & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in helping business owners and managers improve the performance and productivity of their organization and workforce. Dacri brings more than twenty five years of experience in senior management, organizational development, and human resources, all in one package. Dacri makes managing people less complicated by showing managers how they can effectively and easily engage their staff to its full potential. Visit Rick online at http://www.dacri.com.

Life Your Way by Amy Wood

“In this era of information overwhelm, staying open to new solutions to problems at home and work is no longer the issue. The key to adult growth and development is upgrading our capacity for coping with and capitalizing on a flow that is only going to become more frenzied and pervasive as technology advances. We can’t prevent the flow from gaining ground and force, but we can restructure and refine our existing strengths to better navigate and benefit from the onslaught. By establishing new strategies for success, strategies that draw out and fortify inner resources to calm the storm, we responsible adults can learn how to be in control, competent, confident, and complete–no matter how persuasive and persistent those professional and personal improvement appeals and antidotes become.” From Life Your Way.

In a genre that alternates between extremes of pseudo-mystical new-age fluff and inaccessible exercises in psychology that should come with a warning label, Amy Wood, an experienced psychologist and life coach in her own right has found the ground where reality meets expectations.

Wood knows from her own practice what works and what doesn’t when it comes to personal development. She understands intimately what people can handle and more important, what they’re willing to do. Using specific examples, she cuts to the heart of the matter and leads the reader through a logical sequence of steps that will make your journey to change manageable and satisfying. In each chapter she provides actionable steps to help you “Apply the Wisdom” that will help you get the results you’re looking for. Buy Now!

Think Like a Black Belt by Jim Bouchard

“When you hear the words Black Belt, you immediately think of other words like ‘as good as it gets’ and ‘the best.’  What does it take to actually be the best?  It takes a mindset – a way of thinking.  Jim, a real black belt himself, does a great job teaching you to be your best by obtaining the mindset that will propel you to excellence.  Read this book!”

Larry Winget
Television personality and 5 time New York Times/Wall Street Journal bestselling author
of Your Kids Are Your Own Fault and The Idiot Factor

“THINK LIKE A BLACK BELT is a much needed roundhouse kick to laziness and complacency for those of us who need that spark to make our dreams come true. Jim understands masterfully the age old premise that you have to THINK your way to a better life…by turning thoughts into positive action. Don’t just sit there…do something! Like reading this book, for starters! THINK LIKE A BLACK BELT will change the way you view success and bring your goals closer than they have ever been. No matter where you are in life, this book will nudge you along to the next level. A better you is just a few thoughts away.”

Spencer Hughes
Host of FOX ACROSS AMERICA, Foxnewstalk on XM & SIRIUS

Martial arts transformed Jim Bouchard’s self-perception from former drug abuser and failure to successful entrepreneur and Black Belt. As a speaker and author of Amazon bestseller Think Like a Black Belt, Jim tours nationally presenting his philosophy of Black Belt Mindset for corporate and conference audiences. He’s a regular guest on TV and radio programs including FOX News, BBC Worldview and FOX Across America.

Change the way you think about life, business and success forever. From now on…Think Like a Black Belt! Buy Now!

The Expert’s Edge by Ken Lizotte

Take your business to the next level! A “magic bullet” does exist!

• Become THE guru in your field
• Learn how to publish articles and even a book!
• Become a recognized public speaker
• Create a “client community” so you can raise your fees
• Use the internet creatively, wisely… effectively!

By becoming a “thought leader” in your target market, your business life will change forever. No more boom-and-bust, no more getting battered by the economy, no more losing out to your competition.

Your “expert’s edge” can push your business to the next level and keep you there. As a recognized thoughtleader, you’ll blow your competition away, make much more money, keep customers coming back (and sending you new ones)… and have fun! Buy Now!

Noble Enterprise
The Commonsense Guide to Uplifting People and Profits
by Darwin Gillett

If you want the insights, leadership tools – and inspiration – to create a noble enterprise and lead your people to new heights of performance, then this is the book for you.

We live in an era when people seek more meaning in their work, companies seek more effective ways to create sustainable growth and profitability, and society wonders if business will be about greed and unethical practices, or will play a positive role in society.  Meanwhile CEOs face the challenge of serving multiple stakeholders and the need to improve business performance – faster than ever. To respond to these challenges and to succeed in today’s business world, leaders need to create noble enterprises that draw forth and utilize the full range of human energies. Noble Enterprise shows how.

Noble Enterprise features the inspiring story of how one near-death company (losing one million dollars a day!) used the principles of Noble Enterprise to turn their company into an industry leader, in the process achieving huge leaps in employee morale, quality and market growth and profitability – all in just three years. Buy Now!

“Since 1989 I have read a minimum of 120 business books a year, and I can say without question that Noble Enterprise is one of the best I have ever read. Why? Because it does such an incredible job of getting to the heart and soul of what it takes to run a truly successful business in modern times.”

- John Spence
Executive Educator, Consultant & Speaker

Take your career to the next level. Five steps to find and use a mentor

Take your career to the next level: Five steps to find and use a MENTOR.

 

A mentor is a personal, portable, no-cost resource to help you set and meet your unique goals. Mentoring is an explicit one-to-one learning relationship between a person who wants to improve job or career skills and a person who can help him or her do that. Mentors are much more than “go-to” people. Mentors are champions of learning. Mentors take a position of high interest and investment in another’s development. They want to mentor. They share knowledge, encouragement, guidance and feedback about job content and organizational culture. They advocate for their mentees’ successes. Mentoring provides encouragement and structure to support the mentee. In the ideal, mentoring and being mentored is business as usual.

Why should you have one? You’re good at what you do. You are the one who helps customers solve their problems. You help your customers thrive. You are totally focused on their success. Who does that for you? Are you so busy meeting other people’s needs that you neglect yours? How will you

• Build your career?

• Expand your expertise?

• Develop your talents?

• Gain skills?

• Overcome your weaknesses?

• Maneuver the culture in your organization?

 

Your manager could be a logical choice to mentor you, but chances are that person is as busy as you are. You are booked solid with work, but you have aspirations that call for individual attention. A mentor is probably not going to volunteer without being invited. You have to find your own.

Here is a simple five-step process to find the help you want and use the help you find. Nothing here will surprise you. The process is intuitive, but working it requires discipline, and that’s the big challenge. This structure is designed to keep you on track, yet with flexibility to serve you throughout your career. Without structure, mentoring tends to become spotty and loses effectiveness.

1. Define what you want to accomplish and what help you need. Are you looking for technical expansion, career growth, objectivity, creativity, connections, etc.?

 

Examine yourself and be honest about what you need to keep doing, stop doing, and start doing to get there. Professionals like you cultivate confidence, thus others may not notice where you are lacking. You can be completely candid with a mentor, which is part of the purpose of having one. The more clearly you can see your strengths and weaknesses, the more willing you are to lay those out to someone you trust, the more successfully you will work with a mentor.

2. Find people who can offer you what you want, whom you admire, and who will feel honored at your request. One fundamental characteristic that any mentor must have is a passion for helping others succeed. Don’t be shy. Ask your colleagues to help you conduct your search. It’s similar to a job search – you want the best match possible.

You define what “best match” looks like. Think about trust, communication styles and differences in perspective, in addition to career-related qualities. You may find your mentor at the desk next to yours, or online in a different geographic location.

You may find more than one mentor at a time, depending on your goals.

3. Contract for the mentoring relationship. The Number One reason mentoring works is because the learning experience is shaped exactly to you and what you need. You and your mentor together define that shape.

 

There are two parts to the learning contract: role definition, and the specific learning goals. Sometimes the learning contract is written, sometimes verbal. Always, it is explicit. Because the mentoring process is a work in progress, clarity and structure keep it moving ahead. It is a framework within which you and your mentor can be creative and forward-thinking. It gives enough structure to keep the process focused and moving, with built-in flexibility to continuously assess and improve. Without such structure, the mentoring process can get off track and become less than optimally effective.

Here is a simple beginning “contract” for the mentoring process. You will probably want to add to it to meet your own expectations.

I, the mentee, need from you, the mentor, your Individual attention, expertise, support, encouragement, open and honest feedback, and trust.

You, the mentor, can expect from me, the mentee, my eagerness to learn, willingness to ask for help, willingness to take risks, open and honest feedback, and trust.

Refine your goals with your mentor’s help. Determine how to interact, and with what frequency. Find the best ways for you to exchange feedback. Virtual mentoring is increasingly popular, and provides the ultimate mentoring portability. E-mail, telephone, texting, social media, Skype….. pathways for staying in touch are nearly endless and increasing every day. Talk about ending the mentoring relationship, right at the beginning. Step 5 should not come as a surprise. What will indicate that it’s time for a change, from both perspectives? Also talk about how you will communicate if the mentoring is not working out, for any reason.

4. Contact your mentor as planned. One of the greatest challenges for professionals is asking for specific help. We earn our living sharing our expertise, and it is difficult to tap someone else’s. The best advice is to “just do it.” Having a mentor does no good if you don’t use that person. Your mentor cannot guess at how to help you. These contacts should be high priorities for both of you.

5. Examine or end the formal mentoring when you achieve your goals, or when new needs arise that change your direction. This may mean you re-contract around new goals, move into a less formal relationship, or find a new mentor. Mentoring is a long-term relationship, but it need not be for life. You are smart, ambitious, and creative. You learn quickly, and move on to new goals. Mentoring should be totally relevant to what is going on for you at any given time. When the relevancy lessens, that’s a clue it’s time to change. Ending the formal mentoring is not an insult to the mentor, rather a tribute to how helpful that person was. Very often, mentors and mentees remain close friends, and mentoring continues informally, as needed.

Find and use a MENTOR preparation worksheet:

Measure strengths and weaknesses.

Evaluate people’s strengths, needs and aspirations individually. We learn uniquely. No two people bring exactly the same qualities to a job. The development process is much more effective and efficient when it can be shaped to the person.

• My strengths that I want to use more fully are:

• My weaknesses that I want to overcome are:

• My career aspirations are:

 

Elevate experience.

Create opportunities to learn on the job. We learn by doing. Use the workplace as the classroom. Learning is retained at a higher level when just-in-time and directly applied to the work.

• My ideas for how I can address my strengths, weaknesses and aspirations “on the job” are:

 

Nail the goals and roles.

Define teaching and learning roles. We learn with clear expectations. Set clear goals and responsibilities for the mentoring process, including content and pace. Review and revise continually to reflect progress.

• Mentor characteristics that I value most are:

 

Talk with each other continuously.

Give direct feedback. We learn with encouragement. Mentoring is a 2-way process. Both people need to exchange feedback, with emphasis on what is working well, openly and continually to stay on track with each other and the learning goals.

• I receive feedback best when:

 

Oversee progress.

Measure learning. We learn when we build on success. Set incremental measurements, both formal and informal, to give the mentee and mentor frequent, meaningful marks of success.

• I will know I’ve made progress/met my goals when:

 

Reward the team effort.

We learn when we feel energized. Imbed a culture of mentoring by recognizing mentee and mentor efforts and successes. Make it rewarding and fun to teach and learn.

• I will keep myself energized by:

 

My ideas for potential mentors with the skills and approaches I can learn best from are:

Workplace Mentoring: Sharing knowledge is power

As submitted to The  Current, 2009

Byline: Susan deGrandpré is the owner and principal consultant of Collaboration Consulting. She is a member of the Association for Consulting Expertise, Human Resources Association of Southern Maine, and the Portland Regional Chamber. She can be contacted at Susan@CollaborationConsulting.biz

Workplace Mentoring: Sharing knowledge is power.

The economy remains difficult. You have employees who are grateful to still be employees, but they are more than a little distracted by what is going on around them.  This is the third in a series of four articles to give you basic strategies to engage and inspire them to be productive in the face of uncertainty.

Strategy Number Three is to spread the knowledge wealth.

Doing more with fewer people is a theme of the times. Businesses need employees to know more, make better decisions, and work more productively. Workplace mentoring can be a powerful answer to filling those needs.

Your employees are talented, enthusiastic and feel a stake in your business’s success. They can learn from you and each other. This is the foundation for increasing the capacity of your business through workplace mentoring.

Workplace mentoring is an explicit one-to-one learning relationship between someone who wants to expand job or career skills and someone who can help her do that. The mentee could be a newly hired person or a seasoned employee. The mentor is much more than an answer person. The mentor invests in another’s development. She shares knowledge, encouragement, guidance and feedback. She advocates for the mentee’s success. The mentoring relationship extends over time, changing with the increasing experience and confidence of the mentee. In a rich workplace mentoring culture, people are likely to be mentors and mentees at the same time. Mentoring crosses functional and hierarchical boundaries. Sharing knowledge is the norm. People are eager to teach, eager to learn.

Mentees learn quickly because attention is individualized. Mentors develop teaching and coaching skills.  Mentees and mentors take mutual responsibility for their success and the business’s success. Mentoring is an investment of time, but businesses find that payoffs include increased quality of work, employee loyalty and teamwork.

There is no “cookie-cutter” approach to mentoring.  Businesses evolve their mentoring processes according to the organization’s and learners’ needs. Workplace mentoring programs, though, have fundamental components in common.  I call these the Six Building Blocks of Successful Workplace Mentoring.  I challenge you to start your workplace mentoring program by using these building blocks with just one mentee and one mentor. Encourage and support their work together. Watch the power grow.

1.  Evaluate  strengths, needs and aspirations on an individual basis. The mentor tailors learning to the mentee’s unique qualities.

2.  Create opportunities to learn on the job. Just-in-time, applied learning is most efficient.

3.  Define teaching and learning roles. Set clear expectations, goals and responsibilities. Review and refine continuously.

4.  Give direct feedback. The mentor and mentee coach each other on what is working well and what could be improved.

5.  Measure learning. Set measurements that note frequent and meaningful progress towards benchmarks.

6.  Reward the team effort. Reward both mentors and mentees. Celebrate the power of workplace mentoring. Share the knowledge.

From conflict to cooperation: Help your team work like a well-oiled machine

As submitted to The Current, 2009

Byline: Susan deGrandpré is the owner and principal consultant of Collaboration Consulting. She is a member of the Association for Consulting Expertise, Human Resources Association of Southern Maine, and the Portland Regional Chamber. She can be contacted at Susan@CollaborationConsulting.biz

From Conflict to Cooperation: Help your team work like a well-oiled machine.

The economy remains difficult. You have employees who are grateful to still be employees, but they are more than a little distracted by what is going on around them.  This is the second in a series of four articles to give you basic strategies to engage and inspire them to be productive in the face of uncertainty.

Strategy Number Two is to bravely resolve conflict.

We are all really and truly different from each other − we are not just acting that way to be difficult!  Conflict and cooperation are both created when people have different views.  Conflict occurs when people cannot tolerate each other’s views.  Cooperation occurs when people synthesize their differences to create a better outcome.  True conflict resolution is the bridge between the two, and is a process of building trust.  People learn how to prevent future conflicts by working thoroughly through their current conflicts.  They gain confidence that they can openly negotiate differences.  They learn to pool their differences to create strength. They incrementally build a culture of cooperation through appreciating and seeking out each other’s different perspectives. In this challenging business environment, we need cooperation more than ever. Here are three basic steps to create cooperation out of conflict.

Interview the parties individually before bringing them together. Giving each person involved in the conflict the opportunity to share thoughts confidentially gives them the message that they each count.  A private and objective ear helps them think through and articulate their perspectives. That in itself can lessen the conflict.

Identify interests.  The most effective conflict resolutions consider the interests versus the positions of the people in conflict.  “Position” means what you want.  “Interest” means why this is important to you.   It seems intuitive to begin this process with the positions, the points of disagreement.  After all, those are the source of conflict.  Therefore our conflict resolution is off to a contentious start. When we examine interests first, we are likely to discover that we have many similarities. We are largely on the same side of the fence. We are partners who can examine the differences from a base of commonality.

Encourage and reward the courage to resolve conflict.  Even highly effective conflict resolution can take the stuffing out of us for a while.  We need to know that our intents, our efforts and our results are understood, appreciated and supported.  If our process was rough and bumpy, at least we tried.  Set clear, incremental and achievable goals for both process and outcome.  Measure frequently, and celebrate what is working before examining the need for further improvement or raising the bar. Seek opportunities to team people together based on their differences.  Give them shared accountability and shared credit for success.  They will have clear reason for meshing like the gears in a well-oiled machine.

In tough times, don’t leave employees guessing

As printed in The Current January 14, 2010.

Byline: Susan deGrandpré is the owner and principal consultant of Collaboration Consulting. She is a member of the Association for Consulting Expertise, Human Resources Association of Southern Maine, and the Portland Regional Chamber. She can be contacted at Susan@CollaborationConsulting.biz

Don’t leave your employees guessing. Communicate, communicate, and communicate.

The economy remains difficult. You have employees who are grateful to still be employees, but they are more than a little distracted by what is going on around them.  This is the first in a series of four articles to give you basic strategies to engage and inspire them to be productive in the face of uncertainty.

Strategy Number One is to tell them what is going on, continually.

Employees need information as a critical tool to focus their work and keep their efforts aligned with your business’s goals. If you leave them guessing, they will fill in the blanks themselves. When information is missing, the void is filled with misinformation. When information is incomplete, it is completed with negative conclusions.

Tie your communications to the marketplace. Your customers drive the state of your business, so employees need to know how customer activity, or lack thereof, impacts their work.

Assess the current state.  What are your employees behaviors? What are their attitudes, feelings and assumptions about the sustainability of the business?

What do you want your employees to know, think, feel and do relative to their work? Where are the gaps between the current state and what you would like to see?

What are the most important messages for your employees to hear in order to engage them in contributing to the business’s success? These messages should be geared to closing those gaps.

Tell your employees what is “in it” for them. It is human nature to hear information from the perspective of how it will change our world, positively or negatively.

Tell your employees what you specifically want them to do, in response to the information. Let them know they are your business’s most important asset.

Select carefully the best ways to give the information your employees need. The more complex, difficult, sensitive or important the information is, the more you want to communicate face-to-face, or at least voice-to-voice. Electronic media, newsletters, etc. are not the way to go when your information is impacting your employees and how they work.

Make communication two-way. You have talented and dedicated employees. Give them a chance to give you input and ideas, to share your ownership for success. An old adage says “we support what we help create.” If you have difficult decisions to make, let them help. You may discover better solutions than those you would have created on your own.  There is little more engaging and inspiring for employees than to know they are sharing leadership of the business.

Communicate constantly, as an integral part of how you lead. It takes time and energy, but not as much as doing damage control caused by leaving employees to guess.

Don’t leave new workers to flounder

Don’t Leave New Workers to Flounder

Featured in the Portland Press Herald Business Section August 14, 2009

Susan deGrandpre, Collaboration Consulting

In today’s economy, business owners and managers are more challenged than ever to generate top productivity from their employees. Yet after carefully choosing an employee to fill a position and providing basic training, managers often leave that person to flounder. Floundering equals lost productivity. “Qualified to do the job” does not necessarily mean complete proficiency.

Typical costs incurred by new hires include repeat questions, high error rates, re-work, and customer complaints. An experienced employee, working side-by-side with the inexperienced, can anticipate problems and course-correct efficiently. A number of successful Maine businesses have found that following these steps creates faster learning curves beyond basic training:

Evaluate New Employee Strengths, Needs and Aspirations Individually

We learn uniquely.  No two people bring exactly the same qualities to a job. The development process is much more effective and efficient when it can be shaped to the person. The hiring process includes a general evaluation of strengths and developmental needs to get the person started. Some businesses find it is most effective to do another assessment a few months into employment after observing how the person actually works.

• What are the requirements for success in this position?
• Where is this person strong?
• Where can this person use development?

Assign a Mentor/Guide

A mentor or guide can be anyone that wants to share experience with a less experienced person. The content may range from job skills to communication skills to long-range career development. The key characteristic of a good mentor, in addition to expertise, is eagerness to champion another person’s success. The mentor is more than a go-to resource. This is an on-going relationship during the learning curve. This short-term investment of the mentor’s time results in long-term productivity gain. A side benefit is that mentors develop leadership skills while they impart their experience.

• Who in this organization has strengths in the areas of the new employee’s developmental needs?
• Who enjoys teaching others?
• How can the organization support the mentor’s taking time to help?

Create Opportunities To Learn On The Job

We learn by doing. Use the workplace as the classroom. Learning is retained at a higher level when occurring just-in-time and directly applied to the work. This is particularly valuable for teaching problem-solving and other “gray” areas of the work.

• What are activities that will give this person a chance to use strengths?
• What are activities that will give this person a chance to improve?
• How will you and your mentee specifically move the process ahead?

Define Teaching and Learning Roles.

Many managers make the mistake of assuming that employees understand exactly what to do from their job descriptions. We learn best with well-defined expectations. Set clear goals and responsibilities for the mentoring process, including content and pace. Review and revise continually to reflect progress. Use the classic SMART goal-setting model:

• Specific: What exactly is the goal? Who? What? Where? How? Why?
• Measurable:  What quantity and quality measurements will best indicate progress? Where are you and your mentee going and how will you know when you’ve gotten there? What are incremental measurements, both formal and informal, to give the mentee and mentor frequent, meaningful marks of success?
• Aligned:  Is the goal lined up with the larger organization’s goals?
• Realistic: Are there sufficient resources? Does the mentee have the capability?
• Timed:  What is the timeline? Dates? Frequency?

Give Direct Feedback

We learn with encouragement. Feedback is a two-way process. Both people need to exchange thoughts openly and continually to stay on track with each other and the learning goals. Emphasis on what is working well helps energize the learner to work through the struggles. We learn best when we build on success.

• How can you deliver feedback that your new employee hears?
• How can you get feedback for yourself?

Reward The Team Effort

We learn when we feel energized. Install a culture of mentoring by recognizing mentee and mentor efforts and successes. Make it rewarding and fun to teach and learn.

• What is in it for people to be mentors and learners?
• Why would they want to do this?

Don’t let your new employees flounder. Every business, regardless of type or size, can help employees learn faster by giving them individualized attention. These steps ensure productivity during learning and even beyond.

Are You an Exhausted Entrepreneur?

Are you an Exhausted Entrepreneur?

You have turned your dream into your livelihood.  You have created your business with dedication, energy and expertise.  You are working hard to maintain your market share. You are concerned about your employees.  You are devoting every waking hour to being a successful entrepreneur.  You have so much to do, and no more of you to do it.

Must you limit your business’s capacity because you are at your personal limit?  What if your employees could help you shed your “do everything yourself” role?

Who have you hired?  Are they talented?  Do they share your enthusiasm?  Do they feel a stake in your business’s success?  Could they learn from you and from each other?  If no, you’ve hired the wrong people.  If yes, you already have the foundation for increasing the capacity of your business through Workplace Mentoring.

Workplace Mentoring is an explicit one-to-one learning relationship between someone who wants to improve job or career skills and someone who can help her do that. This could be a person new to your business, or a person who is experienced. The organization provides encouragement and structure to support mentoring relationships.  The mentor is much more than just a “go-to” person. Workplace mentors are champions of learning. The mentor takes a position of high interest and investment in another’s development. She wants to mentor.  She shares knowledge, encouragement, guidance and feedback about job content and organizational culture.  She advocates for the mentee’s success.

For years I have been interviewing very different types and sizes of businesses that have discovered similar direct and side benefits of “people teaching people” as a critical part of business success.  Mentoring develops the mentee at faster rates than standardized training. It also develops the mentor’s leadership skills.  Mentees and mentors take mutual responsibility for their success and the organization’s success.

By definition there is no cookie-cutter approach to mentoring.  Each of the businesses I’ve spoken with has evolved its mentoring process according to the organization’s and learners’ needs.  The mentoring content is significantly different in each business. I have discovered, though, that all of these businesses have fundamental components of mentoring in common.  I call these the Six Building Blocks of Successful Workplace Mentoring:

1.  Evaluate people’s strengths, needs and aspirations individually.

We learn uniquely.  No two people bring exactly the same qualities to a job.  The development process is much more effective and efficient when it is shaped to the individual.

2.  Create opportunities to learn on the job.

We learn by doing.  Use the workplace as the classroom.   Learning is retained at a higher level when just-in-time and directly applied to the work.

3.  Define teaching and learning roles.

We learn with clear expectations.  Set clear goals and responsibilities for the mentoring process, including content and pace.  Review and revise continually to reflect progress.

4.  Give direct feedback.

We learn with encouragement.  Mentoring is a two-way process.  Both people need to exchange feedback, with emphasis on what is working well, openly and continually to stay on track with each other and the learning goals.

5.  Measure learning.

We learn when we build on success. Set incremental measurements, both formal and informal, to give the mentee and mentor frequent, meaningful marks of success.

6.  Reward the team effort.

We learn when we feel energized.  Imbed a culture of mentoring by recognizing mentee and mentor efforts and successes.  Make it rewarding and fun to teach and learn.

I challenge you to choose one person in your business to mentor.  Create a plan with that person using the Six Building Blocks of Successful Workplace Mentoring.  Watch your mentee rise to the occasion and grow towards higher responsibility.  Mentoring works.

Be your own audience

Find a Mirror and be Your Own Audience.

The best way to make sure you are physically and verbally presenting yourself the way you wish to be seen and heard is to actually see and hear yourself.

It is ideal, of course, to video yourself practicing your presentation.  But we do not always have access to that equipment when we need to practice.

Find a mirror, and give your presentation.  You are your audience.

Your stance and gestures should enhance your message.  You want the audience to see that you are confident, friendly and comfortable.

• Are your shoulders relaxed?
• Arms at your sides or slightly in front of you?
• Gestures natural?
• Facial expressions natural?

Eye contact engages people.  When you make eye contact with an audience member for a moment while you are speaking, you are including that person in your presentation.

• Are you looking at your audience?

You want your audience to hear every word and feel your enthusiasm.

• Are you speaking at a moderate pace?
• Are you saying your words clearly?
• Are you using natural inflections in the pitch of your voice?

You want your audience to understand what they are hearing.

• Are you using jargon-free language?
• Are you avoiding acronyms and initials?

People get distracted by “um”, “uh”, incorrect grammar, slang expressions, overused phrases.  You want your audience to focus on your message, not your mannerisms.

• Is your speech free from distractions?

When your “audience” − you − can answer yes to all of these questions, you only have to remember when you are in front of your real audience.  You know you can deliver a great presentation, because you’ve already seen and heard yourself do it!