New England brumbies

The photo by Gordon Smith shows brumbies (feral horses) at the junction of the Chandler and Macleay Rivers in Australia's New England Highlands.

The brumbies have always occupied a special place in the Australian imagination in part because they are free, in part because horses occupy such a pivotal position in Australian life.

Just a break from serious stuff!

Common Management Problems - managing up

People's inability to delegate properly is one of the most common complaints at the various management training workshops I have run, a failure I have discussed elsewhere.

A related but less recognised problem is the inability of many staff to manage up. By managing up, I simply mean structuring what you do and how you do it to make life easier for you and your boss.

Why is this important? Well, the delegation problems that staff complain about are difficult in part because staff have no direct control over the manager, they just have to put up with it. By contrast, staff can control what they do and how they do it. This includes managing the boss to make life a little easier for all. So how do you do this?

Take Personal Responsibility: The starting point is to take personal responsibility for managing those things that you can control, focusing on the way you do things. This sounds simple, but the most common complaint among bosses - and especially from those who are in fact bad delegators - is that staff will not take responsibility.

There is a chicken and egg problem here in that bad delegation makes staff less willing to assume responsibility, thus adding to the problems created by the poor delegation.

Management Styles: The next point is to look at the way your boss works. Each person has an individual working style determined by the mix of character and experience. You have to fit the way you approach the boss within this style.

To illustrate by example. In an earlier post in this series on the over enthusiastic boss I talked about bosses who overflow with enthusiasm and new ideas, moving onto new things before past things are completed. Here I said in part:

If you are not clear just what is intended by the discussion, ask. If you are being asked to do something, but it is not clear to you just what, again ask. If you are working on a priority task, then say that. Finally, if you are finding the whole approach creating really serious problems for you, then have a private chat with the boss.

Making Things Easy for the Boss: The nature of much professional services work is individual, with a focus on individual performance. I do complain about this and the way it affects overall firm performance, but it is a reality that has to be dealt with.

Under individual pressure, people are less willing to invest time in managing others. The easier you can make things for your boss in managing you, the better the outcomes. What you do here has to be tailored to the boss's style, but there are a number of very practical things that you can do that generally work.

Perhaps the single most important thing is to adopt a structured approach so that your boss knows what he/she is dealing with in managing you. Bosses form views anyway, but you can determine or even change those views.

When asked to do something, ask questions so that you properly understand the task as well as any time lines attached to it. Summarise at the end to ensure that you are clear.

If you strike problems on a job, find yourself unclear or are likely to miss a deadline, let the boss know in time to allow a new approach to be worked out.

When you go to the boss with a problem or to report on progress, present in a clear and structured way. Don't just say I have a problem. Explain what the problem is, put forward any suggested solutions that you have. This makes it easier for the boss to understand and to respond in an effective way.

Be clear about the purpose of any communication with the boss, explain what you hope to achieve.

By the nature of the beast, most bosses feel instinctively obliged to provide solutions, answers. That's fine if that's what you want. But you may in fact simply want to discuss ideas, issues to help your own thinking. Things can get very messy indeed if the boss automatically moves into problem solving mode, leaving both sides completely dissatisfied. So tell the boss the purpose of the conversation.

Remember the boss is a person too. Here have a look at the first piece I did in this series on the isolation of being boss, a post written very much from a boss's perspective.

Most people like some degree of social interaction. They like to feel that people are interested in them. So take some time to chat, to find out what the boss has been doing. Your approach here has to be tempered by their personality and style.

Finally, try to structure your formal interactions so as to minimise time demands on the boss.

This is partially a matter of approach as already discussed, presenting things in a structured way. But you can also do things like working out how much time you think you need and then making an appointment, thus creating a structured meeting. You can also often wait until you have several things to discuss, again minimising disruption.

Previous Posts in this Series

• November 20 2006: Common Management Problems - the isolation of being boss
• November 23 2006: Common Management Problems - the overenthusiastic boss

Gender Differences, Generational Differences and Personal Management Styles

In a series of posts last year on my personal blog, I looked at the question of differences between the generations - generation x, generation y and Nextgen. I returned to this theme a little later in Another Funny Mixed up Day where I protested the notion, among other things, that only those under a certain age could manage generation y.

I remain of the view that managing people is all about that, managing people, and has to be done individually independent of generational or gender differences. However, I am now reviewing some elements of my thinking.

Our individual professional and management styles are inevitably formed from our own experiences. My own style has been formed by my now extensive experience as a manager and professional adviser. This affects my approach in a variety of often unseen ways. We all know that this happens, but it can be hard to see unless something forces you to reassess things.

At present I am working as part of a team in a unit that is part of a much bigger Government organisation. I am held against a formal line position that is, in structural terms, at a level I last held in my early twenties. I am a fair bit older and have had a lot more experience than the majority of people I am working with and for.

While the organisation is very Australian in style - open, friendly - it is also hierarchical. Our unit is strongly female in gender terms measured by both overall numbers and management, in fact the first time I have worked in a female dominated group. As a consultant I have had many female clients and have worked in majority female teams, but that is a different thing.

To add to the complications, while I have had a lot of public sector experience, this has all been at a a national level. This is the first time I have worked within a state agency, and the culture and processes - the way we do things round here - are very different in all sorts of sometimes subtle ways. My styles and instinctive ways of acting derived from my own public sector experience do not necessarily fit in.

All this has forced me to look at the ways I work. I thought that I would share some of this with you because I think that it is relevant to management in general, to approaches to team and project work and to the development of new working styles that are now required because of the combination of demographic and cultural change.

Nothing that I say should be construed in any way as a criticism of the place where I am working. My focus is on the things that I am learning, the lessons as I see them for management in general, professional services in particular.

The Female Influence

The office has a softer, more social feel to it, with constant small social gatherings and celebrations for everything from Chinese New Year to International Women's Day to St Patrick's Day to welcomes for new arrivals.

This week my wife and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary. I came into work to find hearts all over my desk, with congratulatory messages. I must say that I like all this, although as a male I found the International Women's Day shoe parade a little unusual as a work break!

Looking around, I contrasted the female feel of the place with two other models.

The first was the conventional organisation where the tone is male and women adopt the male styles, including aggression.

The second, one still common in many parts of professional services, is the largely female support unit within an organisation whose overall tone has been set by conventional structures.

Problems here were encapsulated for me several years ago when I was facilitating the appointment of a a practice manager for a smallish law firm. One candidate described the core role of the position as "managing the girls." Needless to say she did not get the job, but her attitude effectively summarised the problems sometimes found in female dominated support units.

I am not quite sure how you increase the feminine in conventional organisations, but I do think that we can learn in terms of the importance of the small ceremonials.

Generational Differences

This is the first time for a while that I have had a chance to work with younger people at the same level, looking across and up as compared to down, the manager perspective. I find this very interesting, in part because it fills a gap.

I know my daughter's generation (my girls are 17 and 19) as well as older generations, but I have had far less direct contact with those in their twenties and early thirties. Now looking up and across as well as down, I can see clear generational differences, although I am not sure that they are accurately captured by the conventional generational descriptors.

I am clearly more obsessive about work, less laid back. My younger colleagues work hard, but also (I think) have a more balanced attitude.

Management Experience

While there are generational differences, this does not affect the basic principles of good staff management. But here there is a real issue, one that is I think wide spread, and that is reduced real management experience associated with the hollowing out of middle management and the move to small team working.

Management is a skill and as such has to be learned by doing.

By the time I was thirty I had had reasonably broadly based management experience acquired in incremental bits. People today are not so lucky. Indeed, today people can and do reach senior management level without ever actually managing anything! This can lead to monumental organisation threatening stuff-ups, although the effects are usually lower key.

We try to compensate for this by reliance on systems supplemented by training, but this is really not enough. We actually need to build in, create, specific management experiences if we are to overcome the problem.

Learning New Roles

One of my problems as a professional has always been my desire to do as well as advise. I am not alone in this. All management related professionals suffer from this to greater or lesser extent simply because we want to see our advice implemented. This can be a real problem because it leads to us confusing our roles, becoming involved in things outside our mandate.

This is another lesson for me in my current role because I must limit myself. I have put must in bold to emphasise the point. If I do not, I move from asset to uncomfortable liability.

I knew this before I arrived, but have found it unexpectedly difficult.

In some ways, I have done every job in the current unit from top to bottom. I also have years of organisational experience. I find myself constantly wanting to react outside my formal ambit, to change things, to take command. However, this would not only undercut the chain of command, but is also potentially dangerous because I lack understanding of all the organisational nuances, the things that are known but unsaid.

My role has to be supporting the team to achieve the things they want/need to achieve. I think that I can play a valuable role here so long as I am disciplined.

I have emphasised this point because I believe that it has broader personal, professional and management importance.

The idea that we have to learn to work in teams, to adopt different roles, has been popular since at least John Naisbitt's Megatrends. Yet the reality is, I think, that it has rarely happened. We are all stuck in the roles and persona's we have developed. We still have to learn how to do this.

Managing the Media - how to communicare your message

Every so often we need to tidy up. This is especially important where, like me, you work mainly from a home office.

A number of years ago we, our company, paid for my wife to go on a media training course run by Peter Thompson. Peter was one of Australia's leading radio journalists.

Ever since then, I have carried round one of his card setting out his media hints. I know the hints and was going to throw the card out as part of my latest tidy up. Then I thought, why not share them with you first?

1. Before the Interview

1.1 Research the purpose and likely duration of the interview - think about your audience

1.2. Decide whether you should agree to the interview - will it serve your interests?

1.3. Develop one message for a news interview and up to three agenda points or messages for a longer interview - write them down.

1.4. Write one key argument for each point or message.

1.5. Anticipate the most difficult questions - how would you answer them?

1.6. Rehearse with colleagues.

1.7. Practice relaxation and voice warm up exercises.

2. During the Interview

2.1. Be positive - particularly when you are on the defensive.

2.2. Remember Q = A + 1. Answer the question and use it as a springboard to raise your agenda points. Do not just be reactive to questions.

2.3. Use the formula: Point, Supporting Reason, Evidence.

2.4 Come alive - animate your face and voice. Be passionate. Smile and lighten up - enjoy it.

2.5. Keep your answers short.

2.6. Communicate person to person - your audience is no bigger than a few people in one place.

2.7. Be an anecdote machine - use parables, anecdotes, metaphor's and draw on personal experiences.

3. After the Interview

3.1. Analyse whether you communicated your key messages.

3.2. Critique your performance and draw lessons for future reference.

3.3 Audit radio and television programs - learn to model the behaviour of effective communications.

Guidelines for Effective Negotiation

I have been editing some new material for inclusion in the project management for the professional series running on the Ndarala Group blog. This will start coming up shortly. In the meantime, I thought that one item was worth running here as a stand-alone check list.

Ten guidelines for effective negotiation:

1. Be prepared - know what outcome you want and why.

2. Minimise perceptual differences - ask questions to gain understanding.

3. Listen - questions are no good unless you listen to the answers.

4. Take notes - what has been agreed and what remains to be resolved.

5. Be creative - look for new solutions.

6. Help the other party.

7. Make trade-offs - trade what is cheap to you but valuable to the other party for what is valuable to you but cheap to the other party.

8. Be quick to apologise.

9. Avoid ultimatums.

10. Set realistic deadlines.

Project Management in Professional Services

Good project management is central to the effective delivery of client services. Further, project management techniques can be applied in any organisation.

I mention this because we have started a new series of posts on the Ndarala Group blog on Project Management for Professionals. So far we have put up two posts drawing from our internal Short Guide to Project Management:

• Project Management for Professionals - Introduction
• Project Management for Professionals - What is a Project?

I recommend the series to all those who are interested in finding out more about project management.

Creation & Use of Case Studies - Training 2

This post completes the three part series on the use of case studies.

In the first post I looked at general issues associated with the creation and use of case studies. The second post focused on the creation of case studies for use in training. This post extends the training analysis.

Review of Case Study

Once the material has been prepared, it should be reviewed. The following questions adapted from from "Analysis of a Draft Case in Education" by Judith Kleinfeld( University of Alaska, Fairbanks, John Boehrer, 1999) should help you here.

Problem/Dilemma/Conflict

1. Does the case offer a challenging decision to make or reflect on?

2. Is the problem balanced, with no single right answer or obvious solution?

3. Does the case provide contrasting perspectives on the problem?

4. Can the problem be analyzed through different frames? Is the case a good structure for applying, testing, or formulating theory?

5. Is the problem significant in the field? Does it raise issues that transcend the story?

6. Is the problem rich and subtle? Does it have multiple dimensions, e.g., interpersonal, organizational, political, policy, or ethical?

Intended Audience

1. Is the case engaging and thought-provoking? Does it capture the reader on an emotional, as well as an intellectual, level?

2. Would reader identify or empathize with any perspective in the case, especially that of the person or group facing the problem?

3. Does the case raise questions or issues that readers will want to think about and discuss?

4. Is the case appropriately difficult with respect to defining the problem, generating solutions, and/or applying analytic concepts and techniques?

Structure/Content/Style

1. Does the case seem believable and authentic?

2. Does the case tell a story, and avoid analyzing or editorializing about it?

3. Does the case have a concise, engaging opening that sets the scene, presents the problem, and introduces the decision-maker?

4. Does the case contain sufficient background information that enables reader to grasp the situation? Does the case have grist for the analysis?

5. Does the case tell the story in a clear time sequence, with rising and falling action, climax, and drama?

6. Is the writing lively and well-paced, without cliches, confusion, or unnecessary complexity"

Additional Virtues

1. Does the case present models of professional thinking - analyzing and thinking about a problem contextually, using frameworks in sophisticated and appropriate ways?

2. Does the case suggest alternative strategies for addressing problems?

3. Does the case provide valuable information about a professional setting?

Case Revision Worksheet

Once the case becomes a ‘stand-alone’ document, the user (program trainer/facilitator) would the need to consider the following questions in preparation for delivery. This material is drawn especially from John F. Kennedy School of Government Case Program, 1999.

Objectives/Outcomes

1. Why do I want to use this case in this course? (Course Objective)

2. What skills, knowledge, or attitudes do I hope to develop in the course participants through the process of discussion? (Learning Outcomes)

Analysis

A stand-alone case may have more issues than what are to be dealt with in the course. It is important to highlight for readers what will be teased out from the case. It would not be necessary to change the case itself, but it is important to focus the attention of the user from the start.

1. What issue(s) does this case offer for exploration?

2. What perspective(s) do I want the participants to adopt when considering the issues?

3. What analysis do I want the participants to do that will further the course objective(s)?

4. What concept or theory might be relevant to this analysis?

Process

1. How is this case to be used?

• As example in lecture
• As a scenario to which illustrates of particular issue or process
• As a model from which a theory is developed
• As basis for discussion and problem-solving…

2. What questions will generate the analysis and/or decision-making users will complete?

3. What analysis do I want the participants to do that will further the course objective(s)?

4. What are the questions (& sequence) I plan to ask?

5. What process options will I use?

• formal presentation
• informal presentation
• seminar/open discussion
• paired
• small group work
• role play
• Q & A

Revision

What adjustments need to be made to the case document prior to distribution to readers?

1. How might the case be re-written so that I can teach it to achieve my objectives and the determined learner outcomes?

2. What is unclear/confusing/incomplete?

3. What needs to be added/taken out?

4. Do any perspectives need to be further developed?

5. What structural changes are needed? e.g., what decision point(s) do I want? where? Should the case break into parts (A) (B) ... ? What activities/timing are relevant for each segment?

Note on Copyright

The case study material is drawn from an Ndarala Group Guide prepared for the use of member professionals and clients. It is copyright Ndarala but may be copied with due acknowledgment. Incorporated material drawn from other sources should also be acknowledged.

Previous Posts

• Creation and Use of Case Studies - Introduction
• Creation and Use of Case Studies - Training 1
  

Creation and use of Case Studies - Training 1

In the last post I provided a general introduction to the creation and use of case studies. This and the the following post look in detail at the development and use of case studies for training purposes.

The material is directed at both training professionals and other professionals who may wish to use their material for training purposes or who hire trainers.

The material assumes that you have already looked in at least broad terms at the questions posed in the previous section.

Case Writing Questions

The preparation of the case study starts with the questions to be answered. The case may already exist as a general case study, in which case it is being modified for training purposes, or it may be prepared specifically for training purposes.

The writer of the case study should answer the following questions. This person can be either the ‘expert’ who has all the information required at their fingertips, or a researcher who collects and drafts the case document. The questions are drawn from John Boehrer (1998).

1. What is the hard, unifying question?

2. What information do we need to address it?

3. What can I ask users to analyse? decide?

4. What decision process does the case give the reader to focus upon?

5. What questions can I ask about it?

6. What detailed narrative does the reader need to focus on it the important issues?

7. What information needs to be developed?

8. What will make the story work as a case? What conflict does it present?

9. What will make the case livelier? What quotes or details? What will make the case more personal?

10. What will enable readers to identify with the actors and get into the case?

11. How do the actors themselves perceive the situation? Can they be quoted?

12. What factors/constraints do the case actors perceive to be impinging upon them?

13. Who else is involved? What is their perspective/outlook?

14. What development/structure would be useful?

15. What might different parts of the case focus upon?

16. What is the link between the specific decision focus and a larger question?

17. What is the issue context?

18. What special problem does writing/revising the case pose? Information? Access?

Case Structure

Having answered these questions, we can move to the preparation/modification of material. A basic structure here is set out below.

1. Case Introduction

• Title: identifies the content
• Context: specifies the overall concept conveyed in the case study: (answer to: What does the case demonstrate?)
• Objective: How this case relates to learner/learner situation. (answer to: Why is it important?)
• Learner Outcome(s): what the learner knows (is able to do) as a result of interacting with the case-study: (answer to: What will I learn from this example?) These outcomes will relate back to the Q&A incorporated into the case.
• Definitions/Background expectations: Are there any expectations regarding previous knowledge? Does student have to have access to specific resources? (Briefly highlight keywords and recall prior knowledge that case reader needs to grasp concepts contained in the case.)
• Invitation to continue: nudge to move on, collect thoughts, and get into it!

2. Case Contents

Case Study— a comprehensive example of the concepts one wishes to convey. Often the case incorporates materials that describe or simulate the example. In using a case study, we are moving from the concrete and specific to generalised abstract concepts and principles.

1. Start with a statement of the situation. Like all good stories, it will have a beginning, a middle and an end. It is generally in narrative form.
2. Introduce any characters, objects, or organisations of importance, give them a ‘human face’ with feelings and emotions.
3. Spell out crucial relationships between the elements.
4. Incorporate a series of alternating questions and answers in discussion/story form. The questions are asked by one character/organisation, and answered by another character/organisation, by either word or deed. (The process of asking and answering the questions must stimulate the reader/learner to engage with past experience/knowledge and apply this knowledge to this example/case).
5. If the reader is unlikely to have this knowledge then the concepts the person will need are generally referred to in some way as part of the resources of the case. (e.g. The research assistant consulted the copyright act section …. to ascertain…)

3. Case Summary

1. Generalise /Relate directly to learners:
   · What will they get/have they gained by examining this case study?
   · What was significant about this case study?
2. The final summary may be represented in a different format:
   · job aid, such as a checklist (Do you want the client to reproduce this/ have a handout?)
   · graphic (diagram, chart, table, illustration, and cartoon)
   · Q & A linked to the information provided in the case content

4. Potential Resources

• Conventional business documents (reports, specifications, instruction manuals, memos, letters)
• Blueprints & drawings
• Spreadsheets of numerical data
• Charts & graphs
• Video or audio interviews

Note on Copyright

The case study material is drawn from an Ndarala Group Guide prepared for the use of member professionals and clients. It is copyright Ndarala but may be copied with due acknowledgment.

Previous Posts

• Creation and Use of Case Studies - Introduction

Creation and Use of Case Studies - Introduction

Most professionals use case studies and for a variety of purposes. They help us consolidate our own knowledge and to explain that knowledge to clients and others. They can be used to document approaches for later use, as a base for the development of new approaches and for training purposes.

Given this, there are real advantages in the adoption of approaches to the development of case studies that will enable us to create them efficiently and then use them to maximum effect. For that reason, this post provides a short introduction to their creation and use

Key Questions

All case studies have to address certain basic questions, so it is sensible to start by considering these. You can easily turn them into a table, thus providing a standard form.

1. What is the objective to be met?

2. How will the case study be used?

3. What form (remember, form follows function) should the study take (structure, format)?

4. What content should be included?

5. Are there any special features that should be taken into account

6. Have I achieved my objective?

Objective

Case studies can be used for a variety of purposes:

• To document what was done, why, how plus lessons learned for later personal use or to share with colleagues or with a broader audience. This might be done for professional development reasons, to assist in carrying out future work or to form a base for further service development.
• They may be used for marketing purposes to show one’s expertise.
• They may be used for training purposes.

It is important to take the time to think through just what you want to achieve. It can be frustrating and time consuming to prepare material that later has to be significantly altered or even completely re-written to meet another purpose.

As a general guideline, if you expect that the material will be or might be used and re-used on an on-going basis, then it is better to start with a general case study approach. This should set out in a factually correct manner what has been done, why, how and to what effect. This content can then be amended to achieve your immediate requirement.

Time invested here is rarely wasted because it makes it much easier later to generate new material targeting particular needs. This includes both case studies and associated presentational material.

How will the Material be Used?

This question is important because it helps dictate the form the material might take. Key issues include:

Will you be using the material for your own internal purposes? If so, then you do not need to worry too much about format and presentation.

Will I be sharing the material with others? If so, how:

• In presentations? Then do I need slides, handouts?
• In written self-read form? Then the material needs to be designed for self study purposes.
• On-line? On-line use has its own disciplines. In particular, because on line material is harder to read than the printed page, the volume of information per page need to be reduced to perhaps 60 per cent of that on the written page.

What Form should the material take?

This question needs to be considered along two dimensions:

• One is the physical/electronic form. This is essentially determined by the answers to the previous question, the way the material will be used.
• The second is the actual structure of the material such as headings, slides, the interfaces between material. This will be dictated in part by the objectives to be met and the way in which the material is to be used.

What Content should be Included?

The answer to this question depends in part upon the purpose to be met. That is, what information do I need to provide to achieve my objective?

In considering material to be used by others, another question has to be answered. What can I reasonably expect my audience to know?

This second question is very important since things that seem self-evident to you may not in fact be in the knowledge field of your audience.

Are there any Special Features that I need to take into account?

This step forces you to stand back and think again about just what you are doing. Are there particular confidentiality issues? To what extent am I using someone else’s material? If the material is to be run off by others, what printer will they be using? What are the special features of my audience? And so on.

Have I achieved my Objective?

At the end of the process, it is desirable to stand back and review just what you have done to ensure that you have in fact achieved what you set out to do.

At this point, it can be helpful to get one of your colleagues to review the material for you.

Note on Copyright

The case study material is drawn from an Ndarala Group Guide prepared for the use of member professionals and clients. It is copyright Ndarala but may be copied with due acknowledgment.

Posts in this Series

Creation and Use of Case Studies - Introduction

Creation and Use of Case Studies - Training 1

Creation and use of Case Studies - Training 2