Invite Self-Managed Staff

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Author Name: Linda LaPointe
Contact Email Address: lapointell@yahoo.com
Word Count: 901 including resource box
Word wrap at 6o characters
Category: Management of personnel
Copyright information: © 2003 Linda LaPointe

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Invite Self-Managed Staff

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and
you help them to become what they are capable of being."
Goethe

Two hundred years ago, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, German poet
and philosopher, knew how to inspire and interact with
others: recognize the best in them and act upon those
positive expectations. This takes conscious effort and
constant vigilance to be self-aware of our actions. And we
owe our fellow human beings nothing less. Successful
supervisors live this sentiment daily in their
connections with their fellow human beings. They believe in
the basic goodness of people and consciously act upon their
beliefs in every contact, every day. These staffers guide
the people with whom they work toward self-esteem,
self-confidence and self-determination.

Effective supervisors, those
who develop staff who are trusted, productive and stable,
assist them to become what they are capable of:
self-managed, productive and trusted. This requires a
combination of the best of ‘soft’ skills, or how we treat
people, and ‘hard’ skills, or how we engage and support
their capabilities.

Supervisors are stronger in one of these skills than in
another, but the best supervisors become good at both and
make a conscious effort toward a balance. The following
ABC’s make an immediate and measurable change in the
workplace. The A’s and B’s, or act and believe, are the soft
skills in practice, and the C, or coaching, employs the hard
skills.

A's & B's: Actions and Beliefs
The seven back to basics beliefs which help us
treat people the way Goethe intended:

1. People are important and deserve respect.
2. Ordinary people can perform extraordinarily.
3. People deserve to be trusted.
4. People are good and want to do a
good job.
5. People are self-motivated.
6. It is our job to assist others to grow and
become “stars”.
7. Supervising is a humbling experience.

Wasn’t it your mother who said, actions speak louder than
words? Our beliefs dictate our actions, but most of us are
too busy to really take each of these and hold them up to
the light, inspecting their every attribute and power. We do
business as usual without reconsidering our commonly
accepted behaviors toward employees. Do our actions
unequivocally manifest positive beliefs? Do our actions
demonstrate that we believe that staff are trustworthy, or
do we lock up our supplies? Do we act as if frontline
staff are the most important worker in our organization
because they do the work for which the company is paid, or
do we interrupt a meeting with them to take a call or make
them wait for us to arrive for an appointment? Do we hover
over their work or insult them with insignificant gifts or
raises? Do we recognize them for their daily efforts or
thank them for being at their work station so we don’t have
to do their job on any given day? Do we educate them in the
business side of the company and ask them for their opinion
in big decisions? These soft skills and actions make the
difference between humane or harsh workplaces, between
bosses to whom staff will be loyal or bosses who staff plan
to leave. All actions articulate our beliefs.

C: Coach as Leader, Manager and Supervisor

The workplace coach functions as leader, manager,
and supervisor to support and elicit exceptional
performance. Each of these
three roles has distinct behaviors, intent, and purpose.
The coach as leader: The leader imparts philosophy to create
and support care-full staff. Philosophy is the only signpost
to give guidance in unanticipated situations. Every coach
must lead by imparting philosophy. Vigorously ask & answer
“why” questions such as, Why does the company exist? Why
does the world and our community need us? Why do we choose
to join this endeavor? Why do we do something this way
instead of that way? Every one of us wants to aspire to a
higher purpose. To be part of something greater than
ourselves fulfills our desire to belong and provides us with
an important place where we can make a difference in this
world.

The coach as manager: The manager conveys knowledge
to create and support staff who are mind-full and
power-full. The coach in the role of manager answers “what”
questions. What business are we in? What do we do to fulfill
our purpose? What difference do we make to our customers?
What are our goals? What are our expected customer outcomes
and business objectives?

The coach as supervisor: The supervisor establishes
structure to support staff who are success-full. The coach
as supervisor answers “how “questions: How do we do our
business? How do we meet our goals? How is this task or
activity performed and how do I prove it? How will we know
when we get it right?

A good coach supports direct-care staff who are care-full,
mind-full, power-full and success-full through imparting
knowledge, philosophy, and structure. Goethe gave us the
answer to creating humane human service workplaces
200 years ago.

Act, believe and coach your way to being a supervisor
who staff will admire and want to work with. Focus on these
basic ABC’s, to develop a solid team of skilled,
self-managed and stable employees.