Next Steps to Success
It's time to ensure you have next steps in place.
'Next Steps to Success' is a simple tactic to ensure that progress on a topic is made clearly, quickly and precisely.
Ken Blanchard has a great little (and as always, easy to read) book called 'The One Minute Manager meets the Monkey'. This is all about the 'monkey'.
By ensuring that there is always a 'next step' in any discussion, issue or problem, which is clearly defined, owned by someone and timescaled, you will be much more likely to have progression.
So what is this 'next step' and how does a monkey fit into all this?
Well, the 'next step' is some actual piece of activity that someone (and it is best if it isn't you! I'll come on to that later), takes accountability for delivering, demonstrably and in a certain timescale.
If you've come across SMART objectives, it's along those lines and very tactical. It happens and happens fast - usually.
This 'next step' in a process, means that things keep moving and someone is signed up to the progress by doing the next link towards the final outcome. Think of it as a monkey jumping from each person's shoulder to the next. The 'doer' takes the monkey with them - and you ensure that it isn't usually you!
By keeping this as the goal, step by relevant next step, the overall outcome is achieved.
Who is the 'doer'? Well, that depends on who is best placed to do the doing! In developmental management and team cultures, as many individuals as possible get involved in taking the 'next step' (carrying off the monkey!).
Whilst it is easy for a manager to take the brunt of these, it is very useful to help others take these 'next steps, even if they are not experts in that area of their work.
Using 'next steps' as a developmental exercise can be very valuable for individuals who want to stretch their experience and develop their capabilities.
Without just 'dropping them in it', by providing ongoing support, whilst giving them the accountability to deliver (a strong learning in itself), a manager can evolve a highly skilled and broadly experienced team around who will enable continuity when times get tough.
And a succession planning process which evolves without too much effort.
Things get done, people get developed, the manager delegates effectively, making the best of his or her time.
Now how great a solution is that then!
Martin Haworth is a business and management coach and trainer, working with a range of clients from corporates to individuals worldwide. www.MartinHaworth.com
Next Steps to Success - To learn more about this author, visit Martin Haworth's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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