Why you should care about this book: Although you won’t learn every management secret known to mankind in this book, Kenneth Blanchard does a great job of telling a story and keeping you interested in his three principles of one minute management. Although this book was published in the 80’s with an 80’s mindset; we can still use the principles today. Technology may have advanced in the last 30 years, but basic human behavior hasn’t. There are some other insights along the way to learning his secrets, but the three principles and some catchy sayings are what take up most of the 39 pages of this book.
My recommendation: I highly recommend this for managers but also parents can learn a lot from this book as well. It is well worth the 2 hours to read it.
Brief overview of contents: The 3 principles consist of – one minute goal setting, one minute praises and one minute reprimands.
The one minute goal setting:
The One Minute Manager (OMM) tells the subordinate what needs to be done and they both agree on the task. The goal is recorded on a single page in 250 words or less with one copy to the subordinate and one to the OMM. Performance is based on agreed responsibilities. The OMM shows subordinates what good behavior looks like by example or by others actions. In most organizations, the boss and subordinate have 2 different ideas of the subordinates responsibilities are. Goals should only be set for key areas of responsibilities; from 3-6 goals. The first goal is always to have subordinates identify and solve their own problems. The OMM spends most of their time with subordinates at the beginning of a new task, not at the end. Subordinates must review their goals periodically and review their own performance; see if their behavior matches their goals.
The one minute praising:
When first starting a task, the OMM is never far away and keeps detailed records of the subordinate’s progress. The OMM always tries to catch subordinates doing something RIGHT, and gives praise immediately after catching them. How it works; the OMM makes contact with the person, looks them in the eye and tells them what they did right, and then the OMM tells them how it made the OMM feel along with the good for the company when they did it right.
One minute reprimand:
How it works; OMM makes contact with the person, looks them in the eye and tells them what they did wrong, and then the OMM tells them how it made the OMM feel about what they did wrong, and lastly the OMM tells the subordinate that they still believe they are competent at their job. Reprimands are about behavior not the person; this prevents defensiveness or rationalizing an excuse.
Other ideas or discussions:
The One Minute Manager gets good results without taking much time. The OMM doesn’t make decisions for others; they make others make decisions for themselves. The OMM at meetings listens while their people review and analyze what they accomplished, the problems they had, and what still needs to be accomplished WITHOUT HELPING THEM SOVLE THEIR OWN PROBLEMS. The decisions made at the meeting are binding to both parties. The OMM doesn’t have to repeat themselves; their people listen to them because they don’t waste time.
The idea of win-win, win-lose and lose-win when it comes to management style, subordinates and the company; Autocratic style management (bottom line manager) is where the company wins and subordinates lose. Democratic style management (nice manager) is where the company loses and subordinates win. The one minute manager (effective manager) is a win-win management style by managing themselves and the people they work with so that both the company and the people profit from the manager’s presence.
Productivity is about quantity and quality, you can’t sacrifice either. Quality is simply giving people the product or service they really want and need.
Problems are expressed in behavioral terms, not attitudes or feelings, they must be observable and measurable. A problem only exists if there is a difference between what is actually happening and what you desire to happen. If a subordinate comes to you with a problem; they better have an answer that they already worked out all of the scenarios prior to telling the OMM.
The OMM gives crystal clear feedback on what the subordinate is doing well and doing poorly whether it is uncomfortable or not. The OMM will praise someone even if things aren’t going well for the manager or the company. The OMM will praise more during the beginning of the tasks and eventually the subordinate will start praising themselves. The one minute praise works on Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning, where two stimuli are presented and the organism starts to relate one to the other, even when both are not present.
Catchy sayings:
People who feel good about themselves produce good results.
Subordinate, “I have a problem.” Manager, “good that is what I hired you to solve.”
Help people reach their full potential; catch them doing something right.
The best minute I spend is the one I invest in people.
Now that I have given you a taste of the book, you can get it for FREE off Barnes and Noble under the Nook section. How cool is that? Have a great week and thank you for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment