Monday Mornings with Madison

Category Archives:
People skills

April 16, 2012

Praise Pays

Issue #228

If you ask any Sales Manager what is the most powerful motivator for their employees, you are likely to hear ‘financial compensation’… as in “show them the money.” If you ask any Human Resources manager the same question, you may hear things like ‘fringe benefits or perks.’ While there are many different opinions about how best to motivate employees, one strategy may be more effective at motivating employees than money or benefits (and more cost effective). Namely: praise.

That’s what an obscure study done by Dr. Elizabeth Hurlock proved nearly a century ago. In Hurlock’s 1925 study, students were divided into four groups during instruction. One group was praised. One was criticized. One group was ignored. The last group was ignored during instruction, but not in front of the others so they had no idea that some students were being praised or criticized. Students who were praised in front of others during instruction improved their test scores by 71% while students who were criticized in front of others during instruction improved their test scores only 19%. The students who were ignored completely during instruction improved their scores by only 5% and that was similar to those who were separated from the others. When it came to results, praise was the best motivator. But is the same still true today? And does praise motivate adults at work as much as it motivates children? If so, does praise motivate employees as much as money or benefits? Continue reading →

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March 5, 2012

Persnickety or Perfectionist?

Issue #222

The best leaders are skilled at knowing the strengths and weaknesses of every person on their team and then assigning work that capitalizes on strengths and avoids weaknesses. But the truth is that there are many traits that can be both a strength and a weakness, depending on how it is channeled and applied to certain jobs or tasks. Over the last few weeks, we’ve looked at a series of such traits. Procrastination. Impatience. Competitiveness. Unreasonableness. At first glance, these may seem like flaws. But when properly channeled or applied in the right situations, each of these so-called ‘flaws’ can also be ‘qualities’.

Is the reverse also true? Can something generally viewed as a quality also be a flaw? The goal with virtually any quality or flaw is to channel and harness it for whatever value is offers without allowing it to become a detriment. Take perfectionism, for example. Many people admit freely to being perfectionists. It’s seen by many as perhaps a ‘desirable flaw’ in that most successful people shamelessly claim to be perfectionists. If one must admit to a flaw, that’s the flaw to have. But is it always good to be a perfectionist and can even that trait become problematic? If so, how can one best manage a perfectionist? Continue reading →

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February 20, 2012

Impatience

Issue #220

They say patience is a virtue. Yet, in today’s fast-paced world, impatience may also be a virtue. Impatience has led to many innovations. Once upon a time, the U.S. Postal System was considered one of the most efficient in the world. First class mail could be sent across the country in just 2-3 days. But impatience led people to develop and adopt email as a much faster form of written communication. First class mail, now dubbed snail mail, was relegated to greeting cards and hard copies of official documents. This impatience to work faster has also led to other innovations such as the fax machine, document scanner and software that allow documents to be uploaded FTP sites. The entire industry of overnight package delivery is another child of impatience. And, with each step business takes to do things faster, society’s patience grows shorter and actually encourages even more impatience.

What about when it comes to people? If patience is a virtue, can impatience also be a virtue? Yes. Impatience is not only a force that drives advancement in science and business, but it can even improve certain social situations. The trick is to recognize when a situation would benefit from either impatience or patience, and apply the correct force accordingly. The goal is not to allow human nature to simply select one or the other at will or at random. When and how can impatience be harnessed and when is it best not to be impatient? Continue reading →

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February 13, 2012

Inflexibility

Issue #219

When Apple went shopping for chip makers years ago for their iPhones, Apple didn’t select Intel chips. Why? One of the primary reasons given by Jobs was that the Intel Corporation was “just really slow. They’re like a steamship, not very flexible.” What he meant is that the company was slow to change and adapt according to its customers’ needs. The comment reflects the importance, in today’s rapid-paced world, of being flexible and nimble. In business, inflexibility is viewed as the ultimate Achilles heel.
What about in people? Is inflexibility in people as much of a flaw as it is in companies? Generally, when a person is labeled as inflexible, it is meant as a criticism. Whether the reference is to a person’s physical flexibility or their intractable personality, inflexibility or rigidity is generally deemed as a negative. But it turns out that inflexibility can actually be beneficial, both physically and as a personality trait…. at times. To find out when it pays to be inflexible, Continue reading →

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February 6, 2012

“No” Problem

Issue #218

Most overworked, overloaded and highly stressed people all share one fundamental characteristic (let’s just call it what it is… a flaw). They don’t know how to say “No.” They might be able to muster the chutzpah to say an unassertive “no” once in a while, but they either don’t stand their ground afterward, or they just don’t say “no” often enough. While a “Can Do” attitude or a “Never say No” disposition is generally considered by managers to be a desirable quality in staff, the truth is that those “always say yes” people often take on more than they can chew and that can be a problem both for the employee and the manager.

While there is nothing wrong with wanting to please others and be helpful — in fact it is an essential part of any functioning workplace and all civilized and compassionate societies — the problem arises when the word “No” is never used. The problem is that there typically aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything everyone asks of the average “yes man” or “yes woman.” For those people with a “No” problem, it means that some requests either aren’t getting done, aren’t done in a timely manner or aren’t being done well. At work, that can be a problem for both employee and employer. Here are some strategies to make it a bit easier to say “No” assertively. Continue reading →

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January 30, 2012

The Power of Procrastination

Issue #217

Procrastination has been defined as the act of replacing high-priority or important actions with tasks of lower priority, and putting off important tasks to a later time. Some industrial psychologists consider it procrastination if the action is counterproductive, needless, and delaying. Others consider it procrastination if a course of action is voluntarily delayed despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.

Regardless of the definition, procrastination and procrastinators are generally viewed in a purely negative light. However, the truth is that every person procrastinates sometimes. But, according to Psychology Today, only about 20 percent of people are true procrastinators… those who consistently avoid difficult tasks and deliberately look for distractions. How do you know if you or one of your employees is part of the 20% that are true procrastinators? And, if so, is procrastination always a bad thing? Continue reading →

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January 23, 2012

Be Unreasonable!!

Issue #216

In business negotiations and political discussions, people are often urged to ‘be reasonable’ if they stake out a position that seems untenable or challenging. Being reasonable is billed in polite society as a virtue. Indeed, most people would consider it an insult, or at least an affront, to be accused of being ‘unreasonable.’ Reasonableness is seen as the quintessential characteristic of a civilized and educated person. We always want to be reasonable and seem reasonable to others.

The only problem is that being ‘reasonable’ will only get you so far in life. If you want to go further and take your business or career — or some other equally important aspect of your life — to a whole new level (not just the next incremental level), you need to go far beyond being reasonable. To achieve a great breakthrough or make a quantum leap forward, you need delve into the realm of the unreasonable. But how and when is it okay to be unreasonable? Continue reading →

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January 9, 2012

Something Old; Something New; Something Borrowed… and Now Something True Blue

Issue #214

For the last two weeks, we took an old English rhyme “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, And A Sixpence in your Shoe.” and applied it business. We started by examining the old – but valuable – marketing strategy of PR to promote brand continuity and investigated a new, related marketing trend called Brand Journalism that is helping customers connect to businesses in a new way. Then we borrowed the strategy of Corporate Giving as a way to help businesses connect with and engage consumers.

However, sometimes the smartest thing a business can do is go back to the basics. Despite the many changes in technology, communications, and marketing over the last 25 years, the fundamentals of running a sound business remain unchanged. This week, we’ll look at some ‘true blue’ business practices essential to any organization. These ten strategies are a must for long-term business success. Continue reading →

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December 12, 2011

Words of Wisdom from Steve Jobs – Part 2

Issue #210

Last week, we began a three-part series reflecting on the Commencement Speech Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios, delivered to Stanford University students on June 12, 2005. His speech basically told three stories. Each was a message unto itself. The first part was about trying new things without worrying about connecting the dots.

This week, we’ll read the second part of his Commencement Speech – just as he spoke it and offer a little further insight. In this story, he talked about finding and doing what you love. This advice is not revolutionary, but neither is it necessarily common or easy to achieve. Mr. Jobs found his passion, lost it, and then found it again. He and the world were the better for it. Continue reading →

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November 28, 2011

One Thing: Every Business Should Find Theirs

Issue #208

Customer service is a topic that eventually finds its way into practically every dialogue about business at one point or another. Business school professors expound on the importance of it. Writers of blogs, columns and broadcasts wax poetic about it. Executives ponder over how to improve it. Customers complain when they don’t get it. It is a quintessential concern of any good business. It is also the failing of many businesses, new and old. Good customer service, it seems, is a moving target that many businesses fail to hit at one point or another. Tales of consistently great customer service are almost as unbelievable as stories about the Tooth Fairy, leaving many to wonder if being able to provide great customer service consistently is really only a fairytale.

Why is it so hard to deliver great customer service consistently? The reason is because customer service is actually much more than the exchange that happens between a customer and the business right at the point of sale. Customer service is inherently a part of every interaction between the customer and the brand from initial interaction until well after the sale is completed and the product or service is delivered. Customer service is part and parcel of the product or service, not just the interactions between customer and company. It is the responsibility of every employee in every department, from research and development to marketing and from manufacturing or operations to accounting.

One needn’t look very hard to find examples in the media of customer service gone terribly awry. But there are many organizations that do have a handle on good customer service. They have identified the one thing that matters most and focused on getting that single thing right. Continue reading →

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