Lance Sinclair
Contributing Writer
Direct Energy
Learning to lead is a big priority. In Deloitte’s 2014 Millennial Survey[SL1] , 75{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of respondents believed that their organizations could do more to develop people.
This opens a massive opportunity for companies known for a strong self-development culture.
As a manager in the traditional sense and as a team leader in the present tense, today’s manager must take responsibility for helping the team with self-development.
Self-development is a lifelong process. It is a way for people to assess their skills and qualities, consider their aims in life, and set goals in order to realize and maximize their potential; it is development of one’s capabilities or potentialities. Self-development is taking steps to better yourself, such as by learning new skills or overcoming bad habits.
The good news is that most self-development activities are low cost to no cost. Any size company, any size team can implement self-development. All it takes is one manager and one team member.
To move from self-development to real improvement takes action. One such action is called a “One-on-One”.
One on One (1:1) is a monthly meeting – no longer than one hour – between a team member and their direct report (supervisor or team lead). A 1:1 consists of three equal parts: Lesson, Goals, and Discussion.
Lesson
The supervisor/team leader provides the lesson. Each member of the team may have the same lesson each month. Lessons could be an article to read and comment on, a question regarding the individual and the business, questions about management and leadership. Some examples include:
Work-Life Balance: Complete a work-life balance quiz from the internet and discussion on how to improve the team members’ work-life balance.
Accountability: Be accountable for your own success. How much of your success would you say is up to you – your choices, your actions, your behaviors – versus outside conditions? Be prepared to discuss.
Values: Explain the company values and give examples that you have witnessed in the workplace. What examples do you have that demonstrate the company values?
Goals
Each year individual goals are established. They should be broken down into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and even daily goals. The easiest example is sales. Production is another example.
Review the goal(s) and determine if the goal is green (on or above target), yellow (close to target), or red (off target). Discuss the challenges. Celebrate the successes. In a 1:1, the purpose of goals is to provide a broad overview. A separate meeting should be scheduled if dramatic issues and challenges arise.
Depending on the position, it is always a good idea to ask, what are your plans (to move goals forward) for the next four weeks.
Discussion
The discussion section is an open forum for the team member. Any question, comment, concern may be discussed. Typically, it is an informal discussion and a great opportunity to connect and build a positive relationship between the supervisor/team leader and the team member.
A vast majority of team members believe that their organizations could do more to develop people.
This is a massive opportunity.
Self-development will improve recruitment, reduce turnover, and improve processes in every company. This single biggest concern about 1:1’s come from supervisors and team leaders, “How do I find the time”, they ask, “I have X team members – way too many to spend an hour a month to perform a 1:1”.
Okay. Then spend that time dealing with missing goals, hiring, interviewing, lost productivity, mad customers, and turnover.
The choice is yours.
To move from self-development to real improvement takes action.
Lance Sinclair had 17 years operational experience before joining Direct Energy/Success Academy in 2004. In his current role at Success Academy, he is responsible for the development, design, delivery, and evaluation of training and education for the franchise system consisting of Instructor Led Training, Web Based Training, and Online Self-directed Training. Direct Energy Services is one of North America’s largest home services providers and offers a wide range of services to homes including HVAC, plumbing and electrical services through our service brands of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing®, Mister Sparky® electric, and One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning®.