Waikato Times - Career Section
November 2008
Tony looked at his watch. It was 2.15pm and time to meet with Stuart for his three month review.
‘Tony, how do you feel the “team” is working together? There seemed to be a bit of a sticky patch a month or two ago. I must say you’ve handled it very well. What were your strategies for pulling the team together?’
‘You’re right, Stuart. For a while there I felt I was really floundering. The team might only be very small, but there are definitely some strong characters within it. To be honest, I had some advice from my grandfather. He helped me evaluate what sort of management style each of my team members needed. Up till then I thought you’d always be fine if you treated everyone the same, no favourites – same message for everyone. Grandad helped me to realise that being an effective manager is all about managing people in a style that suits them.’
Stuart nodded. ‘Tell me more.’
‘Grandad showed me that there are four principle styles involved in managing people.’
Tony drew a square and divided it into four quadrants. Down the left side of the quadrants, he wrote “Commitment” and along the bottom, he wrote “competence.” Stuart looked on with interest.
‘Quadrant number one is the quadrant that requires Coaching. It’s high commitment and low competence. This is the quadrant that Ryan fits into. He is very committed to the job but as a new graduate he still has a lot to learn. My mistake was thinking that because he talked a good story and has a good degree he also had the relevant experience. He didn’t. I needed to coach him more, to give clear guidelines and to regularly check to make sure everything was OK.
Sam is the opposite of Ryan and fits into quadrant three. This is the quadrant of Supporting. This quadrant is high competence and low commitment. Sam definitely knows his job, and his industry knowledge is unparalleled. What he needs is a leadership style that supports him, not one that tells him what to do. This is about understanding him, what makes him tick and being there when he needs me.
Kimberley needs the management style that tells her what to do – quadrant four – the quadrant of directing. This is where the person has both low commitment and low competence. For Kimberley, the job is “just a job” and she is quite happy to be told what to do. It’s easy and she doesn’t have to think, or use her initiative.’
‘And Helen?’ asks Stuart.
‘When I was trying to sort out where people fitted and what I had to do to manage them more effectively, I completely ignored Helen because she simply got on with things. She was no problem, and I could absolutely rely on her to do a good job.
When I was speaking with Grandad, he cautioned me to spend time with Helen, even though she was doing a great job. The leadership style Helen requires is Delegating as she is high competence and high commitment. I was leaving her to it and in many ways that was the right thing to do, but I needed to make sure she knew that she was valued, and I wasn’t doing that. When I did, it was amazing. I could see exactly what Grandad meant about not only focusing on the behaviours you need to change, but acknowledging the effort of the people who are doing well. I also saw Helen’s performance grow as I delegated more and more tasks to her.’
‘So, each of your team members needs a different management style?’
‘Yes, they do. And since I’ve been following Grandad’s advice, things have been working really well - the team seems to be getting along better, and achieving much higher work outputs.’
‘Well done, Tony. That’s an excellent model for staff management. It outlines very clearly what you need to do with each person to bring out the best in your team.’
Extract from Competence and Commitment – Getting the best from your team
Authors Lee Astridge and Caroline Britton
www.4life4business.com
