Government Executive - Authors - Elizabeth Newell Jochum

Bringing Leaders Up to Speed

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 01:00:00 -0500

Had Mitt Romney won the presidency, there’s no question January would have been a time of upheaval for federal managers. Still, as President Obama settles into a second term, managers should not expect the status quo. The end of a first term is a natural point of departure for political appointees planning to return to the private sector or to step down otherwise. While the transition surely will be on a smaller scale, managers still have to prepare for new leadership and shifting priorities.

In a post-election survey by the Government Business Council, the research arm of Government Executive, 38 percent of managers reported feeling transition-related anxiety. Another 34 percent said they were very concerned about how the transition would affect morale.

As with any other transition, career executives have some responsibility to help new appointees get up to speed quickly. Clay Johnson, who was Office of Management and Budget deputy director for management during the George W. Bush administration, advised federal managers at Government Executive’s September Excellence in Government conference to structure discussions with new leaders in terms of the agency’s risks and opportunities and to be as candid as possible. “When you talk about your risks, you have to be recognizing there are risks. It can’t be all Kumbaya,” Johnson said. “There are things—internal and
external—that may prevent success. So how do we make sure the risks are minimized and opportunities maximized?”

At the conference, John Acton, the Homeland Security Department’s executive director of leader development, advised adopting a can-do attitude despite the temptation to discuss past failures and shoot down ideas that have been heard before. “When you have a political appointee coming in, a positive approach can be a really effective one,” he said. Managers should present options that identify areas of challenge and opportunity. “You want to help them think through the agenda they have, not the agenda someone else had in the past,” he said. This is true whether that agenda is at the opposite end of the political spectrum or the result of a different leadership style in the same administration.

Career executives should be prepared to sum up their work and that of their employees, highlighting what the office does, who the key people are, and which programs are under way, says Martha Joynt Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project. It also doesn’t hurt to research what was said on the campaign trail.

An appointee will be attempting to implement the president’s goals, so it can be helpful to know in advance what those might be. Johnson advises managers to focus on the desired outcome. “A killer question that will stun the people you work with is, ‘What’s the picture of success three years or two years or one year from now?’ Start with that,” he said at the conference.

Showing a political appointee the ropes and selling the importance of the organization is stressful, but it can provide a much-needed reboot and a wave of enthusiasm. A second-term transition is a natural time for innovation, Lisa Brown, acting chief performance officer, said in September. The energy and excitement that come with a renewed chance to prioritize and focus on meeting goals should be viewed as an opportunity—even for the most jaded manager.

Elizabeth Newell Jochum covered human resources, management and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Even in a Second Term, Expect New Appointees

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In a post-election survey by the Government Business Council, the research arm of Government Executive, 38 percent of managers reported feeling transition-related anxiety. Another 34 percent said they were very concerned about how the transition would affect morale.

As with any other transition, career executives have some responsibility to help get new appointees up to speed quickly. Clay Johnson, who was Office of Management and Budget deputy director for management during the George W. Bush administration, advised federal managers at Government Executive’s September Excellence in Government conference to structure discussions with new leaders in terms of the agency’s risks and opportunities and to be as candid as possible. “When you talk about your risks, you have to be recognizing there are risks. It can’t be all Kumbaya,” Johnson said. “There are things -- internal and external -- that may prevent success. So how do we make sure the risks are minimized and opportunities maximized?”

Career executives should be prepared to sum up their work and that of their employees’, highlighting what the office does, who the key people are, and which programs are under way, says Martha Joynt Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project. It also doesn’t hurt to research what was said on the campaign trail.

Elizabeth Newell Jochum covered human resources, management and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Crafting Office Culture

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 02:00:00 -0500

Office culture affects everything from employee retention to productivity, and managers have an incredible opportunity to shape that culture. In most organizations, culture is based solely on what is sold, delivered or provided. But David Vik, former culture coach at online shoe retailer Zappos and author of The Culture Secret: How to Empower People and Companies No Matter What You Sell, which is set for release by Greenleaf Book Group in February 2013, argues that culture should be deliberately structured to align with the wants, needs and demands of both employees and customers.

Vik believes that crafting a unique culture should be priority No. 1 for organizations that want to attract and retain loyal employees and customers. While federal managers may not be as concerned with “customers” in the traditional sense as private sector managers, agency leaders nonetheless have parties they are tasked with serving.

One of the first challenges of managing organizational structure, Vik says, is the fact that the concept itself is “squooshy.” Several organizations could take identical steps toward creating a certain culture, but not all will realize the same effects. This is true in part because every organization already has an existing culture, which may be less than ideal. “So if you want to create your own unique culture that will help empower your employees and drive your company to success, transforming the culture you already have is a great place to start,” he says.

The first step to creating or transforming your organization’s culture is to develop a compelling vision. Employees need to know what they are doing, in the largest sense. They should know the organization’s ultimate goal and what managers expect to accomplish. Many managers, Vik says, fail to properly identify the what, skipping right to the how. But if employees have a good sense of the organization’s vision then they can help develop ways to achieve that vision, which means more innovations and less micromanaging.

Next, articulate the purpose of the organization, or the why. In the private sector, Vik has seen that if a company’s sole purpose is to make money, then employees won’t stand behind it for long. Passionate, committed employees must feel compelled by their organization’s purpose.

Vik has found that having or creating “wow factors” for an organization may be the single most important thing managers and executives can do. The focus must be on setting the organization apart and that can come from quality, value, price, service, delivery, or really anything; but it is the manager’s job to decide how the organization can best differentiate itself. This wow factor must be tangible, the organization must be able to point to concrete results or practices that are distinctive, otherwise it’s just lip service.

Finally, he points to organizational values as a crucial aspect of culture: “Values let the outside world know what you are all about.” Encouraging employee participation in developing these values can be extremely productive, as it can point out where the group thinks they are succeeding and what they value devoting additional effort toward. For example, if the organization currently struggles with communication but collectively wants to improve, naming “timely communication” as a value is likely to attract employees willing to contribute to that goal. Eventually, these values become self-fulfilling.

Culture should be the blueprint of what, why and how the organization operates, Vik says, and the more a manager can keep focus on its vision, purpose and values, the more likely that culture is to become part of its DNA, helping employees and the organization to reach full potential.]]>

Rethinking To-Do Lists

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Keeping a to-do list seems to be an almost universal business practice, particularly for managers who juggle multiple tasks. But many experts believe lists can be counterproductive, giving people a false sense of organization without the benefit of any real planning or prioritization.

Daniel Markovitz, author of A Factory of One: Applying Lean Principles to Banish Waste and Improve Your Personal Performance (Productivity Press, December 2011), wrote that to-do lists set workers up for failure for five reasons. First, they provide too many options. The human brain can handle about seven choices before it becomes overwhelmed, Markovitz writes, so a 20-item to-do list is likely to be paralyzing rather than motivating.

Second, to-do lists tend to include a range of tasks of varying complexity. The user is bound to tick off the small projects and let the most challenging ones languish. Third, to-do tasks tend to vary in importance, allowing people to take care of top priorities while letting lower priority tasks fall by the wayside until they become top priorities.

Fourth, lists don’t provide context. To decide which task should be tackled, a manager should know the necessary steps for completion and whether or not the required time and resources are available. Finally, nothing about a to-do list prevents a manager from choosing a more tolerable task over the most important and often more difficult one.

So if to-do lists are ineffective or even harmful to productivity, what is the best alternative? Markovitz recommends “living in your calendar,” or taking tasks off the to-do list, estimating how much time each one will take and blocking out time for it on your calendar.

Other time management experts also embrace this approach. Peter Bregman, author of 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction and Get the Right Things Done (Business Plus, September 2011), writes that when we decide when and where to do something, the likelihood of following through increases dramatically. He recommends using to-do lists as collection tools, a kind of brainstorming compilation of things to be done.

Once you’ve listed what has to be done, put those items on the calendar. When the calendar is full, tasks inevitably still will remain on the to-do list, but at least there has been progress toward completing the most important projects at the most productive time.

The calendar method also forces managers to engage in another effective to-do list practice, including fine-tuning the task at hand. It is common for to-do lists to include action items like “solve issue with Mr. Jones.” In the process of converting a list to a calendar entry, that broad objective should be separated into more specific tasks that will take a discrete amount of time. For example, “solve issue with Mr. Jones” could break down to “schedule meeting with Mr. Jones to discuss chronic lateness” and “draft and send notice to supervisor of recurring lateness issue with Mr. Jones.” Management issues tend to be complex and broad and solving them inevitably requires a series of actions that should be scheduled and accomplished separately.

And since calendars, unlike lists, fill up, the calendar method will require managers to take time to compare their listed items against their priorities. As all managers know, there are only so many hours in a day.

Elizabeth Newell Jochum covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Listless Listing

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Elizabeth Newell Jochum covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Ways to Improve Your Public Speaking

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Many managers, especially those with only a few subordinates, don’t think of public speaking as part of their job description, at least not in the traditional sense. They rarely, if ever, have to walk upstairs, stand behind a podium with a microphone, and address a large crowd. If they did think of their communications with employees this way, then it likely would cause a lot more anxiety; many, many Americans list public speaking as a top fear. But a few pointers on how to address an audience large or small can help managers to be more effective.

Toastmasters, the nonprofit dedicated to teaching public speaking and leadership skills, offers 10 tips for public speaking, many of which managers can apply to daily interactions with their team. For example, know your material. Speak on a topic on which you are well-versed so you can talk knowledgeably without memorization. At the office, you similarly will be more successful briefing subordinates on an issue when you have a strong grasp of it yourself. Do you have to pass on performance expectations from the higher-ups? First make sure you fully understand what is expected and the metrics that will be used to gauge success, and decide how you think your team can best meet these goals. Then you can address your team and answer questions without stumbling.

Also, practice, practice, practice. Doing this before a major speech is a no-brainer. But managers should practice for smaller interactions too. For example, if a manager is dreading a meeting with a problem employee, role-playing with a peer or even at home with a friend or spouse can be incredibly helpful. Even simply running through the planned talking points out loud and brainstorming possible employee responses can help calm nerves and ensure the meeting goes more smoothly.

Toastmasters advises public speakers not to apologize for any nervousness or any hiccups that occur during delivery. After all, audiences likely will not notice small slip-ups. For managers, translating this advice can be tricky. Undoubtedly, if a manager makes a mistake that adversely affects the team, admitting to this mistake and apologizing for it can help ease resentment. On the other hand, managers should not constantly apologize for good-faith efforts to do their jobs or for challenges that are out of their hands. Excessive apologies can erode subordinates’ faith that managers have things under control, just as they can highlight the nervousness or awkwardness of a public speaker.

Finally, realize that people want you to succeed. Just as audiences root for the speaker addressing them, genuinely wanting them to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining, managers’ subordinates know that their work experiences will be exponentially better if their boss is successful. Keeping this in mind can help managers avoid a “me-versus-them” attitude and stay confident and in control.

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The Power of Frequent Career-Building Chats

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0500

At many federal agencies, career development comes up in one of two situations: when it’s performance review time or when an employee announces plans to leave. In Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2012), authors Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni say with only a few minutes of conversation a day, managers can dramatically improve employee engagement, retention and results.

According to Kaye and Giulioni, career development tends to center on forms, checklists and annual processes. Feedback that should take place daily is compressed into one long annual meeting where nervous employees are told where they’ve fallen short, and they in turn promise to remedy shortcomings in the year to come. The more effective approach, Kaye and Giulioni write, is to engage in short, frequent conversations with employees. These 10-minute discussions offer a number of benefits. They fit easily with the cadence of the business day, communicate a genuine commitment to the employee, and act as an ongoing reminder of the agency’s dedication to learning, growth and progress.

These conversations should reframe career development so that responsibility rests squarely with the employee, Kaye and Giulioni say. The manager’s role is to prompt, guide, reflect, explore ideas, activate enthusiasm and drive action. “This role centers around talking about rather than actually doing the heavy lifting of development,” they write.

Iterative conversations let employees slow down enough to reflect, develop and verbalize deep insights and to consider how to leverage their growing capacity. By encouraging these processes, managers reflect an agency’s commitment to the employee and recast development from simply promotions and transfers to experiences and challenges.

There are three distinct types of conversations the authors say are particularly important to keep employees happy, and they focus on hindsight, foresight and insight. Hindsight conversations are meant to help employees look backward and inward to reflect on who they are, where they have been, what they love and where they excel. This kind of conversation requires employees to be self-aware and deeply engaged, but managers can facilitate by providing thoughtful feedback. “Helping people look back and inward also provides a reservoir of information that allows employees to move forward and toward their career goals in intentional ways that will produce satisfying results,” Kaye and Giulioni say.

Foresight conversations should guide employees to look outward toward the changes and trends they want to see in the bigger picture of their careers. These conversations help employees apply what they’ve learned about themselves through hindsight conversations and put that in context of what is going on around them. “When you help your employees develop the ability to scan the environment, anticipate trends and spot opportunities, you provide a constructive context for career development,” the authors write.

Insight conversations bring together the fruits of hindsight and foresight. They involve employees and managers working together to determine future actions to achieve career objectives, with managers guiding employees into practical steps toward their goals. Kaye and Giulioni say managers should help employees learn to grow in place, replacing “onward and upward” with “forward and toward.” The challenge is for managers to broaden career conversations beyond just jobs, promotions and raises and to focus on what employees need to experience, know, learn and be able to do.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Career Conversations

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 01:00:00 -0400

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Reining in Rage

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Workplace anger is dangerous. It sometimes leads to violence, making homicide one of the top four causes of death in the workplace and causing 15,000 nonfatal injuries annually. But even when it doesn’t reach that level, workplace anger can affect employees’ health, happiness and performance if not dealt with quickly.

Jude Bijou, therapist and author of Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life (Riviera Press, 2011), has spent decades helping people view and manage their anger by encouraging them to see it as a physical state that can be remedied. Bijou writes that she has found unexpressed sadness, anger and fear to be at the root of all bad attitudes. By expelling these physical sensations from the body -- releasing that bad energy by sobbing, stomping, shivering, whatever is most effective -- people can create more positive attitudes.

This insight is helpful for managers in two respects. First, like everyone else, managers must learn to control their own anger. And the added responsibility and inevitable frustrations that come with being a supervisor can cause anger to build. Additionally, managers likely will benefit if they have a better understanding of employees’ attitudes. If a supervisor approaches a bad attitude as a manifestation of sadness, anger or fear, then he may have more success addressing the issue in a productive way.

Through her attitude reconstruction blueprint, Bijou identifies the four disruptive core attitudes that lead to anger: 1) outward focus, in which the employee may feel jealous or alienated, or will tend toward blaming others; 2) not accepting people and situations, in which the individual will feel intolerant, disappointed and frustrated; 3) making negative judgments of what is, manifested through a resentful, critical or disgusted attitude; and 4) selfishness, which tends to make employees feel stubborn, rebellious and arrogant.

Being able to identify that an employee who is pushy or insensitive could in fact be angry can help a manager garner the patience to work with that individual, rather than dismiss her as a problem employee. And developing the self-awareness to see employee resentment as a form of anger can help a manager dissipate that anger, adjust expectations, and interact with his or her team in a more positive way.

Bijou’s background as a family and marriage counselor with an interest in meditation and other holistic treatments means that her advice for dealing with bad attitudes can seem easier said than done. For example, she writes that the solution to frustration is to accept what is and the solution to feeling resigned is to abandon unfounded hopes.

But her solutions are far from pie in the sky, and Bijou’s recommended process of identifying the core emotions -- sadness, anger or fear -- that could be causing feelings of blame, frustration, resentment, helplessness, inadequacy or any number of other attitudes is worthwhile. Too often even the most self-aware manager, or person for that matter, will take the time to identify only the superficial feeling, failing to dig down to the root cause.

Digging down, and then responding to the core emotion, can bring the relief that angry managers and employees need to be happier, healthier and more productive in the workplace and outside it.

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What's Your Natural Leadership Style?

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0400

At some point in their education, most students are required to take the Myers-Briggs test, a psychological questionnaire designed to pinpoint personality types. The idea is to help teachers and counselors identify learning styles and possible career paths for their charges. Managers would be wise to embrace the idea that understanding your personality type—or your leadership style—can help you be more effective.

One of the most respected lists of styles comes from the 2000 Harvard Business Review study “Leadership That Gets Results” by Daniel Goleman. The survey of more than 3,000 managers identified the following leadership styles and their benefits and weaknesses:

Coercive: This manager demands immediate compliance, employing a “do what I say” approach. Goleman says this personality trait can be extremely effective in dealing with a crisis or a problem employee. In most situations, however, coercive leaders dampen motivation and stifle innovation and flexibility.

Authoritative: This manager focuses on the ultimate goal, stating it clearly and urging employees to reach it, but allowing freedom to choose the means. An authoritative leader’s skill is to mobilize the team toward a desired result, which gives employees space to experiment and take calculated risks. This approach tends to fall short, however, when the manager has less experience or expertise than his team. In these cases, Goleman warns, the manager can come off as out of touch.

Affiliative: This manager adopts a people-first philosophy, creating emotional bonds with employees. This technique is useful for building harmony or boosting morale. But focusing on praise alone can allow poor performers to skate, and employees in need of concrete advice can feel adrift.

Democratic: This manager gives employees a voice in decisions, helping build flexibility in the office and delegating responsibility for producing results and fresh ideas. But, Goleman notes, the impact on the office climate is not as high as one might guess. The downside can be endless meetings and confused employees who feel leaderless.

Pacesetting: This manager leads by direction, setting high standards for performance and expecting skill and speed. When a pacesetting manager has a highly competent and motivated team, this leadership style can bring quick results. But, Goleman notes, a natural pacesetter in the wrong environment can undercut morale, overwhelm team members and make employees feel as if they are consistently failing.

Coaching: This manager takes on the role of mentor, focusing more on personal development than on immediate work-related tasks. These leaders are willing to deal with short-term failures for the sake of long-term development. When employees are aware of their weaknesses and want to improve, this style can be effective. But when they are resistant to change or when the organization faces pressure for immediate results, this approach can backfire.

Goleman notes the authoritative leadership style has the most positive effect on an organizational climate, with affiliative, democratic and coaching not far behind. But his research indicates no style should be relied on exclusively.

It is crucial that managers make an honest self-assessment of their leadership style and recognize how it benefits or hinders the organization. But to handle diverse challenges, they also must develop styles that don’t come naturally.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Professional Profiling

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 01:00:00 -0400

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Tips on Talking to Your Employees

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Being the boss is a double-edged sword. Immense pressure can come from knowing that you are responsible for harnessing your staff’s talents to produce results that will make your higher-ups happy. Conversely, you are armed with the knowledge that those below you want very much to make you happy. Your employees’ desire to meet your expectations is a powerful motivator and has the potential to keep your office running efficiently.

Before you can reap the rewards of a highly motivated group of employees, however, you have to communicate clearly what will make you happy. Employees have no hope of meeting your expectations if you don’t lay them out. And failing to do so will not only keep your team from performing, but likely will cause deep anxiety and frustration among employees.

While effectively communicating expectations is a fundamental skill for managers, many supervisors have not yet mastered it. In his book Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness: Problems, Strategies, Solutions, Phillip G. Clampitt reports that as many as 40 percent of employees are not satisfied with the communications from their supervisor.

He outlines managers’ tendencies to focus on how they deliver information. This “arrow approach” leads supervisors to speak clearly and concisely, believing if their words are on the mark, then employees will remain on task. The shortfall to this approach, according to Clampitt, is it views the employees as completely passive. Feedback is not expected nor considered necessary for the communication to succeed.

The book identifies another common tendency, the “circuit approach,” under which managers stress communication as a two-way street, expecting and relying on a back-and-forth with employees. This approach also commonly breaks down as circuit approach managers tend to focus exclusively on relationships to the detriment of performance goals. Clampitt recommends managers view communication as a dance, governed by complex patterns and unwritten rules, rather than as a task that can be checked off with a fixed set of steps.

The Office of Personnel Management views communication as a key performance management competency. OPM has published several articles advising federal managers on planning and communicating expectations. Like Clampitt, the agency acknowledges that a multipronged communications strategy is crucial. Managers must take the time and make the effort to establish effective working relationships with every employee. Without these relationships, managers will fail to customize their communication efforts, which is crucial to ensuring that employees have a solid understanding of managers’ expectations.

While relationships are important, managers also must prioritize the continuous flow of information and feedback. OPM cites a Gallup survey that shows the most successful managers develop a routine that includes frequent, in-depth discussions about performance with employees. These simple and informal conversations, occurring as often as once a quarter, should center on how both the manager and the employee view the employee’s performance in relation to meeting organizational expectations.

OPM emphasizes that these feedback sessions are conversations, rather than reviews or evaluations. Asking open-ended questions engages employees in assessing their own performance and also ensures they have a solid understanding of what is expected of them and know the best avenues to achieve those goals.

Learning to be an effective communicator takes trial and error, and managers should be willing to acknowledge to themselves and the team that it is an ongoing process. Supervisors should take responsibility for being understood, despite the temptation to blame employees for failing to listen or speak up when they didn’t fully comprehend the expectation. Managers can create an environment of trust by working diligently and quickly to clear up misunderstandings and learning from the communications errors that might have caused them.

Managers understand that a failed project reflects poorly on them, regardless of their level of direct involvement. Similarly, the level and effectiveness of communication within the organization is one measure of their job performance, requiring a level of dedication on par with other top priorities.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Taking Advantage of Twitter

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Twitter is quite possibly the most intimidating and risky form of social media for federal managers. The idea of sharing work-related comments with a broad audience in an off-the-cuff manner seems incompatible with the training that senior feds rely on to be successful in their jobs. But Twitter, when used properly, can provide an invaluable opportunity to share mission goals with stakeholders and to collaborate across agencies.

There are many different strategies for being effective on Twitter, but a few basic guidelines can help keep you on track and out of trouble. First, there are two possible roles managers can play in their Twitter life. Many maintain purely personal Twitter accounts, often with disclaimers in their profiles such as “the opinions expressed here are mine alone.”

The more productive option might to be a representative for your office and agency in the digital space. This usually requires sign-off from a superior or the public affairs office. In maintaining a professional Twitter account, there is a clear line delineating appropriate tone and content. Managers should speak to their followers the way they would address an audience at a conference or town hall meeting of stakeholders or fellow managers in and outside their agencies.

On Twitter, managers have the opportunity to tout their successes, provide updates on projects, and solicit help or best practices advice on any roadblocks. They can field questions and offer advice to fellow managers facing similar challenges. Twitter is a real-time social network, so the timeliness of what is shared should be a top priority.

Another reason to consider a professional rather than personal account is credibility. Research has shown tweets from sources that broad audiences consider reliable—such as major newspapers, well-known corporate executives and government officials—are most likely to be retweeted or shared verbatim by other Twitter users. Most articles and experts recommend sharing information from a reliable source. But as a senior government official discussing the business of your office, you are the reliable source.

To boost reliability, however, consider showing your work or sharing sources. If promoting a draft regulation put out by your office, discuss the interactions you had with affected parties and the process you went through to solicit their input. Consider sharing the results of an internal survey or audit that helped drive the decision-making process. This sort of transparency helps followers feel invested in the project and lends credibility to your actions and your office’s decisions.

Without a doubt, Twitter provides an opportunity to spread the word about your accomplishments as an organization and individually as a manager. The most successful tweeters, however, won’t hog the digital microphone. Just like in real life, listeners are bound to tune out someone who rambles on without engaging the audience. You must be willing to interact with your followers. Accept questions and answer as candidly as possible, even if the response is “I don’t know” or “we’re looking into that.” Retweet information from those you find helpful and promote the good work of fellow federal managers.

As unnatural and risky as Twitter might seem, federal managers should view it as an opportunity to share with a broader audience the type of information they’d love to exchange in person. Government leaders are doing good work and asking good questions; Twitter is one place to share that work and find answers that might lead to innovative solutions.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

(Image via 1000 Words/Shutterstock.com)

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Tapping Twitter

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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How to Manage Remotely

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 01:00:00 -0400

Much has been written about getting managers on board with telework. They often are advised on how to handle requests to work from home, supervise employees who aren’t in the office and engage teleworkers with the rest of their team. But what if it is the manager who wants to work remotely while others stay put? Based on the literature that is available, supervising from afar can be a successful arrangement with the right planning, execution and small changes in leadership style.

Before deciding where to work, a manager should take an honest inventory of how the office is running. If the group already is struggling to remain energized, in synch and on task, or if morale is low, going remote might not be the best choice. It is incumbent on the manager to determine what will be best for the group, putting aside personal preferences and the conveniences that teleworking could offer. If the office is running smoothly and employees are displaying satisfaction and competence without excessive supervision, then managers have more options.

If you do decide to work remotely, make it a priority to be available to employees. Supervising from home might actually require greater effort to proactively stay engaged with employees, especially those facing issues.

Respond to emails quickly, make time for phone calls, and consider an interoffice instant messaging system that shows your availability and unavailability. If you will be out of contact for any significant chunk of time, let your employees know, or set up a temporary out of office message that says when you will get back. For managers who work almost exclusively from a desk, these things are all easy enough. But if your job has you in many meetings, traveling or otherwise indisposed for large periods of time, you might consider setting up “office hours” a few times a week when your employees know you will be available to discuss ongoing issues.

If you will be working remotely all or almost all the time, it is crucial to establish regular meeting times with the entire team. Depending on the size of the group and the range of projects, monthly, weekly or even daily digital meetings might be appropriate. These meetings should be face to face whenever possible, or via videoconference. While most tasks can be achieved by phone and email, showing your face at regular intervals and seeing how employees are interacting is tremendously beneficial.

Remote managers also must stay especially organized. Managers always have to juggle large and small issues, but the small ones may be particularly easy to forget or put on the back burner when you are at home and won’t be running into employees who might jog your memory. Every request or issue brought to your attention must be put on a to-do list and dealt with in a timely manner, lest employees feel they’re being ignored and forgotten while you work from home.

With communications primarily occurring by email and phone, it is important for teleworking managers to watch their tone. Employees put a lot of stock in being able to read your expressions and body language. Say only what you mean, with no sarcasm or innuendo, and be sure to be specific about expectations in all your communications.

It also is crucial to build recognition into your communications with employees. Informal pats on the back come naturally in an office setting, but employees can feel unsure of their performance or their manager’s satisfaction when they don’t receive those regular, casual encouragements. Each remote manager has his or her own style of reward and recognition -- whatever yours, make sure you provide feedback regularly enough that employees don’t suffer long periods of uncertainty.

Whether you are working from home, or leading a group scattered across the country, you can have success and manage a happy, productive team from afar with a few simple adjustments.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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The Post-Game Review

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Contracting officers oversee many moving parts in the complex procurement process. But perhaps no other element of contracting strikes fear into their hearts more than the debriefing.

For most procurement awards, contractors that were not selected can request to receive information on why they did not win, either in letter form or a sit-down meeting. Contracting officers worry that in-person debriefings, in particular, might disclose information that would trigger a bid protest. Managing debriefings is a tricky balance, but doing it right can save agencies time and money.

Acquisition officials first need to shake off their fear of providing the contractor with cause for a protest and acknowledge the significant benefits of debriefings, to both industry and government. Debriefings allow the government to share information that can improve the quality of proposals. They also offer rare face-to-face communication between contracting and acquisition officials and their counterparts in the private sector. For companies, this improves their chances of winning contracts. For federal officials, it drives better proposals, stronger competition, and more value for taxpayers.

Debriefing officials must be aware of what they are required to disclose and what they are prohibited from disclosing. The Federal Acquisition Regulation requires them to reveal deficiencies in the proposal, the cost or price, the technical rating assigned not only to the losing bid but also to the winner, and past performance information, among other things.

The contracting officer may not, however, reveal such information as trade secrets; confidential commercial, financial or manufacturing information; and the names of the individuals providing references about past performance.

Some agencies, including NASA, encourage debriefing officials to give as much information as possible. From a legal standpoint, contracting officers have extensive control over bid information, but NASA’s guidelines point out that offerors spend substantial amounts of money and time in the procurement process and therefore “deserve to receive a thorough and meaningful debriefing.”

Officials must be prepared to present the information and answer questions. This means reviewing source selection material, the proposals of the contractor requesting the debriefing and the awardee, and evaluation sheets. They also should meet with members of the evaluation team to get a complete sense of how the decision was made. “Going into a debriefing unprepared is the surest way to lose the confidence of the offeror and lose the opportunity to effectively communicate the agency position,” NASA’s guidelines state. Avoiding that pitfall might even require rehearsing debriefings for complex procurements.

Including members of the technical evaluation team in the meeting sends the message that the agency wants the contractor to understand how its proposal was evaluated and how it fell short.

Just as important is managing the tone of the conversation. Contractors will be disappointed and possibly angry. Remember that conduct and attitude will create a perception of how the procurement was conducted overall.

Building credibility and rapport with the private sector must be a priority throughout the procurement process—from the beginning through debriefing.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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How to Ace Post-Award Contract Reviews

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Contracting officers oversee many moving parts in the complex procurement process. But perhaps no other element of contracting strikes fear into their hearts more than the debriefing.

Including members of the technical evaluation team in the meeting sends the message that the agency wants the contractor to understand how its proposal was evaluated and how it fell short.

Building credibility and rapport with the private sector must be a priority throughout the procurement process—from the beginning through debriefing.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Keeping Projects On Track

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0400

KeyedIn Solutions, a software solutions and consulting firm, recently published a white paper titled "Averting Project Disaster." The authors note most projects fail due to lack of planning, control or communication or, most often, a combination of all three. Failure can come in the form of cost or schedule overruns, inability to achieve project objectives, or even damage to the organization’s financial health or mission. But there always is a turning point. The authors point out that just about every project will be headed in the wrong direction at some stage of its life cycle. The key is to spot that looming catastrophe and to address it before it becomes unavoidable.

The problem, however, is the people most involved with the project are often the least equipped to see when it's going off-track. Even when they start to notice the warning signs, they may be reluctant to change directions. But timing is crucial, and avoiding failure requires managers to act quickly, especially if things already are drifting significantly off-course before the warning signs become clear.

While KeyedIn's report states that there's no secret recipe or silver bullet to avoiding project failure, setting the right goals and building a knowledgeable, experienced and capable team is a good start. Of course, it's also difficult to succeed without the proper funding and support from above.

When problems do crop up, focus first on containment, the authors advise. Try to drown out any background noise and shelve daily issues to instead focus on identifying and controlling the problem. Then, assess the project’s current status and map out options for moving forward to overcome or avoid the hangup. Once an option has been chosen, be sure to realign the formal project plan, budget and scope with what can realistically be achieved, given the revised approach. Finally, KeyedIn recommends communicating with and reengaging the team and any stakeholders, and reassuring them that issue has been addressed and demonstrating the way forward.

Whether or not you have had to make a significant adjustment in the middle of a struggling project, shared understanding and clear communication among team members are perhaps the most important factors in a successful endeavor. A strategy and well-defined tactics for execution do little good if they are not communicated. KeyedIn believes without shared understanding and clear communication all projects will fail, particularly large, expensive ones involving many employees on many levels and with many job functions. The report quotes George Bernard Shaw in saying, “The single biggest problem in communications is the illusion that it has taken place.”

Managers also must be flexible to changing environments. The best laid plans can still lead to failure if the circumstances change but the project’s approach does not. And even if inflexibility doesn't kill a project, it can keep you and your team from being as efficient as possible. "Those thousands of tiny, imperceptible, sometimes irrelevant, often unknown changes all join together to define your life, your career and your project,” KeyedIn notes. “And, above all, remain focused on the objectives, the delivery, the business case, the cost and the expected outcome."

Large projects provide significant opportunities -- and risks -- for federal managers. But keeping an eye out for red flags and addressing them quickly can minimize problems and avoid failure.
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Mix and Match

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0400

One time-tested ingredient of success is the colleague who can teach you almost everything you need to know—a mentor. Mentoring usually involves a seasoned employee or manager working one-on-one with a junior employee. But this style of dispensing guidance in the workplace may not be the most effective. Another method—group mentoring—is becoming increasingly popular.

More mentoring programs fail than succeed, says Mindy Zasloff, mentoring practice leader and senior consultant for Strategic Partners Inc. “One-on-one mentoring, particularly hierarchical mentoring, where an older sage person mentors a junior person, is very difficult to make work,” she says, adding that most people don’t learn effectively in that kind of setting. It’s not necessarily productive to focus on what worked for the mentor in the past. New employees and organizations should be forward-looking.

One-on-one arrangements often fail to take into account a mentor’s many roles. Mentors can be educators, career advisers, networking facilitators, sponsors or promoters of their protégés’ talent, and sometimes just really good listeners. In government, where mentors and protégés often are nominated through formal programs, the assumption is one mentor should play all these roles. But, Zasloff says, it is more realistic to recognize that each mentor has different strengths and each of those mentored different needs.

Group mentoring takes a different approach. It could involve five to seven people with one or two mentors leading a discussion about the organization and their roles. Sometimes a facilitator takes the lead so mentors can focus on listening and guiding rather than just lecturing about what they have done and how. Zasloff has seen tremendous success with such programs at federal agencies. “The beauty of group mentoring is you get people together with similar learning goals and they learn from each other,” she says.

Pulling together a group mentoring program takes preparation and follow-through. Maintaining a mentoring calendar can help the group schedule a new activity every month. The first session should focus on getting to know each other and briefly talking about goals and aspirations, Zasloff says, followed by writing goals and developing an action plan.

Especially in government, where managers are resistant to trying new models of mentoring, she says it is necessary to have someone guide the process from idea to implementation and beyond. “In the government, a lot of people hoard knowledge, thinking that gives them power,” Zasloff says. “But what’s required is that everyone help each other.”

Even senior leaders who are willing to help junior employees must realize the process is not a just a data dump, she notes. They must be aware of their protégés’ goals and figure out how to assist. On the flip side, before entering any kind of mentoring program, junior employees must outline their goals and keep a laser focus on them.

Despite the seeming complexity of setting up group mentoring, she says it is significantly easier than establishing a formal one-on-one program, in which people must be nominated and matched based on their organizations and roles.

But given how often mentoring programs fizzle out, Zasloff warns managers to keep a strategic eye on their effectiveness and how they can be improved. The success of up-and-coming employees, and the organization as a whole, could depend on it.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting atGovernment Executive for three years.

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Mix and Match

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 11:09:25 -0400

One time-tested ingredient of success is the colleague who can teach you almost everything you need to know—a mentor. Mentoring usually involves a seasoned employee or manager working

one-on-one with a junior employee. But this style of dispensing guidance in the workplace may not be the most effective. Another method—group mentoring—is becoming increasingly popular.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at
Government Executive for three years.

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Cues for Consolidators

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 02:00:00 -0400

A tip of the hat to John Kamensky at the IBM Center for the Business of Government for spotting, in a somewhat obscure Government Accountability Office report, just such concrete advice. In the report, GAO lays out the key questions that agencies should consider when evaluating whether to consolidate, and the same questions also can serve as a helpful guide for managers attempting to focus the effort and to execute a smooth transition.

First, managers should determine goals. They should walk through the problems the consolidation is designed to solve and the opportunities it is intended to create. Managers also should identify any problems the consolidation could potentially create. “The key to any consolidation initiative is the identification of and agreement on specific goals, with the consolidation goals being evaluated against a realistic expectation of how they can be achieved,” the report states.

Then, the likely costs and benefits of the consolidation should be clearly laid out. Managers should determine if there is sufficiently reliable data available to support a business-case or cost-benefit analysis. While GAO frames this question in terms of deciding whether to move forward with a consolidation at all, it also could help managers determine the most effective and efficient way to launch a consolidation that already has been green lit. Not only does a thorough analysis guide the government in its consolidation efforts, but it also provides a way to show stakeholders why a particular initiative is occurring and the range of alternatives that were considered.

Next, managers should determine how to pay for upfront costs associated with the consolidation. While consolidation will save money in the long run that doesn’t mean it won’t cause funding challenges at the outset.

Managers should identify the relevant stakeholders and consider how they will be affected by the change. It is important to know how these stakeholders were involved in the decision to consolidate and whether or not they collectively understand the rationale for the action. According to GAO, stakeholders often view consolidation as being against their interest, which makes it all the more important to develop a two-way communication strategy to address concerns and convey the benefits of consolidating.

Finally, managers should determine the extent to which they will use change management to implement consolidation. Plans should include essential change management practices such as active, engaged leadership; a dedicated implementation team that is accountable for the change; and a strategy for capturing best practices, measuring progress toward the established goals, retaining key talent and assessing mitigation risk.

In the appendix of the report, GAO provides sub-questions under each of the five key questions.

“Consolidation initiatives can be immensely complex, politically charged and costly, and are not quick, easy or automatic ways of producing desired change,” the report says. It is crucial for agency decision-makers to balance the benefits of consolidation against the physical, upfront financial, bureaucratic and political costs while considering other paths to increased efficiency, GAO says.

But where there is a clear potential for cost savings and operational efficiencies through consolidation, managers must be diligent and systematic in executing these complex initiatives. GAO’s guidance is a good place to start.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Teleconference Technique

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 02:00:00 -0400

Travel costs time and money, and “conference” has practically become a four-letter word in the wake of the General Services Administration scandal. Hosting a videoconference from your desktop can be a cost-effective alternative, but managing one has its pitfalls.

Collaborative tools, such as webcams and file-sharing software, are critical to videoconferencing. But according to a recent survey for cloud-based services firm Citrix Online, technology is far from the only requirement. Consultants at the Web seminar consulting firm 1080 Group, which conducted the survey, have put together a list of effective video-conference techniques.

Eliminate distractions

Be aware of open windows, art and other visual distractions in the camera’s line of sight and quiet potentially noisy disruptions like a ringing phone, buzzing BlackBerry and emails pinging on computer speakers. These distractions can throw you off midconference and annoy attendees. Consider the lighting of your environment, avoiding a harsh glare that can cast shadows or wash out your face.

Set up your space

Position yourself a comfortable distance from the camera so facial expressions and hand gestures don’t seem exaggerated, but sit close enough to reach your keyboard without straining. Think about how you will move during the presentation and adjust your body language for the camera. The closer you are, for example, the larger facial and other features will appear—for better or for worse. Focus on making deliberate, smooth movements and framing them on screen. Enlist a friend or colleague to help you identify distracting behaviors like tapping or fidgeting. This confidant can flag those habits before the conference and send you an instant message during the conference if you lapse into a distracting pattern.

Focus on eye contact

While eye contact in a videoconference doesn’t have to be constant, it should be natural and purposeful. Stay present, keep your eyes within camera range and look toward the screen rather than out the window.

Incorporate tools of engagement

Consider how you would display information on a projector, ask for a show of hands or conduct a collaborative exercise when leading an in-person meeting. Map out online activities that enable the same kind of productivity. You can share your computer desktop with the audience, conduct an online poll or set up group chats among the participants. Be aware of what attendees can see at various points during the conference, and make sure you reference only things they have access to. Before the meeting send them instructions to ensure they have full access, but reminders and guidance on what to do throughout the conference also are helpful.

Consider mixed audiences

If some participants are in the room, others are online and the rest call in via phone, be aware in your planning how each group will see, hear and interact. You may have to use a variety of tactics to ensure everyone is able to join in.

Last but not least, don’t forget old school presentation techniques. Even if you are the only one in the room you are still leading a group in collaborative activities. Speak slowly, clearly and engagingly, using all the traditional public speaking tools in your belt. At the end of the day, what makes someone an effective conference leader can transcend time and space.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Ready for Your Close-Up?

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 01:00:00 -0400

Eliminate distractions

Set up your space

Focus on eye contact

Incorporate tools of engagement

Consider mixed audiences

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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The Collaboration Conundrum

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 30 May 2012 02:00:00 -0400

When it comes to being a collaborative leader, managers must walk an extremely fine line. Those who stay siloed in their area of expertise while using the command-and-control style of leadership may struggle adjusting to new realities in their office, industry or agency. On the other hand, managers who try to lead by consensus may watch decision-making and execution slow almost to a halt under their leadership.

In a recent Harvard Business Review white paper, authors Herminia Ibarra and Morten T. Hanson described their research on top-performing chief executive officers with a focus on what it means to be a collaborative leader. They found that such leadership requires executives to play the role of connector, to attract diverse talent, to model collaboration at the top and to show a strong hand to keep teams from getting mired in debate. Ibarra and Hanson acknowledge that developing these skills is hard work, but research suggests they can be learned and do help executives’ long-term performance.

Playing Connector

Ibarra and Hanson use the term connector as Malcolm Gladwell did in his book The Tipping Point (Little Brown, 2000) to describe leaders who have many ties to different social worlds. What’s important about these leaders is not the number of people they know but rather their ability to link people, ideas and resources that wouldn’t normally bump into each other. “In business, connectors are critical facilitators of collaboration,” Ibarra and Hanson wrote.

The most successful collaborative leaders develop contacts not only in typical areas but also well beyond them. For example, a successful private sector leader would focus on working with local clubs, industry associations and customers and suppliers as well as with those in adjacent industries, from innovation hot spots like Silicon Valley or from emerging economies. Connecting with these groups and industries helps open leaders’ eyes to new opportunities and partnerships.

Engaging Talent

Ibarra and Hanson highlighted research that consistently shows diverse teams produce better results, provided they are well led. The most successful leaders possess the ability to bring together people from different backgrounds, disciplines, cultures and generations and leverage all that they have to offer, the authors wrote. Both companies and government agencies work extremely hard to attract talented employees only to subject them to homogenizing processes that kill creativity, they said.

Managers can fight wasteful homogenization by promoting collaborations between experienced people and newcomers and by bringing together people who haven’t worked with one another before. “Left to their own devices people will choose to collaborate with others they know well or who have similar backgrounds,” Ibarra and Hanson wrote. “Static groups breed insularity, which can be deadly for innovation.”

Collaboration at the Top

The age-old adage of leading by example rings true when it comes to collaboration. When employees see their efforts to collaborate sabotaged by political games and turf wars higher up in the organization, they get the message their collaboration was for naught. Ibarra and Hanson pointed out that at the senior management level, leadership teams often fail to actually operate as a team. Instead, each member runs his or her own region, function, product or service category, without much incentive or responsibility for collaborating with other senior leaders. “Depoliticizing senior management so that executives are rewarded for collaborating rather than promoting their individual agendas is absolutely essential,” they said.

Strong Hand

Once leaders start getting employees to collaborate, they run the risk of overdoing it, according to Ibarra and Hanson. This is the double-edged sword of collaboration. The authors point out that, too often, people will try to collaborate on everything and wind up in endless meetings, debating ideas and struggling to find consensus. In these cases, “collaboration becomes not the oil greasing the wheel but the sand grinding it to a halt.”

Effective collaborative leaders assume a strong role directing teams. They maintain agility by forming and disbanding them as opportunities come and go. Effective leaders also assign clear decision rights and responsibilities, so that at the appropriate point someone can end the discussion and make a final call. Although constructive confrontation and tempered disagreements are encouraged, battles aren’t left raging on.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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Progressive Discipline

Elizabeth Newell Jochum — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Even when the standards for performance and behavior on the job are clearly communicated, most managers find themselves dealing with a problem employee at some point in their career. Dismissal might seem like the quickest and easiest solution when an employee’s actions disrupt the office. But a disciplinary plan that sets goals for improvement and consequences for failure can protect employees and managers alike.

Progressive discipline is one process for dealing with poor performance or misconduct that features increasingly formal efforts to provide feedback to the employee so that he or she can correct the problem.

Human resources consultant Susan M. Heathfield stresses “the process of progressive discipline is not intended as a punishment for an employee, but to assist the employee to overcome performance problems and satisfy job expectations.” Progressive discipline is most successful when it allows the employee to become a productive member of the organization, she says.

In the private sector, the progressive discipline system includes the following steps for managers:

Talk with the employee to ensure he or she understands job requirements and expectations.
Find out whether there are any issues that could be contributing to poor performance. Brainstorm how you can help the employee tackle those issues.
Verbally reprimand the employee— in private—if poor performance continues to be an issue.
Present a written warning to the employee and file it with the appropriate individuals in the human resources or legal department.
Suspend the employee for as many as five days, depending on the severity of the infraction.

The Office of Personnel Management’s Handbook on Dealing With Workplace Violence lays out an example of how progressive discipline can work in federal offices. First, OPM advises managers to discuss potential disciplinary actions with employee relations staff, and the Office of General Counsel if necessary. If an employee’s misconduct does not endanger fellow employees or disrupt the office, then managers should apply progressive discipline before considering official adverse actions. The sequence could start with a reprimand and lead to a warning and then suspension or alternative disciplinary measures as needed. As OPM notes in its guidance, “lesser disciplinary actions involve considerably fewer procedures than the adverse actions listed below.”

Managers who find an official adverse action necessary must be familiar with the attendant laws and regulations. An adverse action can be taken only for conduct that would hamper the agency’s operations. When an adverse action is proposed, the employee is entitled to 30 days’ advanced written notice. A lesser, seven-day notice period is allowed if the agency has “reasonable cause” to believe that the employee has committed a crime and faces imprisonment.

The written notice must provide reasons for the proposed action. Then the agency must give the employee time to respond and consider the employee’s response. When a final decision is made, the employee must be notified again. If the agency decides to take the proposed action, then the employee must be advised of his or her appeal rights.

Progressive discipline is win-win for employees, who deserve to be given the chance to rise to expectations, and for managers, who deserve to be protected and supported for firing an employee when it’s warranted.

Elizabeth Newell covered management, human resources and contracting at Government Executive for three years.

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