One Minute Manager – In One Minute

In a company of 25 people, how many people actually work for the owner?

The answer – none.

Nobody ever really works for someone else – EVERYONE, without exception, works for themselves. As a manager, it’s my job to help other people work better, amass a greater skill set and build a marketable employment record so that they leave my team richer than when they joined.

Obviously in the process of working on their career, they’ll benefit my organization – but they don’t work FOR me – they have their own goals and objectives, their own dreams and passions. It’s a small distinction to make, but one that small business owners need to get wise to early on in the piece – and the sooner they do, the more they’ll get out of their staff.

One way to help staff work better for themselves is be a better manager. Simple, right?

If you don’t read managerial books or listen to educational audio material in your car, you’re missing out a HUGELY valuable opportunity – one book I’d highly recommend is the One Minute Manager. With 13 million copies sold worldwide and 10,000 more selling every month – it’s one of the best selling management books in history (a good place to start on your quest for managerial superstardom).

It’s short and sweet, so a good one to lay some solid foundations and covers the three keys to being a master of management – they’re so simple you can even implement them today:

1. Set 1-minute goals WITH your staff.
2. Use 1-minute praisings when goals are achieved.
3. Use 1-minute reprimands when goals are not achieved.

It’s a highly effective system – and the best part is, it only requires that you spend one minute on each of the above to get a LOT more out of your people – and in turn, yourself!

Try one of the One Minute Manager’s tips today and see what a difference it can make.

And remember, you have three options when it comes to having the best staff around, you can either 1. hire winners (expensive), 2. hire those with potential and train them to be winners (recommended) or, 3. pray.

1. First, you can hire winners. They are hard to find and they cost money.
2. Or, second, if you can’t find a winner, you can hire someone with the potential to be a winner. Then you systematically train that person to become a winner.
3. If you are not willing to do either of the first two (and I am continually amazed at the number of managers who won’t spend the money to hire a winner or take the time to train someone to become a winner), then there is only the third choice left–prayer.’

For a while now, I’ve been aware

Nobody ever really works for anyone else. I just help people work better and in the process they benefit our organization.

13 million copies sold worldwide, and 10,000 copies still selling every month make it one of the best-selling management books in history.

For over twenty years, thousands of top managers and Fortune 500 companies nationwide have followed this book’s techniques, thereby increasing productivity, job satisfaction, and personal prosperity. These very real results were achieved through learning management techniques that spell profitability for the organization and it’s employees.

The One Minute Manager® is a concise, easily read story demonstrating three very practical management techniques. The story unfolds to reveal several studies in medicine and the behavioral sciences that explain clearly why these apparently simple methods work so well with so many people. By the book’s end you will know how to apply them to your own situation.

The One Minute Manager® is the book that made me a fan of Kenneth Blanchard.

In it, he uses very simple principles in management. That I am surprised is not used widely. It’s a very thin book, but something that people who get promoted to management should read.

‘Effective Managers… manage themselves and the people they work with so that both the organization and the people profit from their presence.’

People who feel good about themselves – produce good results.

During meetings:

1. Review & Analyse what you accomplished last week.
2. Problems that you had.
3. What still needs to be accomplished.
4. Develop plans & strategies for next week.

The purpose of this organization is efficiency. By being organized we are a great deal more productive.

Productivity is more than just the quantity of work done. It is also the quality.

Quality is simply giving people the product or service they really want and need.

The 3 things about the one minute manager is this:

One minute goal setting is simply:

1. Agree on your goals.
2. See what good behaviour looks like.
3. Write out each of your goals on a single sheet of paper using less than 250 words.
4. Read and re-read each goal, which requires only a minute or so each time you do it.
5. Take a minute every once in a while out of your day to look at your performance, and
6. See whether or not your behaviour matches your goal.

Use the Pareto Principle there are only 20% of goals that really achieve 80% of what you want.

If you can’t tell me what you’d like to be happening, you don’t have a problem yet. You’re just complaining. A problem exists only if there is a difference between what is actually happening and what you desire to be happening.

One Minute Praising Works Well When You:

1. Tell people right from the start that you are going to let them know how they are doing.
2. Praise people immediately.
3. Tell people what they did right–be specific.
4. Tell people how good you feel about what they did right, and how it helps the organization and the other people who work there.
5. Stop for a moment of silence to let them ‘feel’ how good you feel.
6. Encourage them to do more of the same.
7. Shake hands or touch people in a way that makes it clear that you support their success in the organization.

One Minute Reprimand works well when you:

1. Tell people beforehand that you are going to let them know how they are doing and in no uncertain terms.
2. The first half of the reprimand: Reprimand people immediately.
3. Tell people what they did wrong-be specific.
4. Tell people how you feel about what they did wrong-and in no uncertain terms.
5. Stop for a few seconds of uncomfortable silence to let them feel how you feel.
6. The second half of the reprimand: Shake hands, or touch them in a way that lets them know you are honestly on their side.
7. Remind them how much you value them.
8. Reaffirm that you think well of them but not of their performance in this situation.
9. Realize that when the reprimand is over, it’s over.

The best minute I spend is the one I invest in other people.

“It’s ironic, most companies spend 50%-70% of their money on people’s salaries. And yet they spend less than 1% of their budget to train their people. Most companies, in fact, spend more time and money on maintaining their buildings and equipment than they do on maintaining and developing people.”

1. Everyone is a potential winner.
2. Some people are disguised as losers.
3. Don’t let their appearances fool you.

Take a minute: Look at your goals. Look at your performance. See if your behaviour matches your goals.

We are not just our behaviour. We are the person managing our behaviour.

Reprimand before praise. Not the other way round. Praising is reminding people they are valuable and worthwhile.

Touching is important if you know the person well and are clearly interested in helping the person to succeed in his or her work. But not if you or the other person has doubts about that.

Touch is a very powerful message.

Touch is very honest. People know immediately when you touch them whether you care about them, or whether you are just trying to find a new way to manipulate them.

When you touch. Don’t take. Touch people you manage only when you are giving them someone–reassurance, support, encouragement, or whatever.

Manipulation is getting people to do something they are either not aware of or don’t agree to. That is why it is so important to let each person know right from the start what you are doing and why.

Goals begin behaviors, consequences maintain behaviors.