Management Mentoring and Coaching Program Continued

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Management Mentoring and Coaching Program Continued

This week, we are continuing our discussion of the new Mentoring and Coaching Program we are now offering here at LWS.  Last week, we discussed the first component of the program, with our Learning On Demand Programs for Managers.  This week we are covering the next component of our program: films.  These films will be used to expand upon the knowledge students will gain in the individual Mentoring and Coaching Program.

B. Films

Using a Skype call or GoToMeeting the manager will watch a specialized training film. These films are designed to build upon the foundational skills presented in each Learning On Demand program, therefore refining the skill set of each manager. Upon completion of the film, the manager will be engaged in a real-time discussion about the content and how it applies to the job.
We will recommend specific film topics that apply to the work of the manager. For instance:

A. The Business of Paradigms
B. The Unorganized Manager.
C. Flight of the Buffalo
D. Performance Matters – Praise
E. Performance Matters – Criticism
F. The Clarity Imperative
G. Gung Ho
H. Leadership: An Act of Possibility
I. The Three Signs of a Miserable Job
J. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

 

Next week, we will cover the third, and final, portion of the Mentoring and Coaching Program.

 

The time is now.

Management Mentoring and Coaching

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Management Mentoring and Coaching Program

A coach’s job is to bring out the best in the individual and the team.

We always work here to develop programs that fill needs within our industry.  We have now developed a mentoring and coaching program addressing client needs in the area of individual employee development. We were approached with the need to assist with individual managers in accelerating their development on the job. This also covered those instances where an employee was having difficulty in adjusting to a new role.

These programs have been divided into three pieces: Learning On Demand, Films and Work Assignments.  Over the course of this next week, we are going to tackle each of these pieces in an individual post.

Learning On Demand

The Learning On Demand programs consist of a pre-test, a video program and a final assessment. The course program itself lasts approximately two hours.  There will be discussions with the manager to review the program and to consider specific action items for the week ahead after the course has been completed.

We will recommend Specific Learning Programs – LOD – that apply to the work of the manager. For instance:
1. Basic Management
2. Leadership
3. Make It Matter
4. Time Management
5. Change
6. The Art of the Possible
7. Standards of Performance
8. Best Practices
9. The Balanced Scorecard
10. Activity Based Management

These programs will be enhanced, and the individual learning and knowledge deepened, with individualized coaching to follow up on the classes.  In addition, Ron tailors live online coursework for each manager who is taking a Mentoring and Coaching program.

Next, we will cover the learning films that Ron uses to build upon the knowledge in the online courses.

The time is now.

Your Stakeholders – Back to Basics

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This is our second installment in our Back to Basics theme, covering the topic of your stakeholders.  Last week, we began with the Balanced Scorecard and the customers.

The next piece of Back to Basics is the value that we deliver to the stakeholders.

When we talk about your stakeholders, who de we mean?

Simply put, your stakeholders means the employees, the company leadership, the owners, the shareholders, and the suppliers of your business.  Since you have all learned that I like to begin with definitions in order to have clarity in each topic, your stakeholders are the individuals and groups who invest in your business with their time, their money, their ideas, and their resources.  The customers benefit from the commitment of your stakeholders, and your stakeholders benefit from the growth and development of your company and your customer loyalty.

Here we go back to metrics and standards of performance, also known as Key Performance Indicators.  These Key Performance Indicators are Revenue, Profitability, Expense Control, Asset Management and how the department and business performs.

One of these metrics is Return on Assets (ROA). That leads us to next step in the Back to Basics – investments. The owners of the business have to continue to reinvest in the Company if they want growth. The effectiveness of the business to steward the company assets will allow the owners to determine the level of risk they want to take on relative to the future growth opportunities. If the management does not deliver performance then owners will not have much interest in reinvestment.

So how does this tie in to everything we do here at LWS?

Employee Development is a straightforward investment into the business, its stakeholders, and its vision for the future.  Employee Development correlates to employee satisfaction, which has a demonstrated impact on customer satisfaction.  Satisfied employees = satisfied customers.

As you can see, getting Back to the Basics comprises many aspects of your business.  But you will find that the results are well worth the work.

The time is now.

Back to the Basics: Your Customers

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For the last month we have been discussing change and the fact that although it is causing us anxiety it also creates opportunities for the talented, curious, ambitious and hard-working people in our businesses.

Let’s get our heads out of the clouds and return to the dirt. Let’s get back to basics. What is troubling is that many of us don’t remember what that means. What are the basics?

Let me start at the beginning: it all starts with customers.

 

Without your customers you have nothing.

 

How do you think you customers view you? Do you know their perceptions of your business? We use the “Balanced Scorecard” as one of the fundamental tools to help our clients to develop and manage their business. It is also an LOD (Learning On Demand) product in our training business www.learningwithoutscars.org

The Balanced Scorecard, from our perspective, starts with the customer. What are the needs and wants, the expectations that our customers have of us? That is where we start. We use an employee training session as the vehicle, we suggest these programs happen eight times a year and take an hour and a half each. We have all the parts employees or service employees or both together and ask them to make a list of what the customers want.

Don’t interfere, don’t editorialize, and don’t have your thoughts dominate the room – remember EQ here. The leader should always speak last and listen first. Then, after the list is completed you will have similar points on the list. Narrow the list down to a list of unique items.

The following month we have a group of customers come in and we ask them the same questions in front of the same group of employees who made the original list. Don’t interfere with their list. Listen carefully. Make notes and make sure that your customers agree with the list you have created from listening to them.

After this, we have a third meeting where we reconcile the two lists. How similar were they? Which items are the most important? Pick the top five. Then call the customers back and ask if they agree with the top five list. If they do then you can go to the next step. The next step in the Balanced Scorecard for us is Internal Excellence. What do we need to excel at in order to satisfy the customer? This is the first step on the Back to Basics road.

This is just the first portion of what we must do to achieve customers for life.

The time is now.

Making Sense of the Numbers

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When we look at our businesses, our numbers need to add up.  But how do we calculate the potential represented within a sales territory?

It begins with the potential business we can earn from each of our customers.

Principles of Leadership #MondayBlogs

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There’s often a miscommunication when it comes to management and leadership.  In our classes, I teach that we manage processes and lead people.

You do not “manage” people.

But leadership is not a linear process.  It is, like sales, a series of relationships.  Leadership has to be flexible enough to match the people following that leader.  In order to become effective leaders, we must ask ourselves a series of questions:

  • Am I providing balanced supervision? (Not too much, not too little.)
  • Am I engaging in two-way communication?
  • Do I support my people?
  • Do I facilitate self-reliance and independence in my employees?
  • Do I create an environment in which employees can develop?

These questions provide only a part of the picture of leadership, of course.  But they are a starting point.

When you lead people, you have to spend time on self-reflection.  You have to study your methods and your relationships.

How do you lead?

The time is now.

Let’s Get Serious About Our Employees #MarketingMonday

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Some thoughts for your consideration:

You have seen over the past two to three weeks a change in the approach to the blog. We have been exposing Vimeo based film clips. You have seen our promotional trailer, the animation of Socrates, an introduction to the company and a video clip on market segmentation. I want today to present a situation and then pose some questions in the Socratic Manner. Socratic teaching forces people to come to their own conclusions.

Employees transition through three or four stages in their career:

  • Enthusiastic Beginner
  • Disillusioned Learner
  • Capable but Cautious Performer
  • Self-Reliant Achiever

 

Unfortunately, it is their immediate supervisor that has a direct impact on this transition. Too often we get stuck at the Disillusioned Learner as a result of the style of the boss or the lack of any interest from the boss in the employee.

 

As individuals as we move from school to work we have to overcome a series of things that I will call “personal obstacles.” These things come from our families, our friends and peers and our schools. I have often said we are taught to be obedient in our developmental years and when we get to the workforce we are asked to think on our own.

 

These obstacles normally are

 

  • We are told everything we want to do is impossible
  • We are afraid of hurting those we love by pursuing our own dreams
  • We are afraid we will fail in pursuit of our dreams.
  • We are afraid to succeed.

 

One of the important questions we need to ask of ourselves is “what would I do if I wasn’t afraid?”

 

In our training approach, we are developing an employee development program that will take each employee in the parts and service groups from the enthusiastic beginner to a self-reliant achiever. My question is “how do you achieve that today?

 

The time is now.

Service Management – How webinars can increase profits!

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Magic words: increase profits.  Service Management is a very simple term to cover the many variables it contains: planning, organization, customer retention, job descriptions, praise, criticism, time management, personnel management.  I could go on with this list, as the Service Management includes so much within the Dealership.

With so many moving parts, how can you train your staff to provide service and satisfaction to your most important asset – the customer?

Our Service Management webinars offer 1 hour programs on the varied topics and skills necessary to run a successful business, without the demands on time or travel that are required in traditional, face-to-face training.

We are back in full swing with our webinar learning series, and we would love to see you this week.

For more information on Service Management webinars from Learning Without Scars, please visit our website on the Service Management – Webinars tab to read short write-ups, and sign up for training.

The time is now.

Parts Management: The Return of the Webinars

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It’s that time of year again.  Our Parts Management Webinars return next week, beginning on Tuesday, September 15.

What is Parts Management?  What are the key management areas in which we can increase our profitability?  How can we implement systems and training to make more money?

Be sure to join us for a refresher, or few new training, to get this unique, interactive, conference style training geared at profitability, productivity, and systems within the Parts Department at your Dealership.

For a complete description of each webinar, and to register, please visit our Parts Management Webinars page on our website.

Fall brings with it the return of our training offerings, and the opportunity to continue to develop in your pursuit of excellence.

The time is now.

Basic Management – PTS-WE-U11and SER-WE-U11

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Basic Management – PTS-WE-U11 and Basic Management – SER-WE-U11

There are some fundamental truths about people and their work: everyone wants to do a good job, everyone can do more than they think they can, and everyone is fundamentally lazy. In management and leadership we have to deal with people and processes. That is the job. You lead people and you manage the process.

The job of the manager or supervisor starts with the basic job function description and moves on to standards of performance. Everyone has to understand what is expected of them, as well as accepting that what is expected of them is both achievable and important. The various aspects of management as exposed in this power webinar.

In dealing with people, you also will need to be able to communicate with the employees.  In this webinar, we explore two of the main forms of communications: praise and criticism. This part of interpersonal relations can be learned. These are skills that can be learned by following a simple plan. We discuss this plan in detail, which has many common elements with both praise and criticism to provide you with better ability in working with your employees.

These webinars are geared towards the management and supervision of the Parts Department and the Service Department (respectively) of the Capital Goods Dealership.  Each one hour program offers the fundamentals of leadership, tailored for each department.

Please join us for this exciting learning opportunity.

The time is now.