A Minute Manager – The Second Secret

Alright Pals, ready to know the second Secret of “A Minute Manager”? Well, here it is.

Second Secret is “A Minute Praising”. Yes, you heard it. It’s a minute praising.

Being a Minute Manager, one should make it very clear to its subordinate on very first day that he(manager) know that it will be a lot easier for him(subordinate) to do well if he gets crystal clear feedback from the manager on how he was doing. A manager should make sure to convey the subordinate that he wants him to succeed, be a great help to organization and enjoy his work as well and therefore he would try to let him(subordinate) know in all certain terms when he is doing well and when performing poorly. This might not be the most comfortable situation at first for both manager as well as subordinate cause people are not used to with this concept, as most managers do not manage this way. But in that case, manager should assure its subordinate that such feedback would be of great help to subordinate himself.

Let me explain you guys in details…

Once Goal settings are done for a staff, you being a Minute Manager should be in a close contact with him. You can do this in two ways, firstly, observe all the activities of sub-ordinate very closely and secondly, make your sub-ordinate keep detailed records of his progress and have him send it to you regularly. Initially, your sub-ordinates might think that you are spying on him and that you don’t trust in him. But believe me, eventually he will get over with this wrong interpretation. 
Motto behind all this should be only one and that is Try to Catch him doing something RIGHT.

Help People Reach Their Full Potential…

Catch Them Doing Something Right.

Most of the managers spend their efforts in trying to catch people doing something wrong. You being a minute manager should try to catch them doing something Right. And this is the moment where Praising comes in Action.

Yeah! Correct… When you see your sub-ordinate doing something right, go to him and make a brief contact. That may include putting your hand on his shoulder or touching him in a very friendly manner. I know you are laughing at this, but believe me it makes a great difference. It just makes your sub-ordinate feel that you really care about him and that you want him to prosper. He feels that you both are on the same side. So anyways, after that just look straight into his eyes and tell him precisely what he did right. And then share with him how good you feel about what he did. It certainly will make your sub-ordinate feel good.

But make sure you are consistent in doing this. I mean, things may not be going well for you elsewhere and no matter how much annoyed you are about other things, but do respond to your sub-ordinates situation and praise him for his good performance and when he deserves it. The things going around you should not affect your response. Your sub-ordinate would surely appreciate it.

Now you would say, I am a manager and I already have a lot on plate daily. I am very busy person and that wont this praising and all take a lot time of mine? Well – Not really.. Remember, you don’t have to praise someone for very long to let them know that you noticed and do care. It should not take more than a minute. And that’s why its called “A Minute Praising”.

Just a last point to note, you should try catching your sub-ordinates doing something right only when he starts to work with you or when he being to new project or responsibility. After your sub-ordinate get to know the rope you can reduce being around him. This is because, by that time you and he have other ways of knowing when his job performance is “praiseworthy” cause then onwards you both can review the data in information system e.g. Sales Figures, project schedules etc. Also, by then, your sub-ordinates begin trying to catch himself doing right and praising himself. Plus, he is wondering when you praise him again and this feeling keeps him going when you are not around.

Well folks! You must be thinking that though one can’t argue about effectiveness of catching people doing something right, especially after they know what they are to do and what good performance looks like - But do one minute praising really work?. You must be wondering, does all this a minute management stuff really gets results – the bottom-line results?

To get answers of these and such all of your questions and to know little more about our Third Secret for being a Minute Manager, lets meet in my next post. Same Place, with same passion and at.. umm… lets say, somewhere in near future !!.. ha ha… ciao.. Stay Tuned and have a Happy Managing…

Courtesy :
the One Minute Manager
by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
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