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If you find yourself in a difficult position, make an unreasonable request – you might be surprised by the result. On Friday, April 13 I received an unreasonable request from a colleague at Benedictine University. He asked if I would come to Benedictine and teach an Executive Ph.D. course on organization change the following Wednesday, Thursday, Continue reading Unreasonable Request Saves the Class  A program director in one of the colleges here at Ohio State is paying the price for not having the appropriate conversations with his boss, the dean of the college. Kevin, as director of programs, is responsible for admissions into the undergraduate and graduate programs in his college. In a recent conversation, he pointed out that Continue reading The Missing Conversation(s) I was recently asked by a manager in one of my classes what she could do to increase her credibility. I told “Keep a Due List and follow up on it.” Most people have some form of a “To Do” list, which lets them know the things they have to do. But credibility and a reputation Continue reading To Be More Effective, Keep A Due List One way to effectively manage a boss is to give her a deadline when she doesn’t give you one. One of the complaints I frequently get from managers in my MBA classes is that their bosses rarely say by when they want something done. Bosses say things like “when you get a chance”, “this week”, or Continue reading To Be More Effective, Give Your Boss a Deadline One way to become more effective is to work on what is real, not on what you made up. I recently showed the daughter of a good friend around the Ohio State campus. She is interested in going to college, so I took her around OSU so she could get a feel for the. As we Continue reading To Be More Effective, Stop Making Stuff Up The June 12th Dilbert comic strip (below) gives a good example of the difference between an understanding conversation and a performance conversation. Dilbert, probably like many of us, assumes that explaining what is needed to someone who’s job it is to do it should be sufficient to get it accomplished. He is wrong. If you Continue reading Did You Ask? Having authority can contribute to the very problems managers believe are solved by that authority. Why, because when managers have authority they don’t think they need to communicate as much. This is particularly true when managers confront threats to the successful completion of projects they are managing. Years of research indicates that managers who have authority Continue reading Does Authority Lead to Reduced Communication? How often have you heard (or made) one of the following complaints (or some variation thereof): We have a real communication problem here. The absence or inadequacy of communication is one of the most frequently voiced complaints in the Continue reading Effective Workplace Communication Requires Using the Right Conversation Effective performance conversations depend on people keeping their agreements and doing what they said they would do. Encourage people to respect the idea that keeping agreements matters. Keeping agreements is the foundation for effective performance conversations. Every time we say Yes to a request, we have created an agreement with someone. It might be as Continue reading Be Zealous About Keeping Agreements Don’t risk being held to account for things you don’t know about. Take the time to find out what people really expect you to do, and what they expect you to deliver. If they don’t tell you, ask. It’s part of getting and giving a good promise and is key to effective performance conversations. I Continue reading Good Promises Convert Expectations into Agreements |
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