C L I M AT E C O N T R O L

“ALL YOU CAN CHANGE IS YOURSELF, BUT SOMETIMES THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING.” GARY W. GOLDSTEINHaving the best day possible at work can be determined by 4 very simple things. If you keep them in mind throughout the day, you’ll increase the chances of everyone in the team having a good day. And why does it matter? Because how you treat each other affects how you treat your customers and their experience of the business you work in matters, if you want them to continue being customers that is….If you have responsibility for other people you can’t wave a magic wand and change them, but you can focus on what you do, how you do it, and have a really positive impact. Doing these 4 simple things well, every-day, has the potential to make a huge difference to you and your team. Being a great leader has a lot to do with developing good habits. Good habits happen when you are disciplined and when you practice.

GOOD MORNING

GOOD MORNINGThere’s something called the 4 Minute Rule. It’s simple. But it's not always easy to follow. When you meet a colleague or a member of your team for the first time today, all you have to do is think about how you can make it a good start for them, and, this is the really important part, hold back from saying anything negative for the first 4 minutes of your first contact with them. That means you don’t complain about someone else in the team…for 4 minutesIt means you don’t criticise the work they did yesterday…for 4 minutesAnd it means you don’t say anything negative about how you expect them to work today…for 4 minutes. You set the tone for the rest of the day from your very first conversation with someone. By being negative with a person, through what you say or how you say it, you put them into a negative frame of mind and that makes them less able to do the work they need to do.Which means they’ll be less able to provide good service to your customers and will find it harder to solve problems on the job.

JUST ONE THING IN THE MORNINGThink about each member of the team in turn. What could you say or do today that will set them up to have a great day? What did you notice them do yesterday that was really good?What positive feedback could you give them? What were they up to last night……how did it go?What puts a smile on their face……how can you get them smiling first thing? How are you going to get the day off to a great start with each of the team?

Be ready to try it in the morning. It’s just an experiment, you can’t fail and 4 minutes passes really quickly if you’re having a good conversation

GOOD MANNERS

GOOD MANNERSHave you noticed how bad manners and bad behaviour from just one member of the team ripples out and can have an impact on everyone? You could laugh it off as banter or excuse the behaviour by saying, “It’s just their way!” but if you are, you’re allowing bad manners to shape the culture you work in. You could also be sending out a silent message to the whole team that says, “It’s alright to behave like this because nobody seems to care about it when it happens.”

Rudeness and bad manners have a big impact on how people feel about being at work and bad manners create a negative working environment. We all know what good manners are, saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ opening doors, being polite, showing respect. It’s not rocket science but it’s easy to overlook. It’s an essential ingredient at work. Nobody wants to work somewhere that feels uncomfortable.

The way you treat each other is noticed by your customers too, and if you want them to keep coming back, you need them to get a good feeling about how you are with each other and your good manners are easy for them to see and judge.

JUST ONE THING ABOUT MANNERSAre you minding your manners? Are you having a positive or negative influence on your team and the workplace? Write a list of all the times during the day when it’s possible to show that you’ve got good manners. It’s just ordinary moments you’re looking for….it’s at brew time, when you pick up the phone for an internal call, when you’re parking your car, when you’re heading through the door. You’re looking for a list of about 10 points.

Pick one example from your list and decide how you can show good manners in the situation, then go and do it. You might think your manners are already perfect, but see if you can dial them up just a bit. If you notice something on your list and you know that you let yourself down in that situation, decide to be different today, stop the bad manners right now!

GOOD WORK

GOOD WORK

This starts with you noticing the work that others do and genuinely being grateful for it. It’s easy to be critical and pick holes in the what other people do, noticing everything they do wrong. But why not look out for what they do well and comment on that instead? Tell them what you saw them do, and what you really liked about it. And in turn you’ll encourage more of the good work from the people around you.

When people notice what we do and show their appreciation, it reminds us that we’re making a good contribution, we fit in and we’re doing something right. Our brains need that. We need reassurance. And people who show gratitude are seen by others to be more successful, so why wouldn’t you do it?

JUST ONE THING ABOUT GOOD WORKEach day set yourself a target to spot one person doing one thing really well when your going about your work. It can be anyone but it has to be real. It might feel a bit strange at first because you’ve been trained to notice what’s wrong, but stick with it. For the first 5 days just scribble a note so you remember who it was, what they did and why you liked it. No one else is going to see it, it’s just for you.From day 6 to day 14 keep spotting the good work people around you are doing, but now you’re going to tell them out loud. You’re going to tell them what you saw them do, and why you liked it, and you’re going to do it as soon as you can after spotting the ‘good work’ happen. It’s ok to say ‘thank you’ too!After 14 days of doing this consistently it’ll start to feel more natural, you’ll have found the words to say that make it feel like it works for you.

GOODBYE

GOODBYE

It sounds obvious that we would say ‘goodbye’ at the end of the day, but does it happen? You remember how we started the day on a high note, with 4 minutes of being positive? Well, at the end of the day it’s a chance to tie up some loose ends, to check in with people about their day (the highs and the lows), make sure we know what the people around us have achieved, to say thank you and to say goodbye.

Marking the end of the day in a positive way makes it easier for everyone to make the shift from being at work to being back at home. It also makes it easier to get up the next day and come back to work, because they’re looking forward to it, because their day had at least 4 positive moments in it…and hopefully a lot more than that…and you were responsible for causing those moments.

JUST ONE THING ABOUT GOODBYEWhen it’s time for someone to leave for the day, if it’s possible to be there then check in with them. It doesn’t have to be long winded conversation, but a brief chat with your team is an opportunity to see what’s been happening, to say thank you and to set the tone for the next day….it means the day ends on a good note. Try it today.

It’s as simple as asking them, “ How did the day go?” “What went well?” “Is there anything I need to know before tomorrow?” People want and need attention and they want their leaders to be interested in them and to support them; this is a quick and easy way to get good information that you can act on. Be warned, you have to be willing to listen to the responses to your questions! And remember to say ‘Goodbye!”

Top Tip: At the start of the day, when you’re doing Good Morning, ask a member of the team to come and find you before they leave for the day and to tell you what they achieved that they’re most pleased with….then you don’t have to remember to look for them!

H O W A M I D O I N G ?

GOOD HABITS NEED PRACTICERead the notes on each of the cards, then try out each of the ‘just one thing’ activities. You might be inspired to create some experiments and activities of your own.

Spend 5 minutes at the end of the day thinking about each corner of the model. Write down what worked and what didn’t and give yourself a mark out of 10 for each of them. What do you notice? What will you try tomorrow? What will you do differently?

By spending just a minute or two thinking about how you did, you’ll also think about how you can do better tomorrow.

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