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December 2005: Manage This … The Year in Review

New Year’s Resolutions—try these action items summarized from past editions of “Manage This…” to make managing people easier. Please contact me if you want copies of one of the full e-zines.

• Focus on developing a positive relationship with your employees—make sure you’re having weekly one on ones with each of them.
• Delegation--over two weeks, list all your tasks. Next, identify which ones you could delegate. Decide who would be the best people to delegate to, keeping in mind each person’s strengths, challenges and workload. Then put a structure in place including clear deliverables and deadlines. Finally, when you're ready, delegate a task or two.
• Performance Appraisals--keep an ongoing log of feedback that you give employees.
• Recruiting--continually build your networks. When there’s an opening, you will already have candidates in the pipeline.
• Have a facilitator direct your teams in setting up team standards and expectations to help create common language and alleviate unproductive conflict.
• Be aware of your communication. People at every level of business spend at least 75% of their time communicating, yet studies show that business communication fails to achieve its intended purpose at least 70% of the time.
• Work with your coach or a trusted colleague to practice your listening skills. Get feedback from others you work with to see if they notice a change.
• Learn about different communication styles to determine how to communicate better with others.
• Getting the Message Across--make sure you communicate enough. The ideal way to communicate an important message is to tell people first, and then confirm it in writing.
• Coaching your employees--attend the Coaching Clinic on February 9 in San Francisco (more details below)
• Increase your emotional intelligence. Take the Meyers-Briggs Temperament Indicator (MBTI) to increase your self-awareness.

To learn more specific ways how to put these into action, contact Halmi Performance Consulting (kerrie@halmiperformance.com or 510-336-0654) to receive one-on-one coaching or training.

We’re taking a hiatus in January—look for us in February 2006. Happy New Years!

Please feel free to call or write with questions or comments. I welcome your feedback.

Please pass this to others who would benefit from it.

If you want specific references for any of the material, please let me know.

Manage This … is a monthly eZine by Kerrie Halmi, Halmi Performance Consulting. Visit www.halmiperformance.com.