Acknowledgments xv

Introduction: How to Use This Book xvii

Part 1 Making the Team Work: Getting It Done in Ten Steps 1

Chapter 1 You've Just Started Managing Your Team...Now What? 3

Before You Start: Preplanning the Approach 3

First Day: What Do You Say? What Do You Hear? How Do You Respond? 5

First Week: What Are Your Top Three Priorities? 5

First Month: Success Against the Top Three Priorities-Next Steps 11

Managing Your Time 12

First 90 Days: Top Three Mantra; Managing Results; Raising the Bar 13

Implementing a New Habit 16

Manager's Time-Out: Human Behavior (People, Processes, and Priorities) 17

Chapter 2 Distinctive Customer Service: Using Under-Promising and Over-Delivering to Master Profitable Relationships 19

Before You Start: Products, Service, and Relationships-How Do You Distinguish Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization? 19

First Day: Developing a Cogent Market Analysis for Your Enterprise and Your Customers 21

First Week: Approaching Customers and Prospective Customers 22

First Month: Communicating Effectively to Grow the Enterprise 22

First 90 Days: Using Referrals and Testimonials to Perfection 23

Manager's Time-Out: Customer Service 25

Chapter 3 Communication Breakdowns: What to Do and What Not to Do 27

Before You Start: What's the Problem as You See It? 27

First Day: What is the Problem as They See It? 30

First Week: Let's Relate, Strategize, and Implement Solutions Together-RSI in Action 31

First Month: Repeating and Building on Success 33

First 90 Days: The 12-Week Team Communication Action Plan-It Works! 34

Effective ListeningExercises 44

Manager's Time-Out: Communication 48

Chapter 4 Facilitating Change: How to Get the "Ain't It Awfuls" on Your and Your Team's Side 51

Before You Start: Ain't it Awful? Clarifying and Confirming for Yourself What the Top Anticipated Changes Are 51

First Day: Communicating Anticipated Changes to Your Team; Gaining Their Input 52

First Week: The Team Approach to Addressing Change Priority #1- Implementing Action Plans 52

First Month: Team Results Against Top Three Team Goals; Weekly Review, Charting Progress, Facilitating Results 53

First 90 Days: How'd We Do Against Our Top Three? Recognizing and Building on Success 54

Manager's Time-Out: Facilitating Change 55

Chapter 5 Ridding Yourself of That "One Little Troublemaker": Legally and Ethically-In Five Easy Steps 59

Before You Start: Who Is the Problem? What Approaches Have We Tried? What Worked and What Didn't? 59

First Day: Privately Inviting the Troublemaker into a Collaborative, Problem-Solving Conversation 60

First Week: Progress Against Action Plan from Troublemaker and Troubled Team 61

First Month: Reviewing Performance; Clarifying and Confirming Salvageability; Warnings? 62

First 90 Days: Still with Us or Gone? Progress Against Action Plans: Cut or Contributing? 63

Manager's Time-Out: Managing Performance While Dealing with the Troublemaker 64

Chapter 6 "The Boss from Hell": Help Is on the Way! 67

Before You Start: Discussing with Trusted Others, Seeking Advice 67

First Day: Approaching the Boss Collaboratively 67

First Week: That Important Conversation: Progress or "Punt"? 68

First Month: What Has Improved and What Hasn't? 70

First 90 Days: Reviewing Working Relationship Progress; Charting Next Steps 70

Manager's Time-Out: Improving Your Working Relationships Not Just with Your Boss, but with Everyone 72

Chapter 7 Your Team Is Clashing with Another Team-Getting Everyone on the Same Page 77

Before You Start: Writing Down Your "Clash Assessment" 77

First Day: Meeting with Your Team to Clarify Current State and Desired State 86

Second Day: Meeting with the Other Team's Manager to Reach Shared Understandings 89

First Week: Facilitating Meeting of Two Managers or Two Teams to Craft Working Action Plans 89

First Month: What Has Improved? What Hasn't? Building on Success...or Taking Corrective Action 90

First 90 Days: Charting Progress; Reviewing Working Relationships' Progress Against Plan 91

Manager's Time-Out: Resolving Your Conflicts Using the RSI Model 92

Chapter 8 Managing Performance and Performance Reviews-Using Managing "Music" to "Soothe the Savage Breast" 97

Before You Start: Not Another Performance Review! Breaking Them Down Over a Year into Bite-Size Gulps 97

First Day: Reviewing Performance with Top Performer 102

First Week: Starting to Implement Daily, One-on-One Performance Conversations with Each and Every Member of Your Team 103

First Month: Met with Everyone at Least Once? Results? 105

First 90 Days: Success-Building, "Needs Improving" Changes, Progress Report, Next Steps 106

Manager's Time-Out: Managing Performance 112

Chapter 9 Budgeting (Ugghh!)-Getting the Help You Need from Others to Save Yourself Time, Energy, Frustration, and Money 119

Before You Start: I Hate Budgets! Asking a Financial Manager for Help and Getting It 119

First Day: Meeting with Manager-Helper; Presenting Data; Receiving Brutally Honest Feedback; Action Planning 120

First Week: Budget Action Planning, Progress Against the Top Three Priorities 121

First Month: Budgeting Monthly, Progress Reporting 122

First 90 Days: Budgeting Quarterly, Verifying Progress 122

Manager's Time-Out: Budgeting 124

Chapter 10 From Forming to Performing: The Top Ten Ways to Develop a Managing "Rhythm" That Works for You and Your Team 127

Before You Start: In Which "Stage" Is Our Team? 127

First Day: Meet with Team to Share Assessment; Ask for Solution Input; Action Planning 135

First Week: Progress Against Action Plan? 136

First Month: Have We "Hit" Our Top Three Goals? What Are the Characteristics of Effective Teams? 137

First 90 Days: After Three Months, What Do We Do to Continue Growing? Team Member and Team Action Plans 139

Manager's Time-Out: Team Building 144

Part 2 Additional Tools and Resources 145

Chapter 11 So Far Away: Managing Virtual or Remote Teams 147

Before Starting and the First Day: Communication and Problem Solving 148

Week One: Giving People a Road Map for Problem Solving and Team Building 148

First Month: Procedures, Policies, and Actions That Will Help Your "Extended Team" Come Together 152

First 90 Days: Gaining Consensus and Building a "Winning" Team Structure-The Ten Principles That Will Help You Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond 157

Using Technology 163

The Technologies 165

Additional Considerations 170

Conclusion 173

Chapter 12 Motivating the Masses: How to Be a Great Coach 175

Index 189