I probably shouldn’t say this, but I do get tired of having managers ask, how to get workers to think/do/work “outside-the-box.”
For decades they’ve been exploring a plethora of business books, articles, seminars, coaching, consulting, discussions, etc., on the subject—some good, some not so good—and are still searching for how to lead their workers out of that dreaded box.
I hear, “How do we get the team to think differently?” “What incentives work best?” “How do we engage our people?”
What I don’t hear is “What do I need to change in me [to make it happen]?”
What annoys is the assumption that the …read more

Last week I wrote about both the need and approaches for management to communicate bad news openly and honestly. Wes Ball commented on the need to keep employees involved, which is what I was planning to talk about today.
The language of employee involvement keeps changing, so if you want to do more research, “engage,” in its many forms, seems to be the term of choice for now.
There are five basic rules that must be followed when your focus is to create, enhance or increase engagement.
Rule One: Engagement is based on trust. If employees don’t trust their management then management can …read more