The One Minute Manager

It all comes down to three simple techniques:

a. One Minute Goal Setting

b. One Minute Praisings

c. One Minute Reprimands

That’s right. That is all there is to it but let’s go through and have a look at how the One Minute Manager works in a little more detail.

One Minute Goal Setting

The core idea behind this is so simple.

You just have to tell your staff what you want them to achieve and what you want them to do.

I told you it was obvious but surveys often show that many employees are uncertain of what it is that they should do, what their responsibilities are, what their goals are.

Perhaps you should try a little experiment.

Pick two members of your team – a star and an average performer.

Ask them to write down what their main goals for their job are, what their responsibilities and accountabilities are and what are the important tasks they do that contribute to those goals.

Then you do the exercise yourself for their roles and compare the lists.

There’s a good chance that the two lists for your high performer are much more similar than the lists for your average performer.

Isn’t that interesting.

It makes sense.

How can anyone do a good job if they don’t know what’s expected on them?

Yes they could ask but they don’t want to look stupid in front of the boss and aren’t you always busy rushing here and there anyway. So instead they will try to find their own answers or lose enthusiasm because they don’t understand the rules of the game.

There’s no getting away from it.

It is your responsibility to clarify the goals of each and every person who reports directly to you and to approve the goals for the employees at the next level down.

What you don’t have time? That’s the other great thing about this system – it only takes one minute when you are a One Minute Manager.

One Minute Praisings

Do you know a simple, low cost way to improve the morale of your team of employees and help them to do a better job?

Tell them that they are doing a great job but only if you mean it – otherwise it comes across as false and insincere.

Virtually everyone likes to be stroked and especially if the person has made a special effort to overcome problems or maintains impeccably high standards. Incidentally I always think that it’s the sign of a great employee if their standards for their work are higher than yours.

But how do you know when to give people praise?

You have to keep your eyes open and catch them doing something right.

When you see something good – behaviour or results then tell the person, congratulate them and thank them for their efforts.

It shows that you care about performance so they care.

It shows that you believe in giving recognition when it’s earned so they will strive harder to earn it.

But sometimes you see more problems than things going right. That’s where the third leg of the One Minute Manager system comes in.

One Minute Reprimands

Most staff will hear some form of rant from their boss from time to time although there are some who won’t say anything and just store things up until the formal appraisal.

Often it’s water off a duck’s back. Because they don’t have clear responsibilities and duties and because they don’t receive praisings, they assume that it’s just the way bosses act.

That’s no way to manage.

The One Minute Manager recognises that there are better ways and that people have to learn from their mistakes or unsuitable behaviour. It can only happen if people are told about it quickly and in a way that encourages them to learn and do better next time.

The One Minute Manager is a remarkably simple system to learn and apply.

It will make your feel that you are a better manager because you have become proactive rather than reactive. You are setting goals and providing quick feedback on performance – whether good or bad.

It will make your staff feel better about their work. Yes even those that receive a few One Minute Reprimands. They will finally know what is expected of them and through the reinforcement of praisings and reprimands they begin to understand their role and the consequences.

Each of these three ideas – One Minute Goal Setting, One Minute Praisings and One Minute Reprimands are covered in more detail in the book and there are specific techniques for making each of them work effectively.

To find out more you will have to read the book but I am sure that you will be glad that you did.

This book review was written by Paul Simister. Paul is a business coach located in the U.K.

ISBN-10: 0425098478

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