Building Your Winning Team

Winslow Wong's latest book Building Your Winning Team is definitely a must-read for every aspiring, new, not-so-new and seasoned but often jaded manager.

Being a manager or team leader can be pretty scary and lonely. This insightful guide, with selected articles from the author’sSmart Management column in business weekly Focus Malaysia, is packed with practical ideas, powerful lessons as well as valuable hands-on advice and guidance gleaned from his 30 some years of rich and varied experience. The honest and frank discussion of key issues and challenges facing managers, supervisors and team leaders in leading and managing multi-generational workforces is illustrated with numerous work-life situations and anecdotes.

This book is a worthwhile investment for every manager, supervisor or team leader who is willing and game to learn. It’s highly recommended too for those who aspire to be managers, supervisors or team leaders as the powerful lessons, insightful tips and valuable guidance shared by the author will steer you from the array of leadership and managerial pitfalls so that you don’t need to repeat the mistakes of others.

CONTENTS

1. Introduction: Now that you’re in at the deep end, what’s next?
2. Good managers must be great leaders too
3. Do as I do: Managing by example
4. Observe before sweeping, but don’t mess things up
5. Managing resistance to change in the workplace
6. Watch out for signs of resistance to change
7. Lead by example to combat sexual harassment
8. Bosses, stop being mean to your staff
9. Nip negativity in the bud before it spreads
10. Get rid of the clutter to be more productive
11. Empower your staff, don’t be a control freak
12. Use I-statements for better relations and results
13. Stop guarding your turf, be a team player instead
14. Young or old, they can be your stars
15. Bosses need employee feedback too!
16. Give negative feedback tactfully
17. Navigating the minefield of office politics
18. Handle difficult staff with patience and care
19. Hard or soft, balance it the right way 
20. Use coaching to gain staff commitment 
21. Name-dropping may get you going, but beware! 
22. Confront workplace bullies before it’s too late 
23. Oh no, it’s time for annual appraisals again 
24. I’m not lying, but my boss is a habitual liar 
25. Build trust, and you’ll never go wrong 
26. Try a little love and see the difference 
27. Hold your horses, learn to relax 
28. Hey, don’t sit on it – do something! 
29. Don’t snuff out creative staff, give them space 
30. Don’t just top up, plug the leaks too 
31. Polishing rough stones into workplace gems 
32. Hedgehogs, move over for the foxes 
33. Forget about balancing, try integrating 
34. So what’s in a job title anyway? 
35. They’ll go if you don’t grow 
36. Be generous – total rewards do pay off 
37. Don’t sweat the small stuff 
38. Hire the teachables, not the ‘smarties’ 
39. Just say it right and mean it well

Excerpts

Chapter 1: Now that you’re in at the deep end, what’s next?

The experience of first-time managers is often very trying and scary. They rarely have adequate training for their new role – they are promoted because of their technical and other expertise, not because of their managerial skills. They suddenly have a wide range of policies and other regulations to apply to their subordinates, and work is never done. They must represent upper management to their subordinates, and their subordinates to upper management. They’re stuck in the middle – and it can be pretty lonely there.

Many managers lack fundamental training in managing people. But even more importantly, they lack the values, sensitivity and awareness needed to interact effectively with their staff. Skills and techniques are comparatively easy to teach but values, beliefs and attitudes are generally much harder for managers to learn. Yet these are the underlying issues that will determine whether managers make it or break it in the art of managing.

Chapter 3: Do as I do: Managing by example
Just how bad is being late to work? I once posed this no-brainer question to a group of managers attending my training. Most agreed it’s bad for employees to be late for work, while a handful said it’s bad only if it’s habitual and reasons given were flimsy.

Generally, most of us agree that habitual latecomers are bad employees, regardless of whether they’re star performers or shirkers. Fair office cultures hold everyone to the same standards and for those who can’t play by the same rules the rest of us do, then they should suffer the consequences.

But what if managers themselves are late? The managers’ responses were somewhat mixed, with many saying it’s okay as managers usually stay back way past office hours, with no overtime claim. That begs the question: should managers be subject to different standards than other employees? I think managers should not be late to work, unless of course with valid reasons and even then, should not be a habitual practice. Nothing builds and sustains credibility like a manager who leads by example. Whether you take the time to chat with new employees in the pantry, help out with a massive mailing, or are the first to ask the hard questions, you alone are responsible for setting standards and expectations for your team and organisation.

Actions speak louder than words, particularly when your philosophies and behaviour motivate others to give of their best. Doing otherwise only confuses employees and slows momentum.

Chapter 11: Empower your staff, don’t be a control freak

In the workplace, control is essential to attain any management’s objectives. However, management’s maintaining too much control can create friction in an organisation. Employees can become dissatisfied when they’re not allowed to exercise their opinion or use their creativity and experience to make decisions. They may also feel unappreciated.

I know of a family-owned business in which the managing director insists on approving every piece of official correspondence. In another case, a CEO wants to approve every payment voucher, including for petty cash of below RM50, before any payment is made. Obviously staff morale is greatly affected in both cases.

Very often the trouble with management is managers themselves. Managers believe that the job of management is to manage, administer and control, and that is the problem. If they had employees who were willing to be managed like this, “managing to control” would remain a valid management strategy – but our social map has changed massively.

Workforce expectations have developed and employees are no longer prepared to be the passive recipients of monosyllabic one-way communication. The workforce is now more educated, sometimes even more so than its managers. Employees are curious, experienced, skilled and energetic.