Hey Guys! How are you doing? Remember last time I had promised a summary of this book? Here I am! Also, these techniques included are neither mine nor created by me. With that out of the way, let’s get started!
The one minute manager is called the one minute manager because it takes him very little time to get big results from people.
The best minute I spend is the one I invest in people
– The One Minute Manager
The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
To become a one minute manager there are three things that you need to practice. Those three things are listed below:
1) The One Minute Goal Setting
Whenever most managers tell their employees to do something, they expect the employees to know how to do it and also expect that they see it in the same way that the managers do. When the employee does it in his own way, the manager doesn’t like it and the employee gets in trouble. Which means that the relation between what the manager thinks is the job responsibility of a person and what that person thinks is the job responsibility is totally different. Due to this the employees try to play it safe and in turn risk the results for the organisation. The One Minute Goal Setting prevents this mistake from happening. This is how it works:
Once, the manager has told the employee what needs to be done, then each goal is recorded on a single page. The goal should not exceed 250 words to express. In this way, anybody can read it one minute. The manager then keeps a copy and one copy will be kept with the employee. So that both of them know what needs to be done. Each goal should have its own one-page statements. But even then, there are not many pages mainly because 80 per cent of results come from 20 per cent goals. So The One Minute Goal Setting should be done on only that 20 per cent which are the key areas of responsibility. These goals should not be more than 10 at a time. This technique is very important and makes sure that both the manager and the employee are on the same page (pun intended).
The day you decide that you are more interested in being aware of your thoughts than you are in the thoughts themselves – that is the day you will find your way out
– Michael A. Singer
MISTYSANSOM.COM
So simply put, The One Minute Goal Setting is basically:
- Agree on your goals
- See what good behaviour looks like
- Write out each of your goal on a single sheet of paper using less than 250 words
- Read and re-read each goal, which requires only a minute or so each time you do it
- Take a minute every once in a while out of your day to look at your performance
- See whether or not your behaviour matches your goal
2) The One Minute Praisings
All of the managers out there, try to catch the employee doing something wrong. This is because the manager doesn’t want the employee to make the same mistake twice. This is a simple way but it isn’t effective. One Minute Praisings is exactly the opposite of this, which is, yes you guessed it right, try to find them do something right! This does sound impractical but is the way to go. This is how the One Minute Praisings works:
Firstly the manager needs to let the employees know what he is going to do. He needs to inform them that it would be a lot easier for them to do well if he gave them crystal-clear feedback on how they were doing. He should also warn them that he would let them know when they are doing well and when they are doing poorly. Whenever the manager catches someone doing something right, that’s when he gives them One Minute Praisings.
When he has seen that the employee has done something right, he goes to them and looks them straight into the eye and tells them precisely what they did right. Then he shares with them how good he feels about what they did. There are some ground rules for these One Minute Praisings. Firstly, the employees should get praisings as soon as they do something right. They don’t need to wait for an annual performance review. Secondly, he specifies exactly what they did right, which makes them realize that he knows and is familiar with what they are doing. Thirdly he should be consistent, which means that he will praise them even if things aren’t going well for him elsewhere.
Catching someone do something right should not be done all the time, it should be done only when the employee starts working there or when they begin new projects or new responsibility. After they get familiar with everything he should discontinue these One Minute Praisings. Because after some time, the employees begin to catch themselves doing things right and they start praising themselves. Most employees start working harder than ever to satisfy the manager and themselves.
People who feel good about themselves produce good results
– The One Minute Manager
The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
Therefore, simply put One Minute Praisings is basically:
- Tell people right from the start that you are going to let them know how they are doing
- Praise people immediately
- Tell people what they did right – be specific
- Tell people how good you feel about what they did right, and how it helps the organization and the other people who work there
- Stop for a moment of silence to let them ‘feel’ how good you feel
- Encourage them to do more of the same
3) The One Minute Reprimand
The One Minute Reprimand take place only when the person has been working for a long time in the organization, gives himself One Minute Praisings regularly and does his own One Minute Goal Setting and sends his under-250-word goals to the manager. It takes place when the person does something wrong, mainly because he can give himself One Minute Praisings and now must be given The One Minute Reprimand. It happens when the mistake is significant.
When the manager has learnt about the mistake he goes and sees the person. First, he confirms the fact. He looks the person straight in the eye and tells them precisely what they did wrong. Then he shares how he feels about it – angry, annoyed, frustrated or whatever he is feeling. This takes only 30 seconds. He lets what he said sink in with a few seconds of silence and then tells the person how competent that person usually is. He should let them know that the only reason he is angry is because he has a lot of respect for that person. He tells them how unlikely it is of them to do such mistakes. He also lets them know that such a mistake should not happen again.
After the reprimand, the manager shouldn’t bring it up again, and let that discussion dissolve then and there instead of carrying the grudge or anger around. He should also teach the people to laugh on their own mistakes, which makes them move on. To teach this he needs to practice this himself whenever he makes a mistake.
We all make mistakes. It’s human. Just learn from them. Repeating them and being aware of it is the dangerous bit.
– Jessie J
PICTUREQUOTES.COM
This is how the The One Minute Reprimand basically works:
- Tell people beforehand that you are going to let them know how they are doing and in no uncertain terms
- Reprimand people immediately
- Tell people what they did wrong – be specific
- Tell people how you feel about what the did wrong
- Stop for a few seconds of uncomfortable silence and let them feel how you feel
- Remind them how much you value them
- Reaffirm that you think well of them but not of their performance in this situation
- Realize that when the reprimand is over, it’s over
That was the summary of the book ‘The One Minute Manager” written by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. Hope all of you like it! I am coming with an article for you next week, need to decide the topic (oops). Most probably it will be about the psychology of productivity. I know that this summary was not full of humour like my other posts but that is because I didn’t want to disrespect the formal and serious language used in this book. I promise that the next post will be normal and also more interesting. If you guys liked this summary then please subscribe to my blog by entering your email ID at the top of the page. If you have any query, then feel free to drop an email to mybookgest@gmail.com Also share my blog with your friends. See you guys next week. Till then stay safe!
