It's Okay to Be the Boss

A companion to the dynamic It's Okay to Be the Boss: The Management Workshop, this Participant Workbook is a hands-on resource that will help you learn how to overcome the common obstacles to becoming an engaged manager. You will gain a clear understanding of which management challenges can be controlled, along with tips and techniques for effectively controlling them. You will also discover the proven strategies for working around issues that cannot be avoided or controlled.

The It's Okay to Be the Boss: The Management Workshop leads you through a series of eight back-to-basics techniques that clearly show how to develop the skills that will enhance your management abilities and help you

• Build relationships of trust and confidence with employees

• Delegate tasks, responsibilities, and projects

• Keep employees focused and moving in the right direction

• Increase productivity, quality, retention of high-performers, and turnover among low-performers

• Sharply reduce waste, inefficiency, errors, down-time, and conflict among employees

It's Okay to Be the Boss:The Management Workshop will help you incorporate into your daily routine the time-tested management techniques that spell success—tracking employee performance, correcting failure, and rewarding success.

WHAT IS HARD ABOUT MANAGING? 1

YOUR OBJECTIVES 3

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES 4

THE BASICS OF MANAGING PEOPLE 5

The Consequences of Under-Management 6

Fight the Under-Management Epidemic: Be a Great Boss! 7

Real-World Obstacles 8

The Top Seven Management Myths 9

BACK-TO-BASICS TECHNIQUE 1

GET IN THE HABIT OF MANAGING EVERY DAY 11

One-on-One Conversations with the People You Manage 12

Getting Started 13

How to Make Time Available 14

Worksheet: Making Time for Managing Every Day 15

BACK-TO-BASICS TECHNIQUE 2

LEARN TO TALK LIKE A PERFORMANCE COACH 17

How a Coach Talks 18

Discussion Questions for Coaching Conversations 19

Coaching Script 21

Questions to Ask During a Coaching Conversation 22

For Useful Coaching Conversations 23

Worksheet: Coaching Script 24

BACK-TO-BASICS TECHNIQUE 3

TAKE IT ONE PERSON AT A TIME 25

Six Questions for Tuning In to Each Person You Manage 26

Tuning-In Tool 28

Worksheet: Manager’s Landscape 29

BACK-TO-BASICS TECHNIQUE 4

MAKE ACCOUNTABILITY A PROCESS, NOT A SLOGAN 31

Top Seven Complications to Accountability 32

Key Actions for Holding People Accountable 33

Worksheet: Strategies for Holding People Accountable 34

BACK-TO-BASICS TECHNIQUE 5

MAKE EXPECTATIONS CLEAR EVERY STEP OF THE WAY 35

Make Expectations Clear Every Step of the Way 36

Turn Best Practices into Checklists 37

To Delegate Successfully 38

Circles of Empowerment 39

BACK-TO-BASICS TECHNIQUE 6

TRACK PERFORMANCE IN WRITING 41

To Evaluate Performance 42

Reasons for Writing Things Down 43

Systems for Tracking Performance in Writing 44

Describe, Describe, Describe 45

Worksheet: Tracking Performance in Writing 46

BACK-TO-BASICS TECHNIQUE 7

SOLVE SMALL PROBLEMS EARLY BEFORE THEY TURN INTO BIG ONES 47

Diagnosing Performance Problems 48

Worksheet: Diagnosing a Persistent Performance Problem 49

BACK-TO-BASICS TECHNIQUE 8

DO MORE FOR SOME PEOPLE, LESS FOR OTHERS 51

Three Trends in Rewards 52

Using Rewards as Incentives and Quid Pro Quos 53

Worksheet: "What Can You Do to Earn That?" 54

MANAGER'S CHECKLIST 59

ACTIONS FOR BECOMING A BETTER BOSS 60

WORKSHEET: ACTION PLANNING 61

APPENDIX 63

Coaching Script 65

Tuning-In Tool 66

Manager's Landscape 67

"What Can You Do to Earn That?" 68

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 71

BRUCE TULGAN is the founder of Rainmaker Thinking Inc., a research and management training company based in New Haven, Connecticut. He is internationally recognized as a leading expert on leadership and performance management. He is an advisor to business leaders all over the world, the author or coauthor of seventeen different books including the classic Managing Generation X and the recent best-seller It’s Okay to Be the Boss. He is a sought-after keynote speaker and seminar leader.

An Essential Tools Resource

FIGHT THE UNDER-MANAGEMENT EPIDEMIC

IF YOU ARE A SUPERVISOR OF A SMALL TEAM OF EMPLOYEES or a manager of a large complex department, It’s Okay to Be the Boss workshop will give you the information and tools you need to become a great boss who is highly-engaged when leading, managing, and supervising your employees.

A companion to the dynamic It’s Okay to Be the Boss: The Management Workshop, this Participant Workbook is a hands-on resource that will help you learn how to overcome the common obstacles to becoming an engaged manager. You will gain a clear understanding of which management challenges can be controlled, along with tips and techniques for effectively controlling them. You will also discover the proven strategies for working around issues that cannot be avoided or controlled.

Step by step the It’s Okay to Be the Boss: The Management Workshop leads you through a series of eight back-to-basics techniques that clearly show how to develop the skills that will enhance your management abilities and help you

• Build relationships of trust and confidence with employees
• Delegate tasks, responsibilities, and projects
• Keep employees focused and moving in the right direction
• Increase productivity, quality, retention of high-performers, and turnover among low-performers
• Sharply reduce waste, inefficiency, errors, down-time, and conflict among employees

It’s Okay to Be the Boss:The Management Workshop will help you incorporate into your daily routine the time-tested management techniques that spell success—tracking employee performance, correcting failure, and rewarding success.