How to Respond to Praise

 This post's podcast episode is available at Sounder, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.

When you are short of time, here is the one action that will give you 80 percent results in 20 percent of the time.

DO THIS

Share the recognition with fellow contributors.

BY DOING THIS

– Thank the giver of the praise.

– Identify those who contributed.

– Specify the roles they played.

Change initiatives can be gruelling and can feel like a succession of uphill battles characterized by tight deadlines, difficult challenges, stretched capabilities, and long hours. Giving and receiving recognition energizes individuals and teams and builds momentum to tackle the next tasks and activities.

Acknowledgement for your hard work feels great. It’s tempting to accept it by saying, “Thank you, I have been working hard." The best response is to share praise with those who contributed to the success and detail how they contributed, which maximizes the distinction. Saying, “Thank you, we all worked hard to hit this deadline, and Tim and Sandeep created a focused plan to get us there,” broadens the recognition and signals that you are a humble leader. People will notice your thoughtfulness.

Round off your acceptance by connecting the team’s capabilities with future achievements. By saying something like, “We’re on a roll,” or “We’re ready for the next challenge,” you encourage the behaviours that got the results and create the momentum for success to become a habit.

KNOWLEDGE BITES

RECOGNITION PLANNER TOOL: How will I respond to praise?

Express gratitude:

_________________________________________________________________________

Who else contributed?

_________________________________________________________________________

What did they do?

_________________________________________________________________________

SUCCESS TIP

Keep a list of acknowledgements to motivate yourself and the team in challenging times and to create a project summary at the project’s end.

For more stories, insights and advice, listen to the Responding to Praise podcast episode with communication and corporate affairs leader Saira Absar.

Phil Buckley is the author of Change on the Run and  Change with Confidence, host of the  Change on the Run Podcast, and co-creator of the  Sharing Change with Confidence Newsletter.

#change #changemanagement #businesstransformation #leadership #projectmanagement #praise #recognition #podcasts 

How to Negotiate Deadlines

 

This post's podcast episode is available at Sounder, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.

When you are short of time, here is the one action that will give you 80 percent results in 20 percent of the time.

DO THIS

Calculate the minimum time required and add a 10% contingency before setting a deadline.

BY DOING THIS

– List all required activities.

– Estimate the time required for each.

– Add 10% to account for delays and emergencies.

Project timelines include end dates of all activities and those of the tasks required to complete them. For example, new software training must be completed on the 30th because the system is going live on the 10th of the following month.

An inherent risk of interconnected deadlines is that one unrealistic deadline for an activity cascades through all the task deadlines leading up to it, regardless of how much time is necessary to complete them. It only takes one miscalculation to fail to meet a plan timeline. Many people respond to unrealistic deadlines with reckless optimism. They cut corners, eliminate steps or shorten timelines without understanding the impacts of their choices. Before they’ve even begun, they’ve added risk to their plan and are in jeopardy of failing.

The best timeline planning approach is to map out the minimum time required to achieve all your tasks and activities. These facts are your best defence against unrealistic expectations. You might not get all the time you need, but you will get more than the original estimate, and leaders will now co-own the time risks.

KNOWLEDGE BITES

MINIMUM TIMELINE PLANNER TOOL: What’s the least amount of time I need to complete my activities?

SUCCESS TIP

Don’t explain in detail why you did what you did. It’ll sound like you’re making excuses and take focus away from how you are fixing the mistake.

For more stories, insights and advice, listen to the Negotiating Deadlines podcast episode with executive and change leader Cathy Brown.

Phil Buckley is the author of Change on the Run and  Change with Confidence, host of the  Change on the Run Podcast, and co-creator of the  Sharing Change with Confidence Newsletter.

#change #changemanagement #businesstransformation #leadership #projectmanagement #deadlines #podcasts