Our Team is in the field the majority of the day with limited time spent together. How can we tackle all of these issues in one meeting if we meet once a week?

I seem to have an issue everywhere I work where I am much younger than other people in my position and my peers dont take me seriously and act like I dont know enough to be able to bring anything to the table. I have gone through the exact same schooling and training - if not more!! I just worked straight through instead of taking breaks. How do I get them to realize I got this job for a reason and I do know what I am doing??

I was never aware of the components that are necessary for a successful meeting. This has really opened my eyes. thanks

Personal integrity is an individual’s decency, respectability, and character. Morally decent individuals are honest and fulfill their commitments. An individual of integrity treats everyone they encounter with respect, fairness, impartiality, and compassion, seeing in others a reflection of themselves. Personal integrity is a necessary component of a supervisor and leader. It is essential in achieving respect for oneself, and the respect and cooperation of others. Maintaining one’s personal integrity is essential if you want your direct reports to follow you. One must lead by example, set the bar, and always display professionalism. If a manager jeopardizes his/her personal integrity once, it is hard to regain the respect of your direct reports

How do you effectively manage insecurities and subsequently motivate your direct reports when upper management is experience a series of personnel changes?

I have recently encountered the Peter Principle (people are promoted to their level of incompetence) in a real-world application, and as a result I have begun to reassess my perceptions that hard work, dedication to ones career/job, job competency, and team leadership skills, would be sufficient for upward movement. Could someone clarify why this type of a senior might transpire in today’s completive economic situation businesses are facing? I would perceive that companies would want the most qualified individuals in key management positions.

I have found that rewarding employees for the work they have accomplished can be very important. Prior to this course I had always let the employee know that I appreciate everything that they do, and that they are doing a good job. I find this gives the employees a better feeling about what they have done, and that what they do, is getting noticed. What I did learn, is that by creating a safe enviroment, it will give the employees a place to get away and vent frustration.

I'm blown away by this course. The things I'm learning about vision and leadership will really help. I plan to set a clear vision for my department and will implement the things I have learned in this course.

I really got taken back with the vision part of this training. More often I have only heard vision from the entire company. I am going to impose a vision for my department that is in line with the company but with more apprehensive and direct results from my department. Meaning, I will put together a specific vision for my department goals and simple to understand. The art of leading was very informative, I believe being a coach and having a pacesetting agenda combined is the best plan of action to move a successful team toward the goals of the department. I found this training stimulating and I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned. Ask yourself "How can I change to be a better learder and not be seen as a manager?"

We have weekly meetings to report on our campus Matrix numbers and Instructor performance. Our meetings are planned for 1 hour and 30 minutes. A majority of the time our meetings will exceed 2 hours, and can go as long as 3 hours. We have Problem Solving, Decision Making, Reporting & Feedback and Status Update Meetings all rolled into one meeting. Being merely a participant in these meetings, what can I do to help structure our meetings better?

So I just became a manager of a team of 8. We have many issues to deal with and problems planning a meeting time that doesn't interfere with class schedules and team member availability. We have about an hour to allocate 2-3 times weekly to meeting, yet many issues to cover. This hour usually falls between classes. Can we effectively meet in 45-50 minute increments throughout the week, yet still have effective meetings in such a short amount of time?

A big challenge to any manager is to first get the team to buy into your management ideas and goals. The approach needs to take in consideration all aspects of the team. Who they are, skills they bring, and a willingness to learn new ideas. A manager needs to be open minded and guide when needed or let the team run with their ideas, it all come down to what works for your own group of people.

On a team I am involved with the focus seems to be on each member protecting their individual “rice bowls”. Any new suggestion is met with suspicion from members trying to determine how it will affect their departments work load I am open to any suggestions, beyond what we have learned in class to counteract this phenomenon.

Having completed my dissertation on Corporate Culture, I would like to interject something I've found to be important. Quite often during projects that take a long time to complete (more than 8 months)it becomes very important to bring the whole team back together at critical touch-points to remind them why the project is happening. The Project Leaders need to remind team members of the company culture, it's mission and vision. Often, team members become tired or distanced from the project goals and deep into their specific taks and details. They forget about the dynamics of a team and how strong they are when working together. Refreshers are critical in keeping momentum for the project and ensuring quality output from beginning to end.

How do you handle a situation where management is also involved in project execution and fail to hold themselves accountable for dropping the ball? In other words, blame the other team members for their mistakes. I have been involved in projects where I and a fellow team member were "thrown under the bus" many times because they failed to complete their phase of the project. It cost us money, resources, and conflicts arose within the ranks.

Hello, I am new to my position as dept supervisor of a tech. college.I have a direct report that holds the required license but not the knowledge that goes with it. The D.R. is having trouble with the subject matter. I have tried to coach the D.R. to bring the D.R. up to the required level. At what point do you stop coaching and dismiss?

I was hoping to get some pointer's on how I can become better about delegating tasks to my staff? I am new to my Program Director position and I find that I am having problems delegating to my team. Your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Pam

If you visualize leadership as a process of attending to 4 “quadrants” you will have the bases fairly well covered. They are Human Resources, symbolic, structural and political. “Human resources” deals with the importance of relationships, it involves servant leadership, empowerment and identifying individual’s strengths. “Symbolic” is what one traditionally associates with “leaders”. It involves casting and communicating a vision, inspiring, and modeling. “Structural” involves environmental scanning, analysis and assessing needs which along with getting to know your people from the HR quadrant informs the vision. Finally, the “political” quadrant involves establishing coalitions, networks and collaboration.

Leadership involves getting others to follow and endorse your vision of change for the good.

What do you think about a younger person leading a team of people that has individuals older than the leader/supervisor/administrator, ect.