From frustrating to successful management

Less a method than a state of mind

The Management 3.0 approach was originally designed to facilitate collaboration in the context of agile IT development. It is just as relevant in other areas of an organization. The approach is experience-based and seeks to harness collective intelligence, rather than placing everything on the shoulders of the manager.

The first challenge posed by Management 3.0 is to assert that the manager is not (or does not have) the solution to every problem!

There are various options for developing a better approach to team management.

Loop learning

Change is an integral part of organizational life. As a leader, you have to get the team on board... which can sometimes be tricky. Indeed, change may have lost its meaning or lack structure in the eyes of employees.

To overcome this challenge, it's useful to put triple-loop learning into practice:

Loop 1 Take action to change our behavior. Which translates into :

• Taking action
• Measuring effects
• Adjust and try again

The purpose of an action is to learn something and help you get closer to your goal. Example: organize a meeting with an under-performing employee to define a corrective plan, measure its effectiveness a few weeks later and adjust if necessary.

Loop 2 Reframe, to change the way we think, by identifying issues and developing strategies to overcome them. Example: communications within the team are chaotic, with everyone using one platform or another indiscriminately, at the risk of being counter-productive. Reframing aims to redefine the rules of the game. This involves specifying which tool to use (messaging, chat, videoconferencing, etc.) according to need and respecting a communication protocol (who to include in the conversation, how to write a clear subject line, etc.).

Loop 3 Transform, which aims to change our perceptions and way of being as a leader. Do I want to be right, or do I want to make things better? This change in posture is significant because it impacts your behavior and that of others towards you.

Loop learning allows you to step back and get out of tunnel vision1 on the next deliverable. As a leader, your role here is to help the team adopt the same principles.

Motivation and commitment

Keeping employees motivated and engaged isn't just about pay, and rewards shouldn't just be results-oriented.

Reward behavior. Let's imagine two employees: the first exceeded his targets, but "stole" customers from other salespeople; the second didn't reach his target, but really worked his ass off. Which one are you going to reward, and what message will this send to the others?

Reward the whole team. By definition, in a company, we all depend on each other to a certain extent. While there may be individual goals, it's more profitable to set goals for which employees will need each other. This is possible if they share a common vision that drives them.

Motivate by opportunity. More often than not, employees need to be listened to in order to be better understood and therefore better motivated. They may not all want a raise, but perhaps new responsibilities or the chance to accomplish something meaningful would be more appreciated.

Motivate through leadership. It's said that leaders get the teams they deserve... It's up to the leader to question his influence on his team, how he contributes to its strengths and weaknesses, what behaviors he encourages and which he tolerates. With this in mind, the manager can think about what he or she would like to do differently.

Measure. The manager can use the happiness index to measure the team's level of motivation. The tool is simple: everyone enters their level of happiness for the day (between 1 -not good- and 5 -everything's good), which generates a tracking graph.

Motivation and commitment can be fuelled by a variety of factors, so it's important for the manager to listen carefully to understand the expectations of each team member.

Developing systems thinking

Schematically speaking, an organization is made up of systems. For example, the various departments (sales, operations, marketing, etc.). They each represent a system, and their combination can give rise to a new system (when sales and marketing work together on a project, for example). Similarly, the different sales teams represent as many systems (within the Sales system).

As a leader, it's important to identify the systems you're dealing with, how they interact, what their dynamics and capabilities are, what their expectations and beliefs are, and so on. All this information helps to develop a better understanding of the systems, firstly to support them better, then to respond adequately to their needs, and finally to facilitate acceptance of change.

This global approach also helps to reduce silos, a major obstacle to collaboration.

In conclusion

Management 3.0 addresses many aspects of management. Among other things, it provides managers with tools to foster their teams' autonomy in the face of change and work organization, and to keep them engaged and mobilized.

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