Make Your Hole Bigger and Get Out of Your Own Way!
Our Management Training Workshops
By introducing our Management Training workshops to your staff we help ease the negative effect of change on both managerial and supervisory personnel. The change in job responsibilities, the change in personnel, job duties, and the rising challenge of developing subordinates are specific goals of our learning systems workshops. We are highly successful at helping Managers and Supervisors learn and adapt to the necessary skills and proper behaviors to be successful at work as well as in their personal lives.
For more information on our management training workshops please contact us.
As a part of our management training workshops, Managers and Supervisors will learn how to:
- Minimize the chance of miscommunication by understanding what people are really saying, and why
- Deal with difficult people, manage tense situations, and resolve conflict
- Make use of proven active listening skills to improve your ability to gain helpful information
- Be able to facilitate, guide, and close discussions in one-on-one or group settings
- Improve understanding and communication by giving and receiving good feedback
- Use ideas submitted by a member of the team without causing other members to be defensive
- Develop a comprehensive team building strategy that improves productivity of the whole team
- Emphasize the value of working toward common goals without devaluing individual accomplishment
- Define and set up a method to track staff activities
- Be able to manage time and work assignments effectively
- Conduct team meetings that capture and hold the audience’s attention
- Interview and hire the right person for the right job
- Save time and work more effectively through the use of a clear time management plan
- Understand and comply with proper hiring and managing requirements
- Communicate effectively with both superiors, peers and subordinates
- Become effective coaches for their work team
- Conduct accurate and difficult performance appraisals
Years ago a leading brand of hot sauce was experiencing a drop in sales. They had a great market share and their margins were fine but the product was lagging on the sales side. The CEO called in marketing, sales, accounting, and product formulation to determine the problem. "Let's do market research." said the VP of Marketing. "It's not the product mix." cried the formulator. "Sales is doing their part but we could always increase the spiff." they said. "The numbers don't lie." bemoaned accounting. "I don't care who did what. I just want the problem fixed." demanded the CEO.
The team quickly set to work to determine the problem. Weeks passed and many a dollar was spent on trying to solve the problem. To make matters worse, news of the diminishing sales reached the press and it was spreading throughout the world. The CEO was in a panic. One day, unexpectedly, someone stopped in to see him about this sales issue. In the CEO's office, the man explained he would not let them know what the problem was until they worked out a compensation schedule for the man.
The CEO agreed to all the man's conditions and called an executive meeting for early the next morning. Everyone was eagerly waiting for the meeting to begin as the mysterious visitor with the plan took the stage. He began by saying that he was a lifelong customer of Brand X hot sauce. He said he read that the company was having financial issues and immediately knew what the problem was. The audience grew more anxious as he continued his speech. "And now ladies and gentlemen," said the man with the plan, "the way to increase your sales is to make your hole bigger." The executives were stunned and dumbfounded. No one knew what he meant.
He continued, "For years I have had no issues with using your fine sauce but a few months ago I noticed your product was harder to get out of the bottle. After repeatedly shaking the bottle, only a few drops came out. Thinking it was clogged, I examined the hole and found it to be remarkably smaller then the previous bottle I had. Taking a pair of scissors, I made the hole bigger and more sauce came out. When I saw your dilemma in the paper I laughed and figured so many other people must be having the same issue I had of not being able to get the product out of the bottle. So, I encourage you to make your hole bigger. This will allow more sauce to come out; your consumers to use more sauce in fewer shakes, and let customers buy more product more frequently!"
The CEO and the rest of the executives were shocked! Several months previous to this, they changed the diameter of the hole as a cost savings initiative. No one imagined that decreasing the size of the hole would consequently decrease sales. The company caused its own problem, was too close to see the proper solution, and could not get out of their own way. That same day, the company resumed its original hole size and eventually their sales resumed to their previous levels.
Are you too close to your own situation to see the big picture?
Are you thinking too hard about an easy solution?
In what ways do you have to "Make Your Hole Bigger" to allow you to grow and thrive?
What is standing in YOUR way?
Do what you can right now to "Make Your Hole Bigger" and Make a Difference.