Management Training:
The Most Important Skill In Management Training Courses
Recognition is a powerful tool that can encourage and maintain a new, positive behavior. When you are a positive force for others you are quick to recognize and destructive criticism is the last thing on your mind.
Often in my management and leadership programs I'll ask the participants if they believe recognition is an important skill to change behavior and show appreciation. After the hands go up and there is general agreement I ask the same participants to show me when and how to apply recognition. Suddenly the room goes silent. It has been my experience that less than 20% of managers know how to apply this valuable people skill. My question is if these same mangers don't apply recognition in the workplace how can they do the same at home with their spouses, friends and children? We have recognition deprivation in our society. Recognition can move mountains!
Some confuse recognition with the rah-rah hype. Hype is when someone continues to back slap with the same meaningless comments repeated over and over again. This approach may work for the short term but over time is often perceived as superficial, insincere and can be counter productive. Recognition when applied properly is a powerful people skill that managers, teachers, parents, spouses and others can use to show appreciation, change or re-enforce positive behavior.
The first step in applying recognition is to make a general reference. For example saying, "Mary, you did a great job last week." is a starting point. You can recognize someone when they exceed expectations. You can recognize someone when they continually meet expectations. You can recognize someone who meets an expectation they haven't met before. When you catch your son, daughter, fellow worker, or spouse doing something right let them know about it. You want to look for opportunities to recognize others. This is what positive force people do.
The second step to make recognition meaningful is to give a specific example of what you liked. For example you say "Mary, I noticed how you handled that unhappy customer last week and I was impressed." When you tell someone specifically what you like it makes recognition more meaningful. It also increases the chances of them repeating the desired behavior again. This works well in business and in life.
The third step is to mention the person's personal qualities. For example, "Mary, your patience and listening skills were obvious, you never lost your temper and focused on your customer." When you mention personal qualities you make it real. You have noticed what they did and that is more meaningful to the person you recognize.
The fourth and final step is to focus on the resulting benefits. For example, "Thanks to your efforts Mary that angry customer left as a happy one and will come back to us in the future. I noticed and appreciate what you did." These same four steps can be used as a parenting skill and there are a variety of situations where you can apply recognition. People who are positive forces recognize others. Recognition can move mountains and is an important skill to being a positive force for others.
Your son cut the lawn without being asked. Your daughter cleaned up the kitchen. Your spouse washed your car. Your salesperson exceeded their goals. Your receptionist is always on time. It's easy to take someone for granted. Whatever you take for granted you tend to lose. You want to look for opportunities to recognize others and be a positive force.
Allan Baylis:
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Management Training Courses
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