LEADERSHIP Aleta Norris

Four simple questions for better one-on-ones

Make your time with each employee more valuable for both of you

HERE’S A SECRET: One-on-ones are among the best leadership strategies I know.

But let me explain. By “one-on-ones,” I don’t mean the many one-to-one interactions you have with your employees every day. They’re not the drive-by conversations when a problem comes up or a new need arises.

One-on-ones are formally scheduled conversations with employees that occur with a consistent cadence – weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Some organizations call them “check-in sessions” or “touch bases” or “sit-downs.”

Whatever you call them, one-on-ones work. They create a dedicated, private, consistent space for leader and employee to discuss issues, praise progress, encourage development opportunities, reset priorities – anything necessary to help employees stay on track toward success.

And over time, they help you build your relationships with your people.

While one-one-ones are a terrific leadership strategy, they do need a little structure to be effective. Just four simple questions create all the structure you need for effective one-on-ones, and each question brings unique and valuable benefits.

Try these four questions. And before you do, let your employees know that these questions will guide your one-on-one conversations, so they can be ready to respond and engage.

1. WHAT’S GONE RIGHT SINCE OUR LAST ONE-ON-ONE?

Start your one-on-ones with the positive. Avoid the human inclination to focus only on the gaps and what’s not working. Much of what your employees do is good stuff, successful stuff. Acknowledge it, value it.

Let your employees tell you about – and celebrate – their wins. Their accomplishments give you helpful information about their performance and their strengths. Starting with the positive also creates good energy and good feelings, so it sets a constructive tone for your communication and relationship.

2. WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED SINCE OUR LAST ONE-ON-ONE?

Not everything goes as planned. Commitments fall short. Obstacles come up. This is a chance for you to hear about projects, situations or commitments that aren’t going as well. These are opportunities for you to remove roadblocks, provide needed resources, support in new ways or reinforce accountability. It’s a chance to coach.

When you encourage your employees to tell you about their challenges, it also sends the signal that, ultimately, employees own their performance – the good and the bad. A big part of your role as a leader is to help them navigate the rough waters that can derail their success.

3. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO GET DONE BETWEEN NOW AND OUR NEXT ONE-ON-ONE?

Now we set the agenda for future action. Your employees’ action items and to-dos from this question become their commitments for moving forward. They also become the foundation for the next one-on-one conversation, where once again, you’ll discuss their new successes and new challenges.

Notice, too, that the nature of this question gives your employees choice. This question empowers and drives ownership. As much as you can, let your people decide their priorities and areas of focus. As Jack Stack wrote, “People will support what they help to create.”

This is also your time to share new information you have, or to discuss and assign other action items or projects between now and next time.

4. HOW CAN I BETTER SUPPORT YOU?

This is the golden question of leadership. Often, our employees don’t give us the feedback we need to lead them well. Here’s a chance to learn how you can be a more effective leader for your people – each of whom needs and wants different things from you to perform at their highest levels.

But be warned: At first, your employees might not have much to tell you. But keep asking. Over time, if you’re genuinely curious and open when asking this question, they’ll develop the trust and faith in you to ask for what they need.

And you’ll get the answers you need to lead well. n

ALETA NORRIS

Aleta Norris is partner and co-founder of Brookfield-based Living As A Leader, a leadership training, coaching and consulting firm. She can be reached at ANorris@ LivingAsALeader.com.

Selling thin air

Best practices for service sales

“If all you sell is a piece of paper and a promise, your customer must believe you can deliver the solution to his problem.”

SELL TO DECISION MAKERS

Sell “things” to the technicians, the implementers in a company, folks with titles like manager, foreman, coordinator or supervisor. But sell concepts to those capable of making decisions. They have titles like CEO, COO, CFO, marketing director and vice president. These are the folks who establish departmental budgets, not the ones who must remain within one.

If you hear somebody say “It’s not in the budget,” you’re talking to the wrong somebody. You need to talk to the decision maker who set the budget.

LET THEM DEFINE THE PROBLEM

When selling concepts, we’re really just selling solutions to problems. But first we need to figure out what the problem is.

The best way to do this is to let your customer tell you. Start by asking questions. Keep asking questions until they have defined the problem. Every company has them. It’s simply a matter of asking the right questions and listening carefully until you hear a problem you think your firm may be able to remedy. the greater value in the company’s products. They pay more. Company sales and profits go up. Advertisers and business consultants most often sell this benefit.

Improving productivity does both. Better productivity can mean reduced costs, or it can mean improved quality, thus enhancing the company’s market position. Either way, the company makes more money.

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

Selling solutions takes trust. If all you sell is a piece of paper and a promise, your customer must believe you can deliver the solution to his problem.

If she can’t touch it, see it, smell it, or feel it, the only way she can have confidence in the results is if she has confidence in you.

One successful financial planner I know seldom discusses money in his first meeting with a client. He creates a sense of friendship and camaraderie that builds to trust. By the second or third meeting, his client has been sold on him. After that, it’s easy to sell financial planning solutions.

Selling intangibles may seem daunting at first glance. But follow these key tactics of successful concept sellers, and you’ll have shorter gaps between sales closings, and a healthier financial future. n

SELL SOLUTIONS

THE SELLING OF PRODUCTS or services you can’t actually touch or feel in your hands presents some challenging problems. It’s often called “selling thin air” because of its elusive and illusive nature.

Conceptual products include insurance, computer software, consulting services and the like, and if you are in the business of selling concepts, you understand the difficulty.

The idea of selling intangibles rather than hard goods is intimidating, puzzling, even humbling to many of the best salesmen and women. “How can I sell something I can’t demonstrate? How do I point out my product’s many features if I can’t show them at work?”

Yet those who are good at it say they wouldn’t sell anything else. What are their secrets?

Working many years with successful sales executives, I’ve come to recognize several key steps each takes when selling.

When selling concepts to decision makers, don’t sell the “thing” itself. Whether it’s computer software or building insurance or financial accounting, it’s little more than paper and promises.

Sell the true benefit your product provides, the solution to the decision maker’s problem. Solutions generally fall into one of three categories: 1. They reduce costs. 2. They enhance a company’s market position. 3. They improve productivity.

Help a company run leaner by reducing costs, and you’re a hero. If your software can reduce transaction expense, that’s the benefit, the sizzle on the steak, that your sales presentation must include.

Enhancing a company’s market position allows it to raise prices. Their customers recognize

ROBERT GREDE

Robert Grede is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. For more information visit: www.RobertGrede.com