4.2 THE SKILLS YOU NEED TO BE A GREAT BOSS: Basic Skills to New Hires

(EXTRACTION FROM TEAM MANAGEMENT: Effective Recruitment at http://www.mindtools.com)

 

Teaching Basic Skills to New Hires

Before you can work on building basic skills, you need to identify your new hires' strengths and weaknesses.  Although "hard skills" (such as literacy and technical skills required for a job) are relatively easy to assess, "soft skills" (such as interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence) are just as valuable.

Important soft skills
Organization and Time Management Skills	·        Basic organization skills such as managing email, filing, using To-Do Lists and prioritization are important for staying on top of a large workload ·        time management skills
Communication Skills	·        the basics such as writing skills, compose emails effectively, and write reports ·        Understanding the Communication Process ·        highlighting the importance of Active Listening
Problem Solving	·        basic problem solving skills includes how to identify a problem, brainstorming potential solutions, evaluating solutions, and then implementing the best idea ·        focus on teaching a variety of problem solving techniques such as Appreciative Inquiry, Drill Down, and the 5 Whys
Interpersonal Skills	·        develop qualities such as empathy, emotional intelligence, conciliation, positivity and supportiveness ·        work on their assertiveness   and conflict resolution   skills
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Appreciative Inquiry Solving Problems by Looking at What's Going Right (pioneered by David Cooperrider of Case Western Reserve University in the mid 1980s)
·        focus on the things that aren't working, and think about how you can fix them ·        look at the things that are working, and build on them ·        focusing on positives can build the unique strengths which bring real success
Appreciative Inquiry	·        Appreciation means to recognize and value the contributions or attributes of things and people around us ·        Inquiry means to explore and discover, in the spirit of seeking to better understand, and being open to new possibilities ·        focus on positives; positive energy approach helps you build on your strengths
The 5D Approach	Define, Discovery, Dream, Design and Deliver

Drill Down Breaking Problems Down Into Manageable Parts
·        a simple technique for breaking complex problems down into progressively smaller parts
The technique	·        start by writing the problem down on the left-hand side of a large sheet of paper ·        write down the points that make up the next level of detail on the problem a little to the right of this ·        For each of these points, repeat the process ·        Keep on drilling down into points until you fully understand the factors contributing to the problem

 

5 Whys Quickly Getting to the Root of a Problem
·        Involves looking at any problem and asking: "Why?" and "What caused this problem?" ·        The answer to the first "why" will prompt another "why" and the answer to the second "why" will prompt another and so on; hence the name the 5 Whys strategy.
Benefits of the 5 Whys	·        helps to quickly determine the root cause of a problem ·        simple, and easy to learn and apply

The Peter Principle Avoiding Promoting People to a Level of Incompetence
·        dealt with someone who just isn't up to the job they're doing ·        various features of the design of hierarchical organizations that make them places where the Peter Principle can easily take hold o   First, internal promotion is popular o   second, entry-level jobs tend to be technical in nature