The One Minute Manager – an alternative view

An alternative view of Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson’s book

How can a book written in 1983 still be relevant in today’s world?

I first read this book in at a time in life when I was in middle management and then again in 2011. Thinking about a number of coaching sessions in the last 5 years, I think it is even more relevant, what do you think?

Effective managers manage themselves and the people they work with so that both of the organisation and the people profit from their presence.

So many newly appointed managers get caught up with their greater responsibilities and often do not spend enough time with their staff mainly down to poor time management

The One Minute Manager (OMM) always makes it clear what our responsibilities are and what we are being held accountable for. 80% of our really important results will come from 20% of our goals.

So many managers don’t agree their goals with their line manager, never mind the really important ones and try at the same time to please too many people. If these goals are agreed, written down and focussed upon it makes a real difference to results

Tell people upfront that you are going to let them know how you they are doing – help people reach their full potential – catch them doing something right

In years gone by so much of my management style was the reverse and although it worked in a company which was after short term results, did it help every body achieve their full potential in the long term?

Praise people immediately

Do we do this sufficiently or do we assume people know they are doing a good job? Tell people what they did right and be specific

Reprimand people immediately

Once the reprimand is over, remind them how much you value them, reaffirm that you think well of them but not of their performance on this occasion. If you are first tough on behaviour and then supportive of the person, it works

Take time out (or a minute!), look at your goals, look at your performance and see if your behaviours match your goals.

So many people try and cover everything which comes into their email box and do not stop and think of how requests fit into their own goals

OMM is a powerful way of getting people to do what you want them to do.

As we all know honesty, is the best policy and congruency between what you say and what you do is so important.

OMM is of course not really spending one minute with people but making sure you spend enough time with people covering the basics including goals, feedback (positive and negative) and building rapport with them to ensure joint objectives are achieved