Super Nanny Tips for Managing your team

One of the shows I watch on TV is the Super Nanny and I cannot compliment it enough for the information and tips the shows provides. More importantly, it is a two in one – Tips for managing your children which can also be applied to managing your team – After all to maximize your team productivity and to minimize the Tylenol you take for your headaches, treating your team like you children does make logical sense !

So let us examine some of the key concepts of the show and see how it applies to your team

Need for clearly defined boundaries

Children need to have boundaries on what they can do and cannot do. So does your team. Setting clear expectations on what you expect from them gives them confidence to work on their own. Also, it minimizes the excessive hand holding required. They come to you only when they feel that the boundaries are being crossed. They are more productive and you can get the extra time to hit the gym to catch up on you body building (or what ever else drives you !)

Need for Consequences  

One of the staple acts in the show is the “Naughty Corner” where kids are forced to do timeout when they do something naughty. Very quickly the kids figure that there are consequences to their actions and they clean up their act.
Same goes with your team. I have see managers threaten the team, give them “drop dead dates”. The dates slip and the team members go on the merry way. Gray hairs in the manager head increase (or the number of hair follicles decrease depending on the manager’s genetic proclivity). Have consequences for missing clearly defined expectations, and see the difference. The team will be happy and you will be so convinced that you will DVR the show !

Need for Consistency and follow through
Kids require consistency in the behavior of their parents says the Super Nanny. Once they know what to expect, they will be more happier to listen to you. Promising to buy them ice cream if they do their home work and then forgetting to do it is something which confuses the kids leading to lack of trust and the bad behavior which follows
Same goes with your team members. Consistent behavior proper follow through will create a stable working environment for the team. Lack of surprise (highs and lows) will allow them to focus on the work rather than worry about how you are going to react. it all adds up to more productive team

Convinced? Ready to DVR the show. If you have already seen the show, let me have your thoughts. Otherwise, stop reading and pick up your DVR remote

Raghavan (Raj) Rajendran