The New One Minute Manager (Book Summary)

To succeed sooner, managers must be both results-oriented and people-oriented. That is accomplished via “The Three Secrets” – one minute goals, one minute praisings, and one minute redirects.

The Three Secrets

1.      One Minute Goals

• Instead of setting goals for associates, work with them to ensure they are clear on their responsibilities and what they are accountable for
• Set no more than 3 to 5 goals and describe each goal and its performance standard – what needs to be done by what due date – on a single page that can be read in about a minute
• Periodically check progress
• Train and expect associates to solve their own problems as follows: (a) [Situation] What is happening? What is the problem? What would you like to be happening? (b) [Complication] What is the root cause of the discrepancy between the actual and the desired? (c) [Resolution] What are you going to do about it? How? By when?
• Do not assume that people on your team know what to aim for

2.      One Minute Praisings

• To consistently catch associates doing things right, Observe people’s activities by: (a) direct observation, (b) looking a data, and (c) asking them to send regular progress reports
• Praise them very soon after, specifying exactly what the person did right
• Praising are particularly important when an new associate starts or when they start a new project.
• In the beginning, catch somebody doing something approximately right until they can eventually learn to do it right.

3.      One Minute Re-Directs

• The point of redirects is to build confidence in people to help them reach their full potential and to help the team get better results.
• Ensure the goal you jointly set was clear. If it was not, the manager must take responsibility and clarify the goal.
• Deliver redirects in two parts to convey that the behavior/performance is bad but the person is good: (a) First, focus on the mistake, reviewing what has gone wrong by confirming the facts. Share how you, the manager, feel, then pause to let it sink in. (b) Second, focus on the associate, reminding them that they are better than their mistake and that you have confidence and trust in them. Say that you don’t expect a repeat and look forward to working with them.
• When redirects are over, they are over.

Other tips

• People work with you, not for you. They work FOR themselves.
• Goals Begin Behaviors. Consequences Influence Future Behaviors.
• Weekly team meeting agenda: (a) review and analyze achievements from previous week, (b) discuss problems, (c) prioritize what needs to be done next, (d) formulate plans for priority projects
• Encourage associates to speak up if they notice you, the manager, may be mistaken about something
• The number one motivator of people is feedback on results
• You can either hire winners (which is hard, expensive, and uncertain) or you can hire people with the potential to be winners and systematically train them.
• Periodically, take a Minute To Look At Your Goals. Then Look At What You’re Doing And See If It Matches Your Goals.
• Your job is to show people how to manage themselves and enjoy it. You want them to succeed when you’re not around.