Book: 1 Minute Manager

"The New One Minute Manager"

Purpose: To provide a concise overview of the core principles and practices outlined in "The New One Minute Manager." This briefing is based on the provided excerpts and highlights the key secrets to effective management as presented in the book.

Main Themes:

• Effective Management Requires a Balance: The book argues against the traditional dichotomy of "results-oriented" vs. "people-oriented" management styles. It advocates for a balanced approach where managers are both results-focused and people-focused, recognizing that results are achieved through people. The manager states, "To succeed sooner, managers must be both results-oriented and people-oriented. How on earth can we get results if it’s not through people? So I care about people and results, because they go hand in hand." A screen saver in the manager's office says, "People Who Feel Good About Themselves Produce Good Results."
• The Three Secrets of One Minute Management: The core of the book revolves around three key principles, referred to as "secrets":

1. One Minute Goals: Setting clear, concise, and mutually agreed-upon goals.
2. One Minute Praisings: Providing immediate and specific positive feedback when employees do something right.
3. One Minute Re-Directs: Addressing mistakes quickly and directly, while also reaffirming the employee's value and potential.

• Empowerment and Development: The "New" One Minute Manager focuses on developing employees' abilities to solve problems and manage themselves, ultimately creating a more responsive and capable organization.
• Adaptability and Continuous Improvement: The book emphasizes the importance of adapting management styles to changing circumstances and continuously seeking new and more effective ways to apply the core principles.

Key Ideas and Facts:

• The Symbol: The One Minute Manager's symbol reminds managers to "take a minute out of our day to look into the faces of the people we lead and manage" because "they are our most important resources."
• One Minute Goals: Planning and Focus: Goals should be collaboratively defined and described concisely (one page, a paragraph or two), with clear performance standards and due dates. Employees should regularly review these goals. Teresa, one of the manager's employees, said, "Instead of setting our goals for us, he listens to our input and works side-by-side with us to develop them." The 80/20 rule applies: focus on the 20% of goals that drive 80% of the results.
• The excerpt provides a summary of how One Minute Goals work:

1. Plan the goals together and describe them briefly and clearly. Show people what good performance looks like.
2. Have people write out each of their goals, with due dates, on a single page.
3. Ask them to review their most important goals each day, which takes only a few minutes to do.
4. Encourage people to take a minute to look at what they’re doing, and see if their behavior matches their goals.
5. If it doesn’t, encourage them to re-think what they’re doing so they can realize their goals sooner.

• One Minute Praisings: Immediate and Specific: Provide immediate praise for specific actions, detailing what was done right and how it helps the organization. The manager pauses to let the employee feel the impact of the praise and encourages them to continue the positive behavior.
• The excerpt provides a summary of how One Minute Praisings work:

1. Praise people as soon as possible.
2. Let people know what they did right—be specific.
3. Tell people how good you feel about what they did right, and how it helps.
4. Pause for a moment to allow people time to feel good about what they’ve done.
5. Encourage them to do more of the same.
6. Make it clear you have confidence in them and support their success.

• One Minute Re-Directs: Corrective Feedback with Support: When mistakes occur, address them quickly and directly. Focus on the specific mistake and its impact, but also reaffirm the employee's value and confidence in their ability to improve. It is important to ensure goals are clear before providing a Re-Direct. The Re-Direct is in two parts, the first focused on the mistake and the second focused on the employee.
• The excerpt provides a summary of how One Minute Re-Directs work:

1. Re-Direct people as soon as possible.
2. Confirm the facts first, and review the mistake together—be specific.
3. Express how you feel about the mistake and its impact on results.
4. Be quiet for a moment to allow people time to feel concerned about what they’ve done.
5. Remember to let them know that they’re better than their mistake, and that you think well of them as a person.
6. Remind them that you have confidence and trust in them, and support their success.
7. Realize that when the Re-Direct is over, it’s over.

• The Re-Direct should start with the critique before the praise, being "tough and nice" rather than "nice and tough".
• People Development: The One Minute Manager prioritizes developing people. Liz Aquino noted, "He's our best developer of people. Whenever we have an opening and need a good manager, we call him. He always has somebody who is ready."
• Authenticity and Honesty: The "New" One Minute Manager is presented as honest and upfront with employees, building trust by being open about their management style and admitting potential imperfections. They accomplish "something important. People knew up front that he was honestly on their side from the start, and that made all the difference."

Quotes:

• "The young man thought each of these types—the “tough” autocrat and the “nice” democrat—was only partially effective. It’s like being half a manager, he thought."
• "People Who Feel Good About Themselves Produce Good Results."
• "‘Teresa,’ he said, ‘one of your goals for the future is for you to identify and solve your own problems. But since you are new, let’s talk. So tell me what the problem is.’"
• "‘If you can’t tell me what you’d like to be happening,’ he said, ‘you don’t have a problem yet. You’re just complaining. A problem only exists if there is a difference between what is actually happening and what you desire to be happening.’"
• "More efficiently than ever," Teresa said with a smile. "In fact, these days I call him the New One Minute Manager, because he’s doing things in new ways that are even more effective now.”
• "watching me in the beginning in order to catch me doing something right.” “Catch you doing something right?” said the young man. “Yes. We have a saying around here that every manager lives by."
• "Praisings. In fact, I believe if you’re not for yourself, who is?” Then he added, “And I’m for others, too.”
• "Then he tells me how he feels about the mistake and its possible impact on our results, sometimes in no uncertain terms."
• "Yes. That’s when you need to take a break and calmly look at the situation, so your emotions don’t cause you to make a mistake. A One Minute Re-Direct is intended to help people learn. However, when a person has learned something and has shown they can do it, but they have a won’t do attitude, you need to look at the cost to the organization, and whether you can afford to keep such a person on the team.”
• "People knew up front that he was honestly on their side from the start, and that made all the difference."
• "We Are Not Just Our Behavior. We Are The Person Managing Our Behavior."

Conclusion:

"The New One Minute Manager" provides a practical framework for effective management centered on clear goal setting, positive reinforcement, and constructive feedback. By focusing on both results and the well-being of employees, the book aims to create a work environment where individuals feel valued, empowered, and motivated to achieve their full potential. The key takeaway is that effective management is about developing people and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

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