Dealing with problems as a manager

It is inevitable that when you are following up, looking for successes to recognize and reward, you will sometimes find problems.

Fix them swiftly

When you find problems, take swift but appropriate action to correct them. Just as rewards and recognition must be delivered close to the accomplishment in order to reinforce the behavior, corrections must also be delivered in close proximity to the offending behavior in order to be an effective deterrent.

Projects or people heading in the wrong direction need to be quickly assessed and adjusted, corrected, or (as a last resort in the case of people) terminated. A problem ignored grows quickly, and may become a problem that cannot be easily addressed at all.

The tips we discussed earlier for defending your core values also apply here. It is important to be direct and honest—there should be no question when you are finished where you stand.

But, don’t rush to judgement

It is also important to do some homework and get the facts ahead of time. Talk to all the people involved, and never act on hearsay. Make sure your actions are measured and, when dealing with people, in scale with the behavior you are addressing and the past history of the person in question.

Guy Kawasaki has a great piece on dealing with people that you think might not fit in your organization any longer; I encourage you to read it.