ROC Weekly Management & Mindset Segment

Manage Your Rehab with the "The One Minute Manager"

Although it is nearly 40 years old, Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson’s book, “The One Minute Manager,” remains applicable to today’s leadership. The book details three techniques of effective management, each only taking one minute to complete. The purpose of each technique is that both the organization and its people benefit.

The Three Techniques of Effective Management

1. One Minute Goals

What it’s about: Having clear instructions and knowing what to expect from the beginning.

Why it works: It helps everyone understand what they need to do, sets expectations, and allows for immediate feedback, which increases motivation.

Setting one minute goals is helpful because everyone has the same information, understands their role, and knows what success looks like. Ensure that the goal has a deadline and consider outlining the current level of performance compared to the level of the goal. Having a clearly written goal will help everyone evaluate their own actions and performance as they work, and modify their actions to reach the goal if necessary.

2. One Minute Praisings

What it’s about: Finding someone who is doing something right and acknowledging their work right away.

Why it works: It provides encouragement and praise, reinforcing positive results. If you are only told what not to do, your goal will be to avoid those things. If you receive praise for doing things right, you will try to maintain the positive action rather than simply avoiding the negative action.

One minute praisings are most effective when they are immediate and specific. Be sure to share your feelings about their work and how it helps the whole organization or team. One minute praisings help encourage people to continue doing the same things. The key is to catch someone doing something right rather than only reacting when someone is doing something wrong. Make it clear that you have confidence in them and their abilities.

3. One Minute Reprimands

What it’s about: Providing feedback as soon as an employee makes a mistake.

Why it works: Pointing out mistakes as soon as they happen can help the person correct their actions. It provides criticism for the work rather than for them as a person. While is may be a negative experience, it is over quickly.

Before engaging in reprimands, consider whether the person is still learning. If so, use the opportunity to redirect them back to the goals stage to help remind them of the purpose of their work. If the person has been in the role, or has been responsible for the task for a while, consider reprimanding them. Similar to praise, the key to effectively reprimanding someone is to do it immediately. Contrast this to yearly reviews where wrong doings are brought up several months later; the impact is nowhere near the same. Tell them how you feel about what they did, pause for a moment, and then offer a reaffirmation. Remind them that you think highly of them and they are valuable to you. The key to reprimanding is to redirect the person rather than punish them.

If you are interested in reading the book, you can order it here.

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