Introducing HOT Management
By Bruce Tulgan
Managers in every workplace today are engaged in a tug of war. On one side, employers are demanding more work and better work out of people--often out of fewer people, with fewer resources. On the other, employees are feeling pressured, overworked, and in need of some relief in the form of flexible working conditions, or at least some incentives for all their hard work. Stuck in the middle--trying to negotiate these competing needs--is every single person with supervisory authority. How can managers reconcile these opposite forces? How can they possibly win the game? What can they do every day to get more work and better work out of each person and at the same time give people more of the flexibility they need?
Based on our ongoing (since 1993) research in the workplace, I coined the term HOT Management™. This term describes the highly engaged management style of supervisors leading high performance teams in today's demanding workplace. HOT stands for "Hands-On" and "Transactional."
HOT Managers are "hands-on." That means they spend time regularly with the people they are managing to help them think through assignments up front, anticipate resource needs, avoid potential problems, and create realistic timetables for results. They also provide regular constructive feedback and coaching to get people on track and keep them there.
HOT Managers are also "transactional." They drive performance through negotiation, rather than just relying on "being the boss." They find and leverage the "needles in a haystack" that are each employee's unique needs and wants--whether it is a choice assignment, Thursdays off, the corner cubicle, or bringing the dog to work. They know they can't give everything to everybody. But they try to do as much as they can for every employee, making a custom deal for every person to give him or her more of what he or she needs or wants. In exchange, HOT Managers hold each employee accountable for meeting ambitious goals and deadlines.
HOT Managers engage in an ongoing dialogue with each person they manage. That dialogue basically sounds like this: "What do you want from me? Good. Here's what I need from you." And conversely, "Here's what I need from you. What do you want from me in return?"
This approach sounds simple, but it's not. HOT Management™ may be the most difficult and, ultimately, the most rewarding way to build day-to-day relationships with your people and motivate them to higher performance. Managing people is going to take more of your time, energy, and skill than it ever has. High performance in the real new economy ---always uncertain, always high pressure--- requires high maintenance.
