A little experiment – how happy and productive are you at work?
by Antonio on 14/02/09 at 12:01 am
The following list of questions is one of the most useful things I’ve ever read.
It’s from First Break all the Rules by Markus Buckingham and Curt Coffman which, despite the crappy title, is a vital read if you manage a team.
The book asserts that the best managers are those that build a work environment where the employees answer positively to these 12 questions:
- Do I know what is expected of me at work?
- Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
- At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
- In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
- Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?
- Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
- At work, do my opinions seem to count?
- Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
- Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
- Do I have a best friend at work?
- In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
- This last year, have I had the opportunity at work to learn and grow?
I’ve worked in situations where I couldn’t answer yes to more than a couple of the above. And hands up I’ve probably been guilty of letting team members down when I’ve been on the other side of the fence. (I’m a reformed character now, I promise!)
I’ve also worked in one environment where I’ve been able to answer yes to every one.
I won’t say where for fear of appearing sycophantic – but it was the happiest and most productive work year of my life by about a million miles and it was all down to the kinds of things captured in these questions.
Anyway, the experiment is – what’s your figure? I’d love to know. I’ve asked a lot of people personally and the results are pretty grim. Obviously you can do it anonymously if you don’t want your boss to find out.
But then maybe he or she needs to know 
Nick
Feb 14th, 2009
It’s list which almost describes a workplace valentine. I’ve had places with almost zero.
It takes genuine generosity and attention and confidence for a boss to provide a big chunk of this list. Those people are worth staying close too.
Antonio
Feb 14th, 2009
Nick – you’ve hit the nail on the head when you say it requires confidence – I think a lot of people are bad managers simply because they’re insecure.
They have to micromanage, meddle and keep people in their place because they feel like they might be undermined if they don’t.
It’s such a shame as it has exactly the opposite effect. I think the best managers hire great people, set the right objectives and then get out of the way to let them do their job properly.
Sara Shawwa-Jobling
Feb 15th, 2009
I have never been in a paid job where I can answer yes to every one of those questions. I feel that is lack of confidence on my part and on the part of the manager. Although managers need to be assertive, they tend to veer towards aggression or go completely the other way and become passive. Neither of these create confidence in a subordinate. This is where the problems begin.
A good manager is a very special find, but it is also up to the person working under him/her to work on their own issues to then create a good working relationship and then to be able to tick ‘yes’ to all of those questions.
Susi Oneill
Feb 16th, 2009
Thanks for this useful post Antonio. I guess this about environment as much as management – I would say too critical things to saying ‘yes’ would be goals and communication – if your goals are achievable, you can say yes to more. If your team and organisation all communicate – both internally and to clients – you’ll hit more yes’s too.
You’re lucky – I can say I’ve never had more than a 50% hit on this list.
What about freelancers? I work for myself, something driect to client, sometimes in bespoke temporary teams. How can we aim to get more ticks on the list? Development and praise are definitely lacking areas.
Zoe
Feb 20th, 2009
I scored 8/12 but I’m a business partner so it should be at least that. Sometimes it is I that put limits on things and sometimes the limits are beyond anyone’s control.
Daniel Davies :: Blog :: links for 2009-02-23
Feb 23rd, 2009
[...] for the client which I, from experience, can vouch for. (tags: wordpress plugins cms viability) A little experiment – how happy and productive are you at work? — Antonio Gould Interesting article, perhaps the best bits being the comments. Its about satisfaction at work, and [...]
Jamie Huskisson
Mar 11th, 2009
I’ve definitely had all 12 of these though I was a managing director at the time. These values and core ethics are applied from the top down and I expect those that worked with me during that time would hit a high number of these too.
I have to agree with you above, it’s all about the confidence that transcends through the business.