Equinox Partners
  • HOME
  • TEAM
  • Powerful Presentations
  • SERVICES
    • Обучение за мениджъри - Пловдив
    • COACHING >
      • INDIVIDUAL COACHING
      • TEAM COACHING
      • COACHING CULTURE
    • Training for Managers - Zoom
    • Leadership 360
    • Inspiration Keynotes for Managers
    • Management Development Program
  • BLOG & PODCAST
  • Books
    • Cold Shower For Managers Book
    • Park Your Ego
    • Barriers to Change
    • The Way Of The Heart
  • CONTACTS

Thermometer or Thermostat

3/1/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
"It's never too late to become what you were meant to be."
George Elliott
 
There are two main types of managers - thermometers and thermostats.

1) The first type of managers - thermometers - simply show the temperature of the environment in which they work. When the temperature is too high or too low - they just show it on their screen. Nothing more. Temperature, of course, is a metaphor for the energy level at the workplace. If there is a good amount of energy, it means that there is enough of these factors:
 
- Willingness and desire for change, improvement, and development;
- Seeking and giving feedback;
- Initiative and proactivity;
- Motivation and inspiration;
 
2) The second type of managers - thermostats - set what the temperature should be and make it so.
 
The easiest thing in the world is to be in a good mood, have enthusiasm for work, and be productive when everyone around you is in a similar state. Then things happen almost by themselves, the entire team is in the so-called "flow" state. They achieve everything with ease.
 
If everything worked fine all by itself, there will probably be no need for managers. In this case, with or without a thermometer (manager), the team naturally reaches and maintains an internal company homeostasis. Homeostasis is a property of an open system to regulate its internal environment through some regulatory mechanisms. These regulatory mechanisms in an office environment are managers. They do not create the balance in the system per se but help the system to self-regulate through their continuous feedback and alignment with current priorities. This happens when the manager is like a thermostat - he sets the temperature and makes sure it is at a certain optimal level.
 
Teams do not need thermometer managers. Those that work only as sensors for the external environment and external problems.
 
Teams need thermostat managers who have the vision of optimal temperature and help teams reach this state of dynamic homeostasis. The characteristic of this equilibrium is that it is dynamic, i.e. if analyzed at the micro-level, there will be a temporary imbalance and perhaps slight creative chaos.

From a technical point of view, the thermostat is a device that, with the help of temperature sensors, measures the actual temperature, compares it with a set temperature, and adjusts it to the set value. If we continue the analogy for the thermostat manager - first, you need to be clear about what temperature you are aiming for. At the beginning, I listed the things for which this temperature can be a metaphor - energy, proactivity, inspiration, etc. If these are not at the level that is healthy for the team - your job is to do something. For example, to give feedback, to align expectations, and to adjust the workload. Don't just reflect the outside temperature like a thermometer.
 
There are only two things in your work that are within your control: your time and your energy (including energy in the form of thoughts, emotions, etc.). Both time and energy are the main levers you can use to set the right temperature for the team and yourself.
 
You have a limited amount of time and energy every day. It makes sense to use them carefully, as things that are not infinite. One way some managers do this is by limiting the number of decisions they have to make each day. Thus, they limit the use of their energy and focus on the small number of solutions that have a potentially large positive impact on the business.
 
This can happen by following this rule of thumb: Every decision in the company to be made at the lowest possible level, for which there are competence and decision-making authority. Adherence to this principle significantly reduces duplication of work by several people.
 
- The other important question is, what is your internal thermostat?
- What is it that helps you regulate your internal temperature?
- How do you use it?
- How do you make it work for sure?

 
Spend some quality time answering these questions. Then ask your team the same questions. Here you can directly use the Socrates method and turn all the thermometers on your team into thermostats. Starting with yourself.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Архиви

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    July 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    October 2015
    September 2015
    February 2015
    September 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    October 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    RSS Feed

__________________________________________
Copyright © 2011-2023, Equinox Partners Ltd. All rights reserved.

Политика за поверителност

  • HOME
  • TEAM
  • Powerful Presentations
  • SERVICES
    • Обучение за мениджъри - Пловдив
    • COACHING >
      • INDIVIDUAL COACHING
      • TEAM COACHING
      • COACHING CULTURE
    • Training for Managers - Zoom
    • Leadership 360
    • Inspiration Keynotes for Managers
    • Management Development Program
  • BLOG & PODCAST
  • Books
    • Cold Shower For Managers Book
    • Park Your Ego
    • Barriers to Change
    • The Way Of The Heart
  • CONTACTS