As a subscriber to Thinking Management, you have no doubt come to appreciate its value as a weekly source of information that helps improve your management skills.

That's why we're delighted to tell you that we've decided to take this effort to the next level. AMA Shift, published each weekday, provides a quick read and succinct insights into a leadership/management issue gleaned from one of the day's top news stories.

We encourage you to check out AMA Shift. You can either visit AMAShift.org or you can subscribe at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/AMAShift

Just like Thinking Management, it is easy to leave comments on the articles and get involved in discussions with other managers and leaders.

Recent articles include:

• We want more from jobs in 2012 than money and security
• How getting technical can make you successful
• Email ban opens way for new communication tools
• Five dangers of brainstorming

Wishing you a great deal of success in 2012,

The AMA Editorial Team

People pleasers are so eager to please others that they can't refuse a request. Even if the responsibility isn't theirs, they will accept it because turning down the task—whether something mundane like sorting files, or completing an important project despite a heavy workload—makes them feel guilty.

They often don't even wait to be asked, but volunteer to take on the task.

Since being a people pleaser can be a poor use of your time, you need to learn how not to unnecessarily take on someone else's work. Fortunately, there are ways to regain control of your responsibility.

Remember you have a choice about how you use your time. Prioritize. Some work may not be your responsibility, yet may still require your help...but you have to be sure that you can afford to put off completing your own work if you lend a helping hand.

Perfect your ability to say no. Practice if need be. Keep in mind that you don't have to say yes. If you are left feeling resentful for taking on the extra work, you need to speak up the next time a similar situation occurs. A simple response such as, "I'm sorry, I can't help you with that" is actually all you need to say. You should only say yes when you genuinely want to do something.

Finally, take a breath before you respond to a request for help. Otherwise, you will say yes to everything. Your assistance may or may not be appreciated, but after a while, everyone will take advantage of your good nature. As a result, your own work won't be done on time, or you will be putting in long days at the office and spending too little time with your family—leaving many people none too pleased.

If team members are to share in the responsibility of their work group, they will need to constantly enhance their skill set. For this to occur, the savvy manager knows to work with them to help them develop both the decision-making and job skills they will need to play a more productive role in the department.

This demands that you see learning as critical, and consequently create an environment in which it is continuous. Sometimes staff members may take on responsibilities from which mistakes will occur, but your goal is to see that they learn from these mistakes. The organization as a whole will profit as its human assets grow in value from taking on ever-challenging projects and tasks with greater autonomy.

To ensure the kind of climate that will grow your department, you must create a true learning environment, which means:

1.     During recruitment, undertake a training needs assessment that can be pursued once the new hire comes on board.

2.     Structure work groups so staff can share their knowledge and skills with one another. From the sharing should evolve learning.

3.     Emphasize growth and opportunity. No matter what the situation, you should present to your staff a picture of a glass half full, not half empty. Invite employees to join in, sharing the leadership of a winning organization; one that has room for growth and development.

4.     Monitor on-the-job training. Informal learning should be consistent with the job, customer service, and quality standards that the department or organization has set.

And finally, practice "action learning." Classroom instruction isn't enough. A manager must lead the group as it learns from working on real-life problems.

Motivating employees to accept empowerment is easy, but actually getting them to take ownership of work processes can be difficult. Workers often look cynically on corporate policies encouraging them to innovate. Show your employees how to think critically about performing tasks by initiating change yourself. Engage staff in exploring opportunities for streamlining procedures, letting them see that you really approve of change. Demonstrate that established procedures are not sacred, so that your employees can discover new ways to improve efficiency and quality with confidence.

It is natural for employees to be reluctant to make suggestions for change, but in an environment of shared leadership, you can gradually train them to do so.

As a first step, turn their questions back to them. Don't be so quick to offer a solution to a problem, even when it's obvious to you. Ask the individual, "What do you think you should do?" Then listen to his answer and avoid commenting until he is finished. You may need to ask some follow-up questions in order to get the employee to come up with a solution on his own.

Recognize achievements. When you tell someone they did a great job, you empower them to do it as well or better the next time.

Don't neglect to encourage employees to consult co-workers, either. Instead of providing answers, suggest your staff ask for advice from colleagues who may have dealt with the same situation. You may at first have to ask that co-worker to assist, but eventually it will help each person in the group evolve from being an individual who does his job well and independently to a valued "go-to" source of help in the department.

Ideally, your department should operate with clear direction. And by tying all operating decisions, responsibilities and tasks to the department's vision or mission, all decisions made will benefit the organization.

The first step is planning. Anything that does not contribute to the group or corporate mission should be done only after all tasks or projects linked to corporate strategy are completed.

For many workers, it is hard to see how their individual position contributes to or detracts from the greater goals of the organization. It is the job of today's leaders to be able to help their employees to see the connection between what they do and the corporate mission.

Give people access to the information that will enable them to make the right decisions when the time comes to make them. Distribute any information you yourself use in keeping current—productivity reports, progress reports, industry studies, etc.—to all your employees, even those whose jobs might not seem to require this information. As obvious as it may be to you, point out the different departments that depend on your input and also those that provide support services. Name those individuals they will need to know to resolve problems that arise.

Certainly include employees in any management planning that may affect their jobs. Keep them informed. Management has always been somewhat stingy with sharing its feelings and plans, but if workers are going to give 100% of their effort, they need to be treated as equally interested parties.

Last, but not least, when celebrating goals being met, recognize everyone and acknowledge what part they played. Sometimes all it takes to get your employees to always give it their all is to show them that you notice it when they do.

Given heavy workloads, there isn't always enough time to train new hires on all their responsibilities. Often, a veteran employee may be asked to supervise their new colleagues. But unfortunately, that experienced staff member may suggest shortcuts that are contrary to corporate policy, impacting product quality or work safety.

To prevent the spread of bad work habits, you may want to do the following:

1.     Monitor the work performance of the employee you asked to assist new hires before you make the assignment. You want to be sure that the person is doing the job correctly before you make him or her responsible for training new employees.

2.     Explain why the work is done the way it is, as well as how it should be done. Your new hires need to understand that procedures that appear to waste time may actually ensure a better-quality product or service.

3.     Listen to employee ideas about how work can be improved. If the idea will increase productivity or reduce cost, implement it. If it won't, then explain why the suggestion can't be used.

4.     Set aside sufficient time each week for employees to learn new skills. In the role of trainer, take your staff—not only newcomers, but old-timers as well—through the procedures. You might think long-standing employees know how to do the work properly, but they can easily get into bad habits.

Finally, instruct your staff to examine how, why, and what they are doing to complete their work assignments correctly. Let them question how things were done in the past, and encourage them to come up with new processes or practices that will enable them to more efficiently or effectively do the work.

Managers who use a passive communication style allow others to control them. They accept all criticism as valid and feel guilty—even apologetic—when they have to criticize others. Aggressive managers, on the other hand, make their feelings known—often to the point of disregarding those of others. They may be domineering and insensitive, and hence leave people feeling resentful, angry, and put-down.

Assertive managers gain others' respect and do not frustrate or irritate those they deal with, because they express themselves in an honest, straightforward manner. They may stand up for their rights, but they do it in ways that don't violate everyone else's.

Assertive communication is self-enhancing, but it doesn't come at the expense of others. Assertive managers are open, honest, and upfront, because they believe that all people have an equal right to express themselves honestly. Such openness and honesty encourage respect and cooperation from employees, managers, and everyone else with whom they interact.

Here is the same sentence, using all three styles:

1.     "This is what I think." (Assertive)

2.     "This is what I think—you're an idiot to think otherwise." (Aggressive)

3.     This is what I think, but it's probably not important to you." (Passive)

You might be thinking, "I can be assertive when I need to be." Shifting from one communication style to another, though, only confuses people, so it's best to learn to communicate in an assertive manner all the time. But first, you need to identify why you sometimes don't. There are three common obstacles to assertiveness: low self-esteem, inability to handle conflict, and poor communication skills. You may be very articulate, but still lack the communication skills to respond to criticism or aggressive put-downs, or praise, or other emotional situations. You need to learn how to express your feelings.

Resolving a problem as the head of a team means you should encourage members to come up with likely solutions to the dilemma as well as get the group to work toward the best solution.

First, assemble members for the group who have a purpose for participating in the team effort. It helps if your prospective members have demonstrated skills in creative problem solving and can commit time to pursuing the best solution.

Second, carefully study the problem. Use the 5 Ws and the H—who, what, when, where, and why and how—to ensure the team clearly understands the nature of the problem. Go outside of the team to get opinions of people who are familiar with the nature of the problem. Your goal should be to ensure that the team assembles all the relevant data.

Third, the team's members need to generate as many ideas to resolve the problem as possible. You can build better ideas by encouraging the group to piggyback on the first round of suggestions. Ask managers in other areas how they would tackle the problem, too.

Fourth, start crafting the best solutions into an action plan, specifying roles for each team member. Agree as a team how you will measure the success of the plan and the specific objectives you will be aiming for.

The fifth and final step is to put the action plan into practice. Document the actions taken and, most important, the efficiency of the solution. One word of warning: no matter how hard you work as a group to solve the problem, you won't get anywhere until you have established the root cause of the problem.