How managers can use and benefit from the Impact Platform

There are three primary ways managers can use Impact Platform:

1. Solve a problem
2. Build a skill
3. Coach others

 

1. Solve a problem

The managers at your organization are busy people. Insanely busy. When problems crop up and disrupt the flow of their work — as they inevitably will for new managers facing a steep learning curve — it can be stressful at best, and debilitating at worst.

Their pain is your company’s pain. Daily problems eat away at productivity and performance, both of which have profound effects on broader business outcomes.

Giving your managers access to Impact Platform (via an All Access Pass license) is a way to help your company from the bottom up. Our content toolbox enables them to quickly and effectively troubleshoot problems in the time of need. Our site is chock full of easy-to-find (and use) worksheets and checklists, as well as practical, scannable articles centered on common, real-world problems.

Real use cases from managers:

• Instant interview questions. A recently promoted sales manager went into panic mode when he found out he had to conduct his first phone interview with a job candidate on short notice. He went to Impact Platform’s Hiring Microcourse and pulled up one of our most popular tools, a list of 200+ great interview questions. Using it as a guide, he was able — in minutes — to compile a list of relevant behavior- and situation-based interview questions to help him effectively conduct the interview.
• Targeted guidance on a tricky situation. A manager at an Internet retail company was struggling to understand where one of her teammates was coming from, and needed to prepare for a conversation with the person. She visited our Managing Challenging Employees topic and immediately spotted an article title under “Solve Common Problems” that described her situation: A direct report is overly negative. The “What could be going on?” section helped her think through possible explanations for the person’s attitude, which in turn helped her ask questions during the conversation that uncovered the root of the issue. This paved the way for a better working relationship.

 

2. Build a skill

It’s no secret that managers who are constantly learning tend to be consistently effective. But off-site trainings and long online courses are tough to fit in.

With Impact Platform’s on-demand, bite-size content at their fingertips, managers can build skills on their own time, and in small, doable doses. They’ll appreciate having a learning option that works for their schedules. And you’ll appreciate knowing their learning isn’t on hold until you can find the time and budget for more formal trainings.

Our content is also optimized for mobile use, allowing your managers to absorb new concepts not only at their desks, but when they’re commuting on the train, grabbing lunch or waiting in line.

Real use cases from managers:

• The benefits of better feedback. A shift lead was facing an uphill battle with her customer care team, who viewed her as unapproachable and uncommunicative. She realized she needed to work on how she gave feedback, and proactively set aside time to go through the “Learn the Essentials” section of Impact Platform’s Giving Feedback Microcourse. Her efforts helped trigger a significant turnaround in the team’s attitude and productivity; the team went from being moderately successful to the second-highest producing team in the customer care department.
• An engineer’s approach to self-development. A product manager in a solar power company’s engineering department had a development goal of improving her leadership skills. She blocked out an hour of time on her calendar every Friday to explore Impact Platform’s content, systematically making her way through the site. In this way, she gradually built her knowledge and confidence — without compromising her ability to meet the team’s technical goals.

3. Coach others

No one is in a better position to help employees excel and grow — and, by extension, help your organization excel and grow — than their managers. But most managers need help helping others; coaching is both time-intensive and tough to master.

Impact Platform makes this hard truth a little easier on managers, who not only apply coaching tips from our site and newsletters to their daily interactions, but also turn to our vast yet user-friendly library of resources and weekly tips to share concepts relevant to their team members’ development.

Real use cases from managers:

• Content as a “carrot” for high potentials. One program manager uses Impact Platform to help develop his high-potential direct reports. Promising team members are given the opportunity to select Impact Platform articles — which all have PDF and print buttons to facilitate cross-team sharing — and then lead discussions on them in a weekly meeting. Participants not only build their presentation skills, but also familiarize themselves (and meeting attendees) with key management concepts.
• A weekly tip sparks a team discussion. A manager at a large e-commerce company regularly forwards Impact Platform’s weekly tip to her team (there’s a handy PDF button at the bottom of each article). One week, the tip was to assign a timekeeper in meetings. It resonated with the team, whose members admittedly struggled with time management in meetings, but hadn’t ever discussed the issue openly. The manager used the tip to initiate a team conversation, which led to better meeting etiquette.
• Needs-based article curation. A director of engineering sent a survey to his department and identified three issues managers were falling short on. One was giving reinforcing feedback to team members at least every seven days. He put together an email summarizing the issues, with links to relevant Impact Platform articles, such as How to give reinforcing feedback and How to run 1-on-1s (1-on-1s provide a great forum for feedback). He was grateful to be able to supply his managers with high-quality resources that, without Impact Platform, would have taken him much longer to track down.