Corporate down-sizing and lay-offs have left many managers wondering how they can possibly get all of the work done without causing burn-out in their remaining employees. Take a hard look at everything that is on your department's plate and eliminate anything that isn't crucial to your company's success. After you've reduced the sheer volume of work that must be done focus on creating an environment that encourages productivity from your team.

One of the best examples of a high performance team that I observed was in a little coffee shop whose primary business was serving a quick, hot breakfast to busy people on their way to work. The team consisted of only three people, a cook and two waitresses. There was no boss in sight. I sat at the counter and was highly entertained as I observed them work. One of the waitresses focused on customers at the counter, the other waitress served the tables. This team knew their product and their customers. For example, the cook didn't wait for an order to start scrambling eggs or cooking bacon. Knowing these were popular items, he just kept cooking them and significantly reduced the customer wait time. It also freed him up to focus on special orders or items which had a longer cooking time. Even though the waitresses had their assigned spots, when either area got busy, they would double up until each customer was served.

Your mission may be more complex than fixing breakfast but you can learn a lot from this little team of professionals:

1. Pick the right person for the job. If your employee is a great cook, don't force her to be a waitress and vice-versa.
2. Define and communicate a shared purpose and goal. In the coffee shop, the goal was to have satisfied customers by producing made to order breakfasts in a timely fashion.
3. Tie your measurements and reward systems to your goals. If your goal is on time project delivery
    reward your team if they produce those results. If reducing errors is key to your success, reward those team members who produce the least number of errors. This may seem like a simple idea, but I've seen many reward systems which bear no relationship to the day to day work the employees are doing. Ensure that there is a clear-cut connection in your employee's minds to the job they are doing and the reward system.
4. Provide ongoing feedback. This is about building trust both in your relationship with the team and in their views of their own abilities.
5. Delegate assignments and empower your team. Ensure that each person knows their role and why it is important to the team's success. Help them develop by giving them responsibilities, not just tasks and encourage them to make decisions on their own.

When you implement these strategies your staff will be more engaged and more productive.

I'm using my public library a lot more these days as one of my personal cost cutting activities. I was pleased to find out that my local library system is ranked in the

TOP 100

by Hennen's American Public Library Ratings (HAPLR).

They collect statistics from over 9000 U.S. Public libraries and rank them based on traditional criteria such as circulation, staffing, materials, reference service, and funding levels per capita. They don't yet have the ability to include internet access or audio visual materials. Small communities have the same opportunity to make the list as big cities because the list ranks the top 10 libraries in each population category from 500K people to under 1K people.

If your library isn't in the Top 100, you can see where it ranks in the state comparison list.

When having career discussions with your team, one of the most frequent requests is access to more training. With corporate budgets stretched thin,  the education fund is an easy line item to reduce or eliminate. The thought being that it's discretionary and can be postponed. Our staff usually has a different view and believes that education and training are critical to their success.

Jerry Loza over at TechRepublic shows us ten low cost alternatives to traditional training. His list is focused on technical jobs but can be adapted to any industry. I've included the list below. Check out his full article for all of the details.

1. The Public Library. An obvious choice but often overlooked as a resource. Today's libraries have a wealth of business books, audio and DVDs on every topic. Some will even loan software applications.
2. Company Resources. Most large corporations have a vibrant intranet that contains company and product information, competitive analysis, discussion forums and online training modules.
3. Vendor Training. If your staff uses certain products or software, the vendor may have complementary training or be willing to hold a special class at your location after a purchase.
4. Pod casts. You can find a podcast on almost any topic. Search the Internet for those that apply.
5. Webinars and Telesummits. These virtual meetings are gaining in popularity as travel budgets get restricted. Some are set up to use the internet for both voice and video so that you don't even incur a phone charge.
6. Associations and User Groups. Local user groups have low or no cost memberships and frequently offer education as part of their services.
7. Volunteering. Here's where you as the manager can help the employee by letting them volunteer for an assignment that will let them acquire or improve a skill they want to learn.
8. Internet. Even simple searches on the topic of our choice can yield results from complete text books to entire sites devoted to your topic.
9. Continuing education. Community centers, adult education or career centers can offer free courses to people who live in the neighborhood.
10. Community Colleges. Most offer affordable courses that don't require enrollment in a degree program.

Besides the low cost of these suggestions, they may also fit better into an individual's lifestyle. They require no travel and some can be scheduled on demand helping your team balance work and family obligations.

Today's Wall St. Journal addressed an issue which is becoming more prevalent as bad news from Wall St. continues to pour in. One of the questions that managers face is how to respond to fears and questions from their staff. Employees are worried about the health of their companies and the stability of their individual jobs. Many managers have their own personal fears and feel unequipped and uneasy about sending the wrong message.

The first thing to remember is that you are a role model to your employees. They are watching your reactions and if they see you panic, they will panic. The worst thing you can do is to say nothing. Productivity will grind to a halt while your staff rushes to fill the void with speculation and rumor.

Second, recognize that you won't be able to allay all of your staff's fears or answer all of their questions. You can continue to be a leader that they can rely on to provide information and help minimize distractions. Here are a few suggestions:

• Be candid, not transparent. Share your company's business results with your team - good or bad. Don't make 'upper management' or Human resources the bad guys. They are concerned about the well being of the company and it's staff just as you are.
• Direct your team's focus to the things that they can control. Complaining about the company or the economy isn't going to make them feel better. Instead, review the impact that their work has on the company's bottom line. Discuss how the department's work affects revenue, costs or other resources. Remind them that the best thing they can do to protect their job is to achieve the goals and measurements that they are missioned to do. Take the opportunity to brainstorm ideas on how the department can be even more productive.
• If layoffs are imminent, share the information with your team as quickly as you can. You may have to wait for approval due to legal restrictions but as soon as you get that approval, tell your employees. You want to give them as much time as possible to figure out their next steps. In many companies, the HR department can prove to be a valuable resource in helping you to structure the conversations with your team. Make sure they are aware of any financial seminars or job placement services that are available.
• Get back to normal as quickly as possible after a layoff. Be accessible to those team members who weren't affected as they will have a mixture of feelings ranging from relief to guilt. Again, HR and your employee assistance programs can be invaluable.

Finally, be even more proactive in taking the pulse of your team during a stressful time. Interact with and observe their demeanor as much as possible.  An employee who starts coming in late, has emotional outbursts or is making a lot of personal phone calls is giving you warning signs that they may be overwhelmed with the situation. You want to be aware so that you can give them some guidance or refer them to HR, employee assistance or other resources.

The situations in Dilbert are so realistic I always wondered if Scott Adams worked at my company. Thanks to Kayla Lamoreaux for showing us what it might be like if we were in a budget meeting with Dilbert's manager.