Those who know me well, know I am an avid collector of points on my licence, earned as a result of having my picture taken on the highways of Great Britain far to frequently. On the most recent occasion I was offered the option of another 3 points or my attendance at a national speed awareness course. I opted for the latter in pursuit of having a licence which for once in a period of a few years would mean that I have less than 12 points. I am so pleased I made that choice. I attended the course yesterday and came away totally enlightened. It’s some years since I took my test - over 30 if I’m being honest and things have changed since then. Apart from loss of memory in relation to some road signs the highway code has been updated to a point of unrecognition on my part. I learnt loads in fact most people present did.

The word enjoyable seems a strange word of choice to demonstrate how I received the information - after all the overall outcome of the programme is to save lives by reducing road traffic accidents  so enjoyable sounds somewhat insensitive.

I did though I really enjoyed it, the trainers were easy to talk to, never judged anyone and made the content interactive and fun. The course was packed with facts and information that will certainly help to remind me to read the road and watch my speed and have a greater understanding of how anyone hit at over 30mph has less chance of surviving.  I’d recommend anyone who is faced with the same option to take it. It could be the reason you or others are not a casualty of a road traffic accident.

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Be yourself, be relaxed, and break down the barriers with staff. Display the behaviours that you want your staff to demonstrate, at the same time be adaptable, and show that you can be flexible when needed 

Build trust by being sincere and open with staff. Be firm but fair, treat everyone equally and on merit; always do what you say you will do.  

Always give your people the credit for your successes and take responsibility for your people’s mistakes. 

Treat people how you expect/want to be treated; lead by example, work along side your staff, don’t expect them to do something you wouldn’t do yourself, a good leader wears his authority lightly. 

Be a good listener, really get to know and understand your staff, show that you understand them.

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Be specific Make sure your feedback is clear and focused on the performance and don’t personalise it. Explain what the problem is, why it important that the employee achieves the performance expected. If you have raised your concerns before about the same problem, remind the employee when you have pointed out the offence in the past. Simply telling them what was wrong won’t help them change their behaviour, discuss how the employee can improve or avoid the mistake in the future, get their input. Make sure you add a time frame when you want to see the improvement by.  

Give timely feedback. Make the individual aware of what they did as soon as you can after the event, so they can recall what as happened. However be aware of their emotional state, before you give the feedback, perhaps you may need to wait until the employee has calmed down and can think clearly about what has happened. But don’t wait days or weeks, to provide feedback, when the problem has become a distant memory and don’t save telling the person until you have your next meeting, this could turn your meetings into a negative event.  

Check understanding. When summarising back to the employee, avoid asking ‘Do you understand’ they may merely say ‘yes.’ Ask them to summarise back to you, what you want them to do to improve, and when you want to see the improvement by, this way you know that they have understood what was said.

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