Recent studies have shown that industrial supervisors are working at less than 60% of their potential. Basic management skills training is guaranteed to change all this, and at very little cost.
Introduction
The word discipline has a negative sound since we immediately think of authority and punishment. However, there is another, more constructive way of thinking about this, which we can call: POSITIVE DISCIPLINE.
Positive discipline has to do with creating an orderly environment where people can behave according to standards of behavior for the benefit of all. In this way we avoid unnecessary conflicts and possible accidents.
Most family groups establish a Positive Discipline environment, which protects the rights of the individual but also develops harmony in the family. Positive Discipline is also an excellent learning environment for our children, which allows them to develop in a safe environment.
NEGATIVE DISCIPLINE He is conflictive by nature and damages the harmony of the group. A potential negative discipline situation occurs when rules are broken or when they are clearly reluctantly accepted.
line of discipline
The first step is to establish and maintain a reasonable but firm line of discipline.
TOO TALL – People insult each other. Productivity falls.
TOO LOW – People take liberties. Productivity falls.
This line should be a well-defined set of behavior standards that you expect all employees to meet and support. It is also important to make sure that these standards, rules or regulations are well communicated and that everyone is fully aware of them. This will tell an employee what is expected and what is not allowed.
It is essential to establish a discipline line that is achievable and effective in the real world. The key success factors are:
Consist
Good comunicated
Reasonable and Justifiable
Flexible
Immediacy
There are many aspects of positive discipline and the following is interesting.
The “hot stove rule”
No matter how well you handle discipline, it’s still an unpleasant chore that often causes resentment. The challenge for the supervisor is to apply the necessary disciplinary action so that it minimizes the damage to the people and to the manager himself.
A really effective way to incorporate all the rules described above is to adopt the hot stove rule. When you touch a hot stove, the reaction is immediate, warning, consistent, and impersonal.
For example:
The burn is immediate; there’s no doubt about cause and effect
There was prior communication, since everyone knows what happens if you touch a stove when it is red hot
The result is consistent; he who touches a hot stove always gets burned
The result is impersonal because whoever touches a hot stove gets burned. The burn was caused by the act of touching the stove, not by who the person is. Discipline must be directed against the act and not against the person.
The comparison between the “hot stove rule” and disciplinary action is obvious.