Don't Confuse Busy with Being Productive

“We trained hard, but it seemed every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized.  I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.”

Petronius Arbiter

Greek Navy

210 B.C.

Change Requires Buy-in

I remember purchasing my first smart phone.  After poking around to understand more about it, I decided to move ahead with the smart phone.  However, I had reservations.  How much time was it going to take to learn how to use the phone?  Was the return going to be worth the time invested?  

Evaluating a business opportunity could follow a similar path - defining what you want to achieve, determining how much time it is going to take and evaluating the commitment needed to get it done.  Exploring an opportunity is more difficult when doing something new involves others. 

When this occurs, more homework is required before deciding to pursue the new opportunity.  This involves asking employees what they think about the change. Why, because you’re asking employees to strap on a new requirement and they are the ones who are going to make it happen. If people don’t have a chance to ‘weigh-in’ most likely they won’t ‘buy-in’ for what the boss wants to accomplish. 

But what the boss decides, others have to go along with, right?  Yes, bosses make decisions but employees can help the change go smoothly or become tied up with other competing priorities or worse yet, resist the change.

Isn’t a boss’s authority undermined by asking people for their input?  No, to the contrary, the role of boss is strengthened.  When employees are asked what they think, they feel respected.  They feel they matter and that goes a long way towards helping the change succeed. 

Doesn’t the boss open themselves for negative comments about the change?  Absolutely, but it is better to get those comments on the table and deal with them rather than let them undercut the initiative once after the project is under way. 

What happens if the boss doesn’t follow their recommendations?  The boss is still better off as long they follow up with those who provided the input by presenting their reasoning for the decision and showing that they valued employee contributions. 

This process of asking employees what they think sounds like a lot of work.  True, more time will be spent up front in order to achieve buy-in.  On the flip side the change will achieve a better result sooner by yielding a good return on the time spent initially to get the project rolling.  

Change is never easy but including others up front helps accomplish the objective by fostering more cooperation.

Learning how to use the smart phone had its bumps along the way but did prove to be a good return for my time.  I’ve dropped it a couple of times so it isn’t pretty anymore.  I receive offers to upgrade my phone with more features and faster connectivity.  I don’t think the trade-off for upgrading is there yet so I’ll just keeping using the one I have.

The Leadership Void

I had the chance to observe a lot of folks during the recent county fair.  As I watched the people, I noticed several different types groups.  Among the groups were families, teenagers and couples.  Besides enjoying the fair, the groups all had one thing in common – a leader.

Some of the leaders were readily identifiable.  The parent could be seen and heard guiding family members.  For the teenagers, the leader was usually the person who was more vocal and animated in trying to coax the group.  For some of the couples, the leader could be seen gesturing.

Leaders are necessary for the group to function.  For the family, the parent keeps the group physically together, reminds family members of the rules and makes decisions for the family.  The leader for the group of teenagers helps to identify what the group wants to do next and works toward maintaining group cohesion.   

Without a leader to accomplish these types of critical tasks, the group will have difficulty in serving its intended purpose.  The group will lose its way and cohesion will be in jeopardy.  Ultimately, the ability of the group to function will deteriorate.  This absence of leadership creates a void. 

Having a leadership void in a group can have a disastrous affect.  Symptoms of such a  void include a lack of critical decision making and significant problems not being addressed.  Another indicator of a leadership void is a lot of squabbling with the resulting increased tension. 

Left unchecked, these types of behaviors can lead to declining morale which in turn can generate personnel turnover and lower productivity.  Trust wanes as confidence in leadership declines.  No one wants to works in this type of environment, including the boss.

If these types of behaviors are occurring, then the boss needs to figure out what they need to do differently and strap it on.   This is not an easy task as change can be daunting.  Chances are mistakes will be made.  Trying to be a better leader, even if it is not overly successful will be seen as a positive. 

The informal groups at the fair were having fun.  With effective leadership, the work place can be a positive experience which in turn leads to greater morale and enhanced productivity.

Effective leadership is rooted in developing habits

http://www.tekara.com/road-london2012-willpower-overrated/

Focusing on people leads to many dividends

A Lesson in Leadership

The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy than to make an army. It is possible to impart instruction and to give commands in such a manner and such a tone of voice to inspire in the soldier no feeling but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and tone of voice cannot fail to excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the other of dealing with subordinates springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the commander. He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them regard for himself, while he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward others, especially his inferiors, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself.

Major General John M. Schofield
August 11, 1879

Trust Required to Avoid Doing Something Stupid       

One of the common worries for leaders can be doing something stupid.  Taking a course of action that squanders resources or doesn’t accomplish its intended purpose can mean a loss of face and potentially credibility for the leader.  To help avoid this pitfall someone in the company needs to come forward and point out to the leader that something won’t work.  One such person who helped me avoid doing something stupid was Terry Lynch.

Terry was the Warehouse Coordinator for Missoula County Public Schools.  His responsibilities included orchestrating the daily delivery requirements for 20+ locations.  This service was the ‘life line’ to the schools for all supplies, payroll, distribution, printing, equipment and furniture.  He worked with the drivers and they did a superb job of keeping the schools supplied. 

In 2001, the school district needed to reduce expenses so the idea was put on the table to eliminate one of the two delivery driver positions.  This required a drastic change in service and placed the onus of all deliveries on one driver.  We came up with a delivery schedule that would allow one driver to service all the locations.

Before making the final decision to eliminate the delivery vehicle driver position, we conducted a trial run of the new schedule and planned on running it for five days.  At the end of the second day Terry came to see me.  He explained that the loading dock was being maxed out as items stockpiled waiting for delivery.  As a result, each time the driver came to take a load it required a lot of heavy lifting.  The consistent heavy lifting requirements were taking a toll on the driver as he had little time to physically recover between each delivery.  

Terry expressed concern that while the driver would continue to try to make this new schedule work, eventually the physical requirement would catch up with him and he would have an accident.   

Terry was right.  I should’ve anticipated this problem and if the change had gone into effect we would have had an accident.  Terry helped avoid doing something stupid.  Shortly thereafter, the remainder of the trial was cancelled and the elimination of a delivery driver position was removed from the budget discussions.

For this type of feedback to come forward several conditions have to be in place.  Mutual trust has to be present, otherwise the feedback won’t come and skepticism about the feedback can creep in.  The leader has to be willing to listen to the comments and be prepared to act on them even though the comments sting.  There must be a common expectation that when the situation calls for feedback, the person is going to come forward and the leader is going to receive the comments gracefully and with appreciation.

This is easier said than done.  It takes commitment and openness to develop trust. The leader must be genuinely receptive to negative feedback.   By taking these actions, the leader can get help to avoid doing something stupid.

I worked with Terry an additional nine years and deeply appreciated the feedback he provided and the trust he placed in me.