blog.
Tradition and Productivity
In the acclaimed Broadway musical, Fiddler on the Roof, the main character, Tevye, explains his society’s traditions in the song “Tradition.” The song juxtaposes village life to a world that is changing all around them.
In many respects, struggles faced in today’s organizations may be rooted in difficulty in letting go of tradition—an inability to change.
Changing Culture: One Person at a Time
Culture is defined as “group norms of behaviour and the underlying shared values that help keep those norms in place.” For example, look at the typical meetings in your office. Is everyone on time or do meetings usually start five to ten minutes later than schedule?
What about attention to detail? Do final project reports receive a thorough review and commentary or are they filed as received? These scenarios represent organizational culture.
If your employees are stressed, overwhelmed, or procrastinate on deadlines, or if your company is always underperforming, don’t blame your employees. Blame your organization’s leaders.
Technology and Social Media on a Collusion Course
In the olden days (remember those?), technology didn’t have a place at work other than as a tool to get work done faster. Today, technology in the workplace is much different than it was even a decade ago.
Efficiency is in the Toolkit
Social media, instant messaging, and other similar information sharing mechanisms all contribute to an ever-increasing overload of demands for more-better-faster. This information overload isn’t going away; it will only increase. While tools help us navigate the ever-increasing complexity of our work, organizations need to catch up.
Organizations, be it public or private enterprises, typically implement infrastructures, tools, and processes that make it easier for the organization, but not necessarily easy for the individual. This is because most organizations don’t think down to the level of the individual doing the work.
Effective Leaders Enable Productive Organizations
As an effective leader, you know that certain competencies are necessary to your success on the job. Things like building yourself as a whole person (emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, creatively), building winning teams, being respectful of others to earn their respect, communicating effectively, inspiring others to build trust ... just to name a few. You may also know that proven leadership methods aren't always the answer in every situation.
The Cost of Ignoring Communication
A noted author recommends that people selectively ignore communications by scanning communication for two vital pieces of information:
Action required by you
Deadline for completing the action
Say What?
“Hi, John. I’m calling about the project plan for one of the projects we’re working on. It turns out that the problem we thought we had is real. So, how about changing that step in the work plan to read something like “update work plan and obtain project champion approval?” When you get that done, send it to me for review and then I’ll send it to the next person along the chain. By the way, I like that last email you sent about the re-organization. Sounds like you’re getting noticed. Probably in a good way, too. Congratulations. On another note, there’s stuff going on with my latest project – probably the only one where you’re not involved. If you need to talk, call me and I can update you on my latest project with the rest of the department. You’ve got my number.”
The above is a real voice message (names and references changed for confidentiality reasons) that lasted about 40 seconds. I don’t know about you, but I’d say this voice message is a complete waste of time, not only for the caller, but also for the listener. There are several problems with the message, not the least of which is the length of the message.
The #1 Red Light: A Lack of Urgency
There are many reasons why change may stall, but the number one reason is lack of urgency. If the project team exhibits lack of urgency toward achieving goals, this behaviour should raise immediate alarm for project champions and project leaders alike.
In some instances, a lack of urgency may be exhibited because people don’t understand why the project is being done in the first place. Clarity around goals and objectives has not been provided. When this happens, people would rather live with the problem as it currently exists than accept a solution that they do not understood.
Dimensions of Change
Are you and your organization productive and efficient? Most people say that they and their organization are both. However, I have found this not to be the case in many organizations.
Improving Email Communications
The Radicati Group estimated that in 2010 the number of emails sent per day was around 294 billion. This means that more than 2.8 million emails were sent every second by about 1.9 billion email users (almost 30% of the world’s population).
Given this high number of users and email transmissions, one would think that writing, sending, and responding to emails would be a simple act. However, this is not so.
Presenting Less for More Conversation
“Death by PowerPoint” is still alive and well, unfortunately. I continue to attend presentations where the presenter insists on crowding onto slides everything that they feel needs to be said within their allotted schedule. The result is minimal conversation during the presentation and, perhaps a blessing, the audience forgets the presentation as soon as it’s over.
The Black Holes of Communication
What is your top timewaster? Meetings? Communication? Micromanagers? You may be surprised to know that activities relating to communication typically cost people about two hours of wasted time every day. If you work an average eight-hour day, that’s 25% of your day gone to waste because of poor or mismanaged communication.
Leaving is Sometimes the Only Way to Send a Message
It was one of those days. You have a lot of work to get through and you have everything slotted, prioritized, sorted, itemized, allocated, dissected, trisected, and falling into place quite nicely. Like a well-oiled machine. Then it happens: The one appointment in your day where you’re kept waiting, waiting, and waiting some more. It happened to me today.
Accelerating Project Success
Ahh…the project. Who among us has never had to do one? No matter what line of work we’re in, we all have at one time and/or another engaged in projects. Anything from planning an event such as a small dinner gathering to building infrastructure like bridges and highways comes under the purview of a project. But did you know that the success of projects is determined in large part by the amount and quality of project planning?
Whenever I Have a Problem, I'm Around
Are you a player? Or are you a victim?
If you’re a player, you choose to resolve problems. If you’re a victim, you act as if there is no choice and accept everything that is thrown your way. Whether one can say they have a problem is based solely on their perception of the situation.
If Everything's Under Control, You're Going Too Slow
Mario Andretti, retired world champion racing driver, said: “If everything’s under control, you’re going too slow.” In other words, there has to be flexibility in work in order to achieve maximum productivity. When there is little or no flexibility in work, there is a good chance that the work is being micromanaged. In the workplace, this quashes much more than productivity.
It's Not My Responsibility
When I need to facilitate a meeting, I arrive early to set up the meeting room to create a positive environment for the participants. When I leave, I make sure the room is tidy for the next facilitator. However, even if I use the same meeting room several times a week, each time I arrive, the room is in disarray. Why does this reoccur? The simple reason is: Because no ONE person is in charge.
Meetings - bane or blessing?
If you’re like most executives, meetings consume a large part of your day. But if you’re a smart executive, you know whether attending or chairing a meeting is worthwhile well before the meeting takes place.
In my experience, many people attend meetings to gather information, provide project status updates, or invigorate a team that appears to be losing steam. These are all the wrong reasons for meeting.
Procedures Par Excellence
Did you ever work for an employer where when you arrived for work on the first day you weren't given any documentation relating to the job’s role and responsibilities? I did. On my first day on the job, I was told to just “take it easy” the first few days and deal with the work as it arises. Relying on the job description and job title for guidance, I performed my role as best I could and managed to stay with the company for two years. Perhaps no surprise, a few years after I left, the company went out of business.