Another open secret of performance improvement is that people are doing it already, all the time, whether you like it or not. Nobody is waiting for some glorious initiative to enhance their jobs.
They may have different ideas of what “good” is. Improvements in one department may harm another. Or worse: they may stop trying to solve the real business problems, and just adapt to the dysfunction.
That behavior has a cost, and we pay it every day. Some problems can be solved with a packaged solution, like an IT implementation. But when companies try to address the cost of organizational dysfunction, the concepts may be too abstract to motivate employees, and too amorphous to attack.
The good news is that you can start building a performance culture without boring everyone with academics. Just get them working directly on the real problems they actually have, as a team:
1. Ask them what the problems are. Different departments may have different lists, but look for the overlaps among them, because problems fester on the handoffs between departments. Some of them are entirely self-inflicted, and therefore solvable.
2. Call a meeting with five or six of the relevant parties to review the list of shared problems. Plan for two hours, with flip-charts and sticky notes. Be clear that it’s a fact-finding mission, and not a witch hunt. We’re here to help our business run better for everyone.
3. Pick a problem and start working on it, something that you can solve this month, with in-house resources, that doesn’t require capital. Better yet, get them to pick which problem to work on. Avoid monumental challenges like cancer and world hunger, for now. Map out the problem, as a team. You can use familiar tools like a fishbone or process flow diagram, but don’t turn this into a training session. Get everyone’s fingerprints on it, and agree on the priorities to fix.
4. Notice that people are working together across departments. Adversaries are cooperating. Cultivate this. It gets better.
5. Document the next steps and accountabilities, and schedule a meeting for next week. You might get to root cause, or you might have things to investigate further. Follow up with participants during the interim, to ensure that their actions are getting completed, and to provide any support required. This is the true test of your commitment as a leader, so stay on top of it. Post the team’s findings in a visible location, and solicit feedback from other stakeholders. Rinse and repeat Step 5 until you have a solution that is implemented and working, the sooner the better. Then make sure everyone tells their colleagues.
6. DO NOT TELL THEM that after they solve this problem, they will be picking another one, or that they will be solving problems forever. If you do it right, by the time they figure that out, they will have gotten a taste of success and demand more.
© Adaptation Management Consulting LLC
Meeting image courtesy of: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-standing-in-front-of-sitting-people-1157859/
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