Alignment, Involvement, Action - The 3 Success Tips For The New Year
As we all know, running a business isn't easy.
The pressure for results, the need for cash flow, and the commitment of the staff are all vital, and require skills.
In running our business, and working with many other organisations, I have found that there are 3 techniques that have really got the best out of staff.
They have helped develop a positive and committed team culture, such that change is easier, focus on the critical is better, and customer-facing attitudes are really engaging.
1.
Alignment While people are often willing to get stuck in, nothing is more frustrating than to be involved without a clear sense of direction and success measures.
To have a vision for the business, and for individuals to have their own 'role brand', makes a lot of difference in making sense of here-and-now activity.
And equally, if not more importantly, is to be clear about the purpose and desired end results for any given task.
Too often have I seen staff being given jobs and coming back with answers that have got the manager saying, 'well, that's not exactly what I wanted'! And why? Because the manager wasn't clear about the purpose of the task - e.
g.
I would like you to get our P&L figures together for the last 3 months in order to; a) mull over at home, b) share at our next board meeting, c) present to a would-be investor.
Each purpose statement requires radically different end result expectations from the member of staff collecting and presenting back the information! 2.
Involvement How often have you heard a good idea being volunteered in a meeting, only to hear from someone else 'No, that won't work because - we've tried it before, it's too expensive, the customer wouldn't accept it etc etc.
'Failure Analysis'- seeing what's wrong in someone else's ideas - is something we are all good at.
However, it is also the root cause of why people are unwilling to volunteer their creativity and effort into a business, and why change is very hard to push forward, On the other hand, 'supportive development' - identifying what is good about someone's idea and building on it -is the engine for driving forward change in a highly positive and committed culture.
3.
Action Moving into action to get things done is obviously vital to success.
But getting the 'right' things done, and overcoming the obstacles to change, are key challenges.
We all know that doing the same things that we've always done is not going to get the results we need and keep us competitive and attractive.
Gap and Force Field Analysis are known by many, and just the sound of the techniques put many off using them.
However, in practice to list what the desired states are, and to identify the blocks to progress with a sense of which ones should be tackled first is very straightforward.
What isn't so obvious is to be able to tackle those blockers which are very strong but about which we seem to have little control over.
And yet there is a technique called Assumption Busting which really helps develop 'out of the box' thinking.
And in getting around these critical blockers provides fantastic competitive advantage.
So for the New Year why not:
The pressure for results, the need for cash flow, and the commitment of the staff are all vital, and require skills.
In running our business, and working with many other organisations, I have found that there are 3 techniques that have really got the best out of staff.
They have helped develop a positive and committed team culture, such that change is easier, focus on the critical is better, and customer-facing attitudes are really engaging.
1.
Alignment While people are often willing to get stuck in, nothing is more frustrating than to be involved without a clear sense of direction and success measures.
To have a vision for the business, and for individuals to have their own 'role brand', makes a lot of difference in making sense of here-and-now activity.
And equally, if not more importantly, is to be clear about the purpose and desired end results for any given task.
Too often have I seen staff being given jobs and coming back with answers that have got the manager saying, 'well, that's not exactly what I wanted'! And why? Because the manager wasn't clear about the purpose of the task - e.
g.
I would like you to get our P&L figures together for the last 3 months in order to; a) mull over at home, b) share at our next board meeting, c) present to a would-be investor.
Each purpose statement requires radically different end result expectations from the member of staff collecting and presenting back the information! 2.
Involvement How often have you heard a good idea being volunteered in a meeting, only to hear from someone else 'No, that won't work because - we've tried it before, it's too expensive, the customer wouldn't accept it etc etc.
'Failure Analysis'- seeing what's wrong in someone else's ideas - is something we are all good at.
However, it is also the root cause of why people are unwilling to volunteer their creativity and effort into a business, and why change is very hard to push forward, On the other hand, 'supportive development' - identifying what is good about someone's idea and building on it -is the engine for driving forward change in a highly positive and committed culture.
3.
Action Moving into action to get things done is obviously vital to success.
But getting the 'right' things done, and overcoming the obstacles to change, are key challenges.
We all know that doing the same things that we've always done is not going to get the results we need and keep us competitive and attractive.
Gap and Force Field Analysis are known by many, and just the sound of the techniques put many off using them.
However, in practice to list what the desired states are, and to identify the blocks to progress with a sense of which ones should be tackled first is very straightforward.
What isn't so obvious is to be able to tackle those blockers which are very strong but about which we seem to have little control over.
And yet there is a technique called Assumption Busting which really helps develop 'out of the box' thinking.
And in getting around these critical blockers provides fantastic competitive advantage.
So for the New Year why not:
- Make sure your staff know what the purpose, desired end result and measurable success criteria are for any critical task - often it's best to involve them in the process
- Lead the way by saying what you like about their ideas, and add your own to overcome any possible difficulties
- Practice Gap Analysis and check the assumptions you are making about not being able to push good ideas forward - looking at alternative way of thinking will open Pandora's box!
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