Starting today I will be posting all new blog posts on my new blog on my business website -- www.imglv.com. I also will be moving my old posts from this blog to that blog site. Please read new articles and follow me on my new blog.
Thanks.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
How to Get Your Employees to “Get It”
There are several "its" employees need to get if they wish to succeed in the workplace. And every manager wishes his or her employees would not only get "it", but also do "it." This article helps you figure "it" out so you can be successful at work.
---------------------
Almost everyone who knows me knows I have been involved with the Boy Scouts of America for many years. When I was a Scoutmaster I had charge of almost thirty 12-13-year-old boys. I was tasked with nurturing and molding their young minds to help them become better human beings. I took my role very seriously and tried to magnify my calling to the best of my ability.
One night, while we were sitting around the campfire at one of our monthly campouts, I asked my boys this open-ended question: “At what age do people typically tend to get it?” I didn’t explain what I meant by “it.” I wanted to see if they, themselves, got it.
Wisely, the boys said there is no specific age when people get it. Some people, they concluded, never get it. They also suggested that some people get it at an early age, while others only catch on late in their life. They rightly surmised that some people may only get it after a life changing or significant emotional experience caused caused them to reflect upon their life.
I then asked: “Who do you feel are the happiest people in this life – those who get it, or those who don’t?” They all agreed that people who get it are better off than those who don’t get it. Those who don't get it, they said, typically struggle in life.
Finally, I asked these highly astute young men to tell me what the “its” are in life that people need to get if they want to be happy.
After a very interesting philosophical discussion they concluded there is an “it” in every element of life. There is an “it” in school; and those students who figure it out do better scholastically than those who struggle or rebel against “it.” They said there is an “it” at home and in the family; and those families who know it and do it have a happy home and loving family, while those who struggle or rebel against the “it” of healthy family relationships have problems in their home. They also assumed there must be an “it” at work that, when understood and adhered to, leads to a happy and successful career.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP EMPLOYEES TO GET IT
As a manager, you’re in an excellent position to help your employees to “get it.” The main purpose of identifying what you want from your employees is to help them to get the major “it” at work – the reason why they exist as an employee. The sooner an employee gets it, the better off he or she will be. Those workers who get it go far in their career – and in life – while those who don’t get it generally struggle until they figure it out.
There are several key things every employee needs to understand if they want to get ahead in the work world. These things collectively comprise the “it” that every manager hopes his or her employees will get, because once an employee does get it the manager doesn’t have to manage that employee as closely as those workers who don’t get it.
THE PRIMARY "IT" IN BUSINESS
The “it” of business comprises what I call the major premise of work. If an employee doesn’t get the major premise, she will have an even harder time grasping the subtle nuances at work. If, however, she grasps the big picture and understands why she exists as an employee, she is more likely to successfully fulfill her role and win at work.
Many employees struggle because they are confused about why they exist as an employee. They believe they were hired to serve the customer, produce a product, accomplish goals, or perform the duties of the job. Some less dedicated employees falsely believe they are only at work to earn a paycheck.
But every employee was hired for two primary reasons: Employees exist to increase revenue and/or to reduce costs in order to maximize the profitability of their employer. Everything else that an employee does is a means to these two ends. Every employee exists to either drive greater revenue or to control or eliminate costs in order to improve the company’s bottom-line. This is the major premise!
Once an employee accepts that he was hired to increase revenue or reduce costs, he can focus his energy and effort toward that end. He can prioritize his work and channel his performance toward maximizing profits, rather than merely accomplishing tasks. All job duties and responsibilities that don’t result in either generating revenue or controlling costs should be revised or eliminated. Everything that matters in the workplace either drives revenue or reduces costs. Everything else is an appendage to these two things.
Employees who successfully deliver this “it” of increasing revenue or reducing costs greatly increase their value to the organization. This is another major premise: Valuable employees usually reap the rewards of their value. Good employees seldom lose their job. During depressed economic times, when cost-cutting layoffs occur, employees and departments with the least perceived value are usually the first to be let go. Consequently, it always is in the best interest of an employee to understand and commit to the major premise of their organization by doing all they can to increase revenue, reduce costs, and deliver on the implied promises inherent in their job classification.
GETTING EMPLOYEES TO DO IT
Another important premise for you to understand is people won't change their behavior until it is imperative for them to do so. Employees will give you what you want when it is imperative that they do. Your job as a manager is to find the right imperative that will instill the internal desire within your employees to accomplish what you want.
Sometimes a perceived business imperative is all employees need in order to perform well. For example, knowing that a company might go out of business if the employees don’t improve the quality of the products they produce can often motivate employees to improve their results in order to save their jobs. Seeing the impact a new competitor is having in taking away business from your company can have a motivating effect on a sales force to generate more business. Understanding the fatal impact a production flaw might have in killing a customer can help employees concentrate on job safety. Consequently, finding the right business imperative that the employees can latch onto is critical to gaining their commitment to do what it is you want.
By far the best imperatives, however, are those that are specific to the interests and needs of the individual employee. Most people will not change their behavior until the consequences are such that they want to. Although negative consequences can cause people to move in the direction you want, the best consequences are those that provide an employee with a positive imperative to perform well. For example, delivery truck drivers who are allowed to go home as soon as all of their deliveries are made are less inclined to dally as they go about their work. Salespeople who get a commission on every sell usually stay focused on selling, rather than loitering around the sales floor. Teachers who are held accountable for student test scores are more inclined to teach rather than babysit. And employees who are paid for performance tend to be more productive than employees who are paid merely for being at work.
SUPPORTING THOSE EMPLOYEES WHO GET IT
The strongest imperative in the workplace is your support as a manager. There will come a day when every employee will want your support. There will come a day when an employee will want a day off, a special favor, a promotion or a pay raise. When that day comes you will probably be more inclined to support those employees who are worthy of your backing because of how they performed and acted at work.
In other words, it is imperative for your employees to perform and act the way you want them to because there will come a day when it will be in their best interest to do so. The reason why employees need to perform well today is because there will come a day in their future when they will want to be rewarded for their actions.
Those employees who “get it,” realize their performance today determines the support they will receive in the future. This is why I tell my employees not to perform well for me, or for the company, or for the customers; but, rather, to do a good job for themselves, because there will come a day when they will want my support as their manager. I make it clear that I only support those employees who have supported me in the past by performing as I expect. This is the “it” I want them to get.
When your employees understand the major premise of your business and see the imperative for their work, they generally do what you want them to do. The more clearly you can define and articulate the major premises and personal imperatives, the less you will have to manage your people. When your employees keep the major premise and personal imperatives uppermost in their minds, they usually hold themselves accountable and manage their own performance in order to get the support they will want in the future.
Let me give you an example of this by discussing another area of our lives where there are major premises and personal imperatives – at home.
THE MAJOR PREMISE AT HOME
If you are like most parents, you may experience the occasional tiff or tussle with your children, particularly if they are teenagers. This struggle often occurs because there is great disparity between what parents perceive their role to be and how teenagers view the parents’ role. Parents believe they exist to teach, nurture and protect their children. Teenagers seem to think parents exist to either make their lives miserable or to give them money whenever they want it so they can to do whatever they want. This difference in perceptions causes conflict in the relationship between parents and children.
When my wife and I were having difficulty with our teenage son we found it helpful to clarify for him what we felt was the major premise of why we exist as parents. We wrote the premise down and then talked to him about it so he would know that everything we do as parents is governed by one over-arching purpose. Here is what we told him is the reason why we exist as parents. We call it The Parental Major Premise:
Literally everything we do as parents is governed by our desire for our son to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life. It took a while for our son to fully grasp and accept this, but now our son knows when we tell him he cannot do something that the reason is tied to the parental major premise. Our yes or no is based on whether the activity will make our son happy, successful, independent or self-sustaining.
In reality, we don’t want to say no to our son; we want to say yes. We’re not ogres. But there are some things that are not in the best interest of our son’s future happiness, even though he may think otherwise. So we tell him we’re restricting him from doing an unwise thing today because we are not interested in his momentary pleasure; we are only interested in his long-term happiness. We’ve found with our son that once he accepts the parental major premise that we love him and are interested in his future success; it makes the short-term pain of today’s disappointments much easier to bear.
Because our son knows our parental major premise is in his own best interest, it is imperative for him to comply with our wishes if he wants to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life. He knows everything we do and say as parents is designed toward that end. He also knows our support is tied to his acceptance of and compliance with the parental major premise. Consequently, rather than arguing with us or fighting against our expectations, he usually does what we want when we want because he knows we are on his side.
Our son also knows our parental support -- to allow him to do what he wants to do -- is based on his support of us regarding our rules, values, principles, beliefs, philosophies, etc. For example, our son knew that if he was dishonest at age twelve regarding telling us where he had been and what he'd been doing, there would come a day, at age sixteen, when he would want to borrow our car. He knew we would only support him by letting him use the car if we could trust he would be truthful when we asked him where he was going and what he would be doing in the car. Consequently, it became imperative for our son to do today what we, as parents wanted him to do because he knew he would want our support in the future.
BEING ON THE SIDE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES
The “parental major premise” also works in managing employees. It should be a managerial major premise that you are on the side of the employees, particularly if you want your employees to accomplish the major premise and imperatives of your business. Your employees will be more inclined to do what you want, when and how you want it, when they know – and believe it and feel it – that you "love" them and would never do anything to purposely harm them. Everything you do as a manager should be designed to help your employees have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining career. When they know you are on their side, they will stop fighting against you.
Employees are much happier, successful, independent and self-sustaining at work when you clearly identify their goals, roles, expectations, boundaries and authority. They produce more when their is a solid business premise and distinct imperatives to perform at optimal levels. They strive harder when there are clear consequences and measurements of success. They work harder when they know your support is tied to their performance and that there will come a day when you will give them what they want because they gave you what you want.
Your role as a manager -- the "it" you need to get -- is that you succeed when your employees succeed. When you understand your role -- and do it --the chances are higher your employees will understand their role and will do it. The extent to which you, and your employees, get "it" and do "it" is the extent to which you, and they, will be successful at work. §
Innovative Management Group offers a highly successful management training program that will help you get the "its" of your job. It also shows how you can help your employees to get "it." Our “Accountability Management Workshop” helps focus every employee at every level of your organization on the things that matter most. Call us at 702-258-8334 to learn more about this hard-hitting, results-oriented management training program.
---------------------
Almost everyone who knows me knows I have been involved with the Boy Scouts of America for many years. When I was a Scoutmaster I had charge of almost thirty 12-13-year-old boys. I was tasked with nurturing and molding their young minds to help them become better human beings. I took my role very seriously and tried to magnify my calling to the best of my ability.
One night, while we were sitting around the campfire at one of our monthly campouts, I asked my boys this open-ended question: “At what age do people typically tend to get it?” I didn’t explain what I meant by “it.” I wanted to see if they, themselves, got it.
Wisely, the boys said there is no specific age when people get it. Some people, they concluded, never get it. They also suggested that some people get it at an early age, while others only catch on late in their life. They rightly surmised that some people may only get it after a life changing or significant emotional experience caused caused them to reflect upon their life.
I then asked: “Who do you feel are the happiest people in this life – those who get it, or those who don’t?” They all agreed that people who get it are better off than those who don’t get it. Those who don't get it, they said, typically struggle in life.
Finally, I asked these highly astute young men to tell me what the “its” are in life that people need to get if they want to be happy.
After a very interesting philosophical discussion they concluded there is an “it” in every element of life. There is an “it” in school; and those students who figure it out do better scholastically than those who struggle or rebel against “it.” They said there is an “it” at home and in the family; and those families who know it and do it have a happy home and loving family, while those who struggle or rebel against the “it” of healthy family relationships have problems in their home. They also assumed there must be an “it” at work that, when understood and adhered to, leads to a happy and successful career.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP EMPLOYEES TO GET IT
As a manager, you’re in an excellent position to help your employees to “get it.” The main purpose of identifying what you want from your employees is to help them to get the major “it” at work – the reason why they exist as an employee. The sooner an employee gets it, the better off he or she will be. Those workers who get it go far in their career – and in life – while those who don’t get it generally struggle until they figure it out.
There are several key things every employee needs to understand if they want to get ahead in the work world. These things collectively comprise the “it” that every manager hopes his or her employees will get, because once an employee does get it the manager doesn’t have to manage that employee as closely as those workers who don’t get it.
THE PRIMARY "IT" IN BUSINESS
The “it” of business comprises what I call the major premise of work. If an employee doesn’t get the major premise, she will have an even harder time grasping the subtle nuances at work. If, however, she grasps the big picture and understands why she exists as an employee, she is more likely to successfully fulfill her role and win at work.
Many employees struggle because they are confused about why they exist as an employee. They believe they were hired to serve the customer, produce a product, accomplish goals, or perform the duties of the job. Some less dedicated employees falsely believe they are only at work to earn a paycheck.
But every employee was hired for two primary reasons: Employees exist to increase revenue and/or to reduce costs in order to maximize the profitability of their employer. Everything else that an employee does is a means to these two ends. Every employee exists to either drive greater revenue or to control or eliminate costs in order to improve the company’s bottom-line. This is the major premise!
Once an employee accepts that he was hired to increase revenue or reduce costs, he can focus his energy and effort toward that end. He can prioritize his work and channel his performance toward maximizing profits, rather than merely accomplishing tasks. All job duties and responsibilities that don’t result in either generating revenue or controlling costs should be revised or eliminated. Everything that matters in the workplace either drives revenue or reduces costs. Everything else is an appendage to these two things.
Employees who successfully deliver this “it” of increasing revenue or reducing costs greatly increase their value to the organization. This is another major premise: Valuable employees usually reap the rewards of their value. Good employees seldom lose their job. During depressed economic times, when cost-cutting layoffs occur, employees and departments with the least perceived value are usually the first to be let go. Consequently, it always is in the best interest of an employee to understand and commit to the major premise of their organization by doing all they can to increase revenue, reduce costs, and deliver on the implied promises inherent in their job classification.
GETTING EMPLOYEES TO DO IT
Another important premise for you to understand is people won't change their behavior until it is imperative for them to do so. Employees will give you what you want when it is imperative that they do. Your job as a manager is to find the right imperative that will instill the internal desire within your employees to accomplish what you want.
Sometimes a perceived business imperative is all employees need in order to perform well. For example, knowing that a company might go out of business if the employees don’t improve the quality of the products they produce can often motivate employees to improve their results in order to save their jobs. Seeing the impact a new competitor is having in taking away business from your company can have a motivating effect on a sales force to generate more business. Understanding the fatal impact a production flaw might have in killing a customer can help employees concentrate on job safety. Consequently, finding the right business imperative that the employees can latch onto is critical to gaining their commitment to do what it is you want.
By far the best imperatives, however, are those that are specific to the interests and needs of the individual employee. Most people will not change their behavior until the consequences are such that they want to. Although negative consequences can cause people to move in the direction you want, the best consequences are those that provide an employee with a positive imperative to perform well. For example, delivery truck drivers who are allowed to go home as soon as all of their deliveries are made are less inclined to dally as they go about their work. Salespeople who get a commission on every sell usually stay focused on selling, rather than loitering around the sales floor. Teachers who are held accountable for student test scores are more inclined to teach rather than babysit. And employees who are paid for performance tend to be more productive than employees who are paid merely for being at work.
SUPPORTING THOSE EMPLOYEES WHO GET IT
The strongest imperative in the workplace is your support as a manager. There will come a day when every employee will want your support. There will come a day when an employee will want a day off, a special favor, a promotion or a pay raise. When that day comes you will probably be more inclined to support those employees who are worthy of your backing because of how they performed and acted at work.
In other words, it is imperative for your employees to perform and act the way you want them to because there will come a day when it will be in their best interest to do so. The reason why employees need to perform well today is because there will come a day in their future when they will want to be rewarded for their actions.
Those employees who “get it,” realize their performance today determines the support they will receive in the future. This is why I tell my employees not to perform well for me, or for the company, or for the customers; but, rather, to do a good job for themselves, because there will come a day when they will want my support as their manager. I make it clear that I only support those employees who have supported me in the past by performing as I expect. This is the “it” I want them to get.
When your employees understand the major premise of your business and see the imperative for their work, they generally do what you want them to do. The more clearly you can define and articulate the major premises and personal imperatives, the less you will have to manage your people. When your employees keep the major premise and personal imperatives uppermost in their minds, they usually hold themselves accountable and manage their own performance in order to get the support they will want in the future.
Let me give you an example of this by discussing another area of our lives where there are major premises and personal imperatives – at home.
THE MAJOR PREMISE AT HOME
If you are like most parents, you may experience the occasional tiff or tussle with your children, particularly if they are teenagers. This struggle often occurs because there is great disparity between what parents perceive their role to be and how teenagers view the parents’ role. Parents believe they exist to teach, nurture and protect their children. Teenagers seem to think parents exist to either make their lives miserable or to give them money whenever they want it so they can to do whatever they want. This difference in perceptions causes conflict in the relationship between parents and children.
When my wife and I were having difficulty with our teenage son we found it helpful to clarify for him what we felt was the major premise of why we exist as parents. We wrote the premise down and then talked to him about it so he would know that everything we do as parents is governed by one over-arching purpose. Here is what we told him is the reason why we exist as parents. We call it The Parental Major Premise:
We love you.
We would never do anything to purposely harm you.
We want you to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life.
Everything we do as parents is designed toward that end,
So don’t fight against us; we are on your side.
Literally everything we do as parents is governed by our desire for our son to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life. It took a while for our son to fully grasp and accept this, but now our son knows when we tell him he cannot do something that the reason is tied to the parental major premise. Our yes or no is based on whether the activity will make our son happy, successful, independent or self-sustaining.
In reality, we don’t want to say no to our son; we want to say yes. We’re not ogres. But there are some things that are not in the best interest of our son’s future happiness, even though he may think otherwise. So we tell him we’re restricting him from doing an unwise thing today because we are not interested in his momentary pleasure; we are only interested in his long-term happiness. We’ve found with our son that once he accepts the parental major premise that we love him and are interested in his future success; it makes the short-term pain of today’s disappointments much easier to bear.
Because our son knows our parental major premise is in his own best interest, it is imperative for him to comply with our wishes if he wants to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life. He knows everything we do and say as parents is designed toward that end. He also knows our support is tied to his acceptance of and compliance with the parental major premise. Consequently, rather than arguing with us or fighting against our expectations, he usually does what we want when we want because he knows we are on his side.
Our son also knows our parental support -- to allow him to do what he wants to do -- is based on his support of us regarding our rules, values, principles, beliefs, philosophies, etc. For example, our son knew that if he was dishonest at age twelve regarding telling us where he had been and what he'd been doing, there would come a day, at age sixteen, when he would want to borrow our car. He knew we would only support him by letting him use the car if we could trust he would be truthful when we asked him where he was going and what he would be doing in the car. Consequently, it became imperative for our son to do today what we, as parents wanted him to do because he knew he would want our support in the future.
BEING ON THE SIDE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES
The “parental major premise” also works in managing employees. It should be a managerial major premise that you are on the side of the employees, particularly if you want your employees to accomplish the major premise and imperatives of your business. Your employees will be more inclined to do what you want, when and how you want it, when they know – and believe it and feel it – that you "love" them and would never do anything to purposely harm them. Everything you do as a manager should be designed to help your employees have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining career. When they know you are on their side, they will stop fighting against you.
Employees are much happier, successful, independent and self-sustaining at work when you clearly identify their goals, roles, expectations, boundaries and authority. They produce more when their is a solid business premise and distinct imperatives to perform at optimal levels. They strive harder when there are clear consequences and measurements of success. They work harder when they know your support is tied to their performance and that there will come a day when you will give them what they want because they gave you what you want.
Your role as a manager -- the "it" you need to get -- is that you succeed when your employees succeed. When you understand your role -- and do it --the chances are higher your employees will understand their role and will do it. The extent to which you, and your employees, get "it" and do "it" is the extent to which you, and they, will be successful at work. §
Innovative Management Group offers a highly successful management training program that will help you get the "its" of your job. It also shows how you can help your employees to get "it." Our “Accountability Management Workshop” helps focus every employee at every level of your organization on the things that matter most. Call us at 702-258-8334 to learn more about this hard-hitting, results-oriented management training program.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Get the Process Right to Get the Right Results
Sometimes Super Bowl-type results can be achieved far easier and much faster by not focusing on the goal, but by dealing with the important process issues that are critical to the team’s success.
-------------------
In October of 1995, I attended a fundraising dinner where Steve Young, the former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, was the guest speaker. Young’s comments were so profound I still remember them today.
As almost anyone knows, Steve Young was the quarterback who led the 49ers to a Super Bowl Championship win in January of that year. He also was named Most Valuable Player for the game. At the fundraiser he shared one of his observations about that win.
Young said that during the previous year before the Super Bowl win, the 1993-94 season, the 49ers were a much stronger team and played far better than the year they won the championship. In that year they had a 13-2 record, compared to an 11-5 record in the 1994-95 season. But they lost in the playoffs that year.
One year later, with a less talented team and a poorer win-loss record, the 49ers won the Super Bowl. Why did this happen?
According to Young, in the previous season the team was totally focused on winning the Super Bowl. They thought of nothing else. They kept that goal at the forefront of their minds at all times. Nothing else mattered. Individual games were not important. One win was not a cause for celebration; it was just one step closer to the Super Bowl goal.
“We took a corporate view,” Young said. “We stayed focused on the goal. We came to work, accomplished the incremental goal before us, and moved on. We didn’t spend a lot of time talking about it. We just did it.”
During that season the team members hardly talked to each other. They came to work, did their job, and went home. It was not fun; it was work.
“We were so totally focused on the goal of winning the Super Bowl,” Young explained, “we forgot the importance of the process.”
And that is why they lost.
After their playoff loss, Jerry Rice, the extraordinary tight end, told the team he never wanted to have another year like they had had that season. It had not been enjoyable. Rice declared, and the team agreed that the next year they would focus on having fun and worry less about the results.
Young said the next year the team did have fun. They enjoyed the journey. They developed relationships along the way. They got to know one another and shared special moments. They celebrated after each win and used each loss as a catalyst for moving them closer to the Super Bowl.
“We used the losses to vent about relationships rather than abilities. We talked about how we handle pressure. And we made renewed commitments to do better in the next game.”
Young said what his team found out was “even if you don’t get to the goal, you see yourself grow as a person. You enjoy the team process and recognize its value. You grow from week to week as a result of the relationships you’ve created.”
As a result of having developed a stronger team bond, the team became stronger. They performed better. They became unified and, because of their unity, achieved superior results from a team that everyone assumed was inferior. They won the Super Bowl with a lesser team.
Conflicts often arise on work teams between members who are primarily results-driven and those who want to “slow down” to address process issues. Steve Young learned the importance of developing relationships among team members. He also realized the value of confronting process concerns around how team tasks are accomplished. He discovered the value of team unity to accomplishing results.
For years Innovative Management Group has facilitated team building sessions to help groups of individuals achieve greater results by working cohesively as a work unit. Occasionally teams have to stop working on their tasks long enough to assess whether or not all members are “stepping forward together” to achieve their common objective. As Steve Young learned from his own experience, sometimes Super Bowl-type results can be achieved far easier and much faster by not focusing on the goal, but by dealing with the important process issues that are critical to the team’s success.
-------------------
In October of 1995, I attended a fundraising dinner where Steve Young, the former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, was the guest speaker. Young’s comments were so profound I still remember them today.
As almost anyone knows, Steve Young was the quarterback who led the 49ers to a Super Bowl Championship win in January of that year. He also was named Most Valuable Player for the game. At the fundraiser he shared one of his observations about that win.
Young said that during the previous year before the Super Bowl win, the 1993-94 season, the 49ers were a much stronger team and played far better than the year they won the championship. In that year they had a 13-2 record, compared to an 11-5 record in the 1994-95 season. But they lost in the playoffs that year.
One year later, with a less talented team and a poorer win-loss record, the 49ers won the Super Bowl. Why did this happen?
According to Young, in the previous season the team was totally focused on winning the Super Bowl. They thought of nothing else. They kept that goal at the forefront of their minds at all times. Nothing else mattered. Individual games were not important. One win was not a cause for celebration; it was just one step closer to the Super Bowl goal.
“We took a corporate view,” Young said. “We stayed focused on the goal. We came to work, accomplished the incremental goal before us, and moved on. We didn’t spend a lot of time talking about it. We just did it.”
During that season the team members hardly talked to each other. They came to work, did their job, and went home. It was not fun; it was work.
“We were so totally focused on the goal of winning the Super Bowl,” Young explained, “we forgot the importance of the process.”
And that is why they lost.
After their playoff loss, Jerry Rice, the extraordinary tight end, told the team he never wanted to have another year like they had had that season. It had not been enjoyable. Rice declared, and the team agreed that the next year they would focus on having fun and worry less about the results.
Young said the next year the team did have fun. They enjoyed the journey. They developed relationships along the way. They got to know one another and shared special moments. They celebrated after each win and used each loss as a catalyst for moving them closer to the Super Bowl.
“We used the losses to vent about relationships rather than abilities. We talked about how we handle pressure. And we made renewed commitments to do better in the next game.”
Young said what his team found out was “even if you don’t get to the goal, you see yourself grow as a person. You enjoy the team process and recognize its value. You grow from week to week as a result of the relationships you’ve created.”
As a result of having developed a stronger team bond, the team became stronger. They performed better. They became unified and, because of their unity, achieved superior results from a team that everyone assumed was inferior. They won the Super Bowl with a lesser team.
Conflicts often arise on work teams between members who are primarily results-driven and those who want to “slow down” to address process issues. Steve Young learned the importance of developing relationships among team members. He also realized the value of confronting process concerns around how team tasks are accomplished. He discovered the value of team unity to accomplishing results.
For years Innovative Management Group has facilitated team building sessions to help groups of individuals achieve greater results by working cohesively as a work unit. Occasionally teams have to stop working on their tasks long enough to assess whether or not all members are “stepping forward together” to achieve their common objective. As Steve Young learned from his own experience, sometimes Super Bowl-type results can be achieved far easier and much faster by not focusing on the goal, but by dealing with the important process issues that are critical to the team’s success.
How to Gain True Consensus on Team Tasks and Decisions
If human beings only use ten percent of their brain, then ten people have to be in a meeting to get whole-brain thinking. The problem is getting them all to agree.
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Someone has postulated that most human beings only use ten percent of their brain. If that is true, then ten people have to be in a meeting to get whole-brain thinking. This explains the value of working in teams.
Everyone who has been in one of my management training sessions knows that I define a “team” as a group of individuals who “step forward together” to achieve a common goal. Teamwork requires individuals to pool information and consider different viewpoints to find solutions and make decisions. Seldom do all team members have the same view about an idea or issue. Polarized views, opposing opinions, and stubborn hold outs can often block the progress of a team. The success of a team relies heavily on how quickly the members can come to consensus on both what their goal is and how it will be achieved.
A significant portion of a team’s effectiveness and “health” is tied to how well the team members interact and make decisions. Too often the most powerful or outspoken member of a team dominates the team’s discussion and determines the team’s actions. Quieter or less assertive members are not heard, which negates the power of the collective thinking of the team.
What happens to the motivation of individuals whose ideas are not considered or whose suggestions are not adopted? How is team commitment impacted when team members are not personally vested? What is the impact when arguments and off-purpose behaviors disrupt the progress of the team?
Coming to true consensus among a group of individuals is hard to do. It takes great facilitative skills and effective process tools among the group to bring everyone to agreement. True consensus requires everyone to remain firmly grounded and completely committed to their consensus decision once the team discussion has ended.
Unfortunately, I’ve found that consensus in many companies is only consensus until everyone leaves the room. Once people get back into their work area or start to ponder the team’s decision outside the team room, some members tend to question the team’s decision and their commitment to it. The key, therefore, to achieving consensus is not just getting it, but also making sure it sticks once it is reached.
DEFINITION OF CONSENSUS
As I facilitate groups I find there are several misconceptions regarding what constitutes a consensus decision. Some people believe consensus is when everyone in the group is in agreement with an idea or proposal. This, of course, is not consensus. A decision that everyone agrees to is unanimous; which is better than consensus. Team commitment to a decision is seldom questioned when everyone on the team is in unanimous agreement.
Other people I’ve encountered have the misconception that consensus is achieved when the team votes on a proposal and the idea that gets the most votes wins. Majority rule is never consensus. Majority rule is where the dominant majority overrules the less convincing minority.
The problem with majority rule is the minority. Whenever the majority rules; someone is left out. And those who are left out seldom step forward with the rest of the team. Majority rule is not an effective group decision making method for a team.
Still others believe consensus is achieved when members of the team agree to compromise in order to get everyone’s buy-in. Compromise is not consensus either. Members on a team may have to compromise to come to consensus, but consensus does not necessarily require compromise. In fact, sometimes compromised decisions can be the worst possible decisions. Compromise usually means everyone had to lose something in order to win. But a lose-lose situation seldom is a win-win for the team.
So what is team consensus?
A consensus decision is an idea that results from the full input of all team members. Sometimes one suggestion is universally accepted as best, and sometimes the decision is a combination of the thoughts of several individuals. Consensus does not necessarily mean the decision is everyone's first choice.
Consensus is defined as . . .
A decision or position reflecting the collective thinking of the team that all members participated in developing, understand fully, believe is workable, can live with, and will actively support.
To reach consensus, every team member must express themselves and participate fully in the discussion. Each member should listen to and respect the input of others and remain open-minded. Disagreements need to be confronted and explored until every idea is out on the table and an acceptable solution is found. Everyone must feel they were heard and their viewpoint considered when making collective decisions.
PSEUDO-CONSENSUS
True consensus cannot be reached until everyone on the team clearly understands what they are agreeing to. Pseudo-consensus – where people agree in the room and then disagree later – occurs when people think of something outside of the team room that was not understood or addressed during the team discussion. Team’s need to take the time during the team meeting to ensure everyone is fully on-board before declaring consensus has been achieved.
Team members seldom accept a proposal that they feel is unworkable. Before consenting to an idea or solution people test the proposal in their mind to assess its viability. To achieve true consensus the team must work together to come up with decisions that everyone feels are feasible. If someone feels the proposed idea won’t work, the team should discuss how to make it work or come up with alternative solutions.
It is possible, however, to achieve consensus even if someone on the team feels a proposed solution won’t work. This happens when someone – usually a lone holdout – cannot justify their hesitation to consent with valid proof that the proposed decision is wrong. Accepting the possibility that the majority of the group may be right, and they may be wrong, the individual agrees to give their consensus to the group.
Please note that this constitutes consensus – and not majority rule – only if the last two elements of the definition of consensus apply. The hesitant individual must be able to live with the decision and actively support it. If they cannot live with it or actively support it, the team discussion must continue until real consensus is achieved.
TRUE TEST OF CONSENSUS
These last two elements of consensus are the true tests of the team’s buy-in. Can everyone on the team live with the decision and will they actively support it? If any team member feels they cannot live with the implications and consequences of the team’s decision, the proposal must be addressed until everyone can. Actively supporting a decision means everyone on the team will put their full energy and effort into ensuring the team’s decision is carried out as designed. Half-hearted or disgruntled support is never acceptable on a team. Real consensus requires real commitment.
Consensus decision-making often requires more time and skilled facilitation to discuss the ideas and issues fully. Teams should not expect quick consensus on every issue. Failure to achieve true consensus usually can be traced back to the team’s failure around one or more of the consensus definition elements. For example, the team may have ignored the introverted or quiet members of the group and failed to solicit the collective thinking of the entire team. Or the team may not have explored the ideas fully enough for everyone to clearly understand what was being proposed. Maybe the team ran roughshod over someone who felt the idea was not workable. Perhaps someone on the team placated, giving in rather than fighting for what they believed was a better solution. Many factors contribute to a team’s failure to achieve true consensus.
CONSENSUS ISN'T ALWAYS NECESSARY
During the early stages of a team’s development the team should decide where consensus support is absolutely essential to the team’s success. On less important issues it’s often possible for the entire group to step forward together with a much simpler and faster decision making process than consensus. However, consensus decision making should always be used on team decisions regarding the team’s charter, ground rules, project plans, completion dates and other critical elements impacting the success of the team’s mission.
AVOIDING GROUP THINK
As a team strives to achieve consensus there will be times when it is difficult to get everyone on board. Invariably there may be one obstinate, hard-headed holdout who refuses to consent to what others on the team agree to. Sometimes this individual is a true roadblock, but often the person is merely trying to keep the team from falling into group think.
Group think occurs when the team cannot come up with alternatives to their ideas or solutions. Group think is particularly prevalent when a solution or decision seems obvious. Devil’s advocate dissidence among the team may be the very thing the team needs to keep the group from falling into the trap of collective blindness.
A perfect example of this is Galileo Galilei, the father of modern observational astronomy. Galileo's championing of Copernicanism – the view that the earth revolves around the sun – was controversial within his lifetime. The geocentric view that the sun revolved around the earth had been dominant since the time of Aristotle. The controversy engendered by Galileo's opposition to this view resulted in the Catholic Church's prohibiting his advocacy of heliocentrism. Galileo was brought before the Inquisition because of his views where he was forced to recant what he knew to be true. He spent the last years of his life under house arrest.
Like many lone voices on a team, Galileo was right. But more powerful voices in the group – in Galileo’s case, that of the ecclesiastical leaders – can dominate the team so strongly that anyone who actually agrees with the dissenting person quickly changes their position to avoid the “inquisition.” Group think often occurs when someone on the team is in a “power position” within the organization. Those on the team, not wishing to jeopardize their careers align themselves with the person who wields power over them. Sadly, consensus by decree or covert coercion is not real consensus.
THE DISSENTER MAY BE RIGHT
This is why a team must take great care to ensure all voices are heard. Sometimes one person can sway the views of many. I saw this happen when I was facilitating a team of 27 scientists. As you might guess, trying to get 27 scientists to agree on anything is extremely difficult. There were many knock-down drag-out fights among the team before the group accomplished its mission.
During one of those fights 26 scientists were in agreement on a particular issue. Only one team member disagreed. No matter what everyone else on the team said to try to sway the one holdout to the position of the group, he refused to budge. He believed he was right. He stood his ground and fought for his idea. And, eventually, many hours later, he convinced the entire team to change their vote and consent to his idea. In the end his solution proved to be the right choice.
HOW TO REACH CONSENSUS
In that case the dissenting voice was correct. But sometimes there are dissenters within the team who are wrong and refuse to give in. They keep the team from moving forward because they stubbornly stand their ground. The nineteen techniques described below show the progressive steps to gaining consensus on a team. The steps start out easy and become increasingly adamant as obstinate team members refuse to consent.
1. The first step to gaining consensus is to make sure everyone understands the idea or issue fully. As stated above, the primary reason why people cannot agree is because they don’t fully understand what is being discussed. A dissenting opinion can often be easily swayed with more information about the proposed action. Ask the dissenting team member what they don’t understand and then address each of their concerns.
2. To solidify the team’s agreement you should “call for consensus” on the issue being discussed. This means you ask the team members to signify their consent. The fastest and easiest way to do this is to ask if anyone disagrees. If no one disagrees, the team is in consensus. However, this step only works if the team has established a ground rule stating that if anyone disagrees they must speak up. Otherwise someone could quietly disagree, but be too afraid or introverted to voice their descent. Passive aggressive individuals often use silence as a way of showing their disapproval. Therefore, if you use this technique, great care must be taken to ensure everyone on the team truly does agree.
3. If there is concern that someone might be silently disagreeing without speaking up, you should visualize the team members’ positions. Call for a visual vote to see where people stand. I’ve found the best way to do this is with thumbs. If a person agrees with the idea or proposal they should indicate their sanction with a thumb up signal. If a person disagrees with the idea being presented they should give it the thumbs down. And if a person is not sure whether they agree or disagree they should indicate their waffling with a sideways thumb. Now you can see where everyone stands.
4. Once everyone’s position has been identified, ask the minority if they can live with the decision of the majority. The purpose of this step is not majority rules but, rather, to speed up the process if dissenting members can actually live with the majority’s decision and will actively support it. It’s amazing how many people can easily accept the opinions of others when merely asked if they can do so. Minority members need to decide whether the proposal is significant enough to adamantly oppose it, or whether they can easily “live with” and “actively support” it so the team can move forward.
5. If any member with an opposing or waffling view cannot live with the majority’s position, always start with the majority first when opening up the issue for discussion. There is a strong possibility that the majority is right. If this is true, then a few additional explanations from the majority may easily sway the minority opinion and get opposing members to consent.
6. After allowing a few comments from the majority, ask if any of the dissenters have been swayed. If everyone’s thumb is now up, you now have the consensus of the group. If not, continue the discussion while continuing to ask if anyone has been swayed throughout the discussion.
7. If anyone on the team has not been swayed by the majority’s explanation, get the opposing opinion (those whose thumb was down) before hearing from the wafflers. Wafflers usually are swayed either by the thumbs up or thumbs down arguments. Allow the team to discuss the issue in a point and counter point fashion. Wafflers should also participate in the discussion if they have points to add to either side of the discussion.
8. Ask the team members to indicate when they have been swayed by showing the changed position of their thumb when they are swayed. When all thumbs are either up or down, you have consensus. Always keep in mind that consensus is when everyone on the team can live with the decision and will actively support it. They do not have to agree.
9. If someone on the team is having a hard time agreeing to something that everyone else seems to willingly accept, ask if they conceptually agree with the proposal. Sometimes a person may agree with the concept, but not with the particulars of an idea. In such cases they may appear to be in complete disagreement when, in reality, they are only stuck on a few minor points. Consequently, by getting them to agree conceptually (or in theory) first, you then can work out the kinks of the minor sticking points.
10. Another technique similar to the one above is to determine how close the person is to agreement. Ask the dissenter to state in a percentage how close they are to agreeing to the proposal. Someone who is “90% there” will be a lot easier to sway than someone who is “not even close – maybe 10%.” Usually the person who is close to agreement can be easily swayed by merely asking them what they need in order to give their 100% support. On the other hand, it may take a great deal of discussion or a revamping of the proposal to sway the person who is far from giving their consensus.
11. Another way to sway dissenters is to agree on the separate parts of the proposal. This is what I call “chunking down the issue.” The purpose of this technique is to separate out the various parts of the proposal to see which pieces a dissenter agrees with and which pieces they oppose. Quite often a team member appears to be in disagreement with an entire proposal when they really are only in disagreement with a specific part of it. For example, they may agree with points A, B, D and E; but be in complete disagreement with point C. In this case they actually are “80% there, yet seem to be in complete disagreement because no one chunked down the issue.
12. Sometimes a consensus discussion bogs down because people disagree with a step that comes much later in the process. Fearing a future roadblock, they feel the need to oppose the idea now. For example, they argue against a proposal because they feel it will be hard to implement. Rather than agreeing that the proposal is the right thing to do, they worry about how hard it will be to implement the decision even though its right, therefore they try to kill what is right because of their assumption of the difficult road ahead. In cases where there is a sequential step-by-step roadmap to follow, discuss and agree on the steps of the proposal in order. Only allow discussion about one step at a time and get consensus at each step. Don’t worry about step three until you get to step two. Don’t let the team take a detour on the right road just because they feel there may be bumps ahead.
13. Make the right decision first. Sometimes team members know a decision is right, but they fear the consequences of the decision. Once when I was facilitating a team discussing a significant reorganization within the company, it became obvious during the discussion that consensus on the proposal being discussed would require everyone in the room to relocate to a different state. Not wanting to uproot their families, some members on the team vehemently argued against the proposal. But it soon became obvious that their dissent was for personal reasons, not because they thought the decision was wrong for the business. Consequently, I had to get them to set aside their personal objections and make the right decision first. Afterwards we would discuss how to minimize the impact that decision would have on them personally.
14. If, after using all of the techniques listed above, the team cannot come to agreement, you may need to table the decision temporarily. This gives people time to think about the proposal and weigh out the points and counter-points in their minds in a less heated setting. However, be sure to come back to the issue at the first opportunity, typically the very next time the team meets together.
15. If someone continues to hold out with a dissenting view after everyone else on the team is fully convinced a proposal is right, there are only two reasons why they cannot give their consensus. They either have a valid or personal reason for not agreeing with the majority decision.
A “valid” reason is any explanation that validates the person’s opposition in the minds of the rest of the members of the team so they, too, agree with the dissenter’s point of view. The purpose of this technique is to allow the dissenter to sway the rest of the team over to their position by presenting reasonable and rational arguments regarding their opposition until the other members see the validity of that position. If they cannot sway the rest of the team with their arguments, then the dissenter’s view is not “valid.” The validity of the team member’s viewpoint is determined by the other members of the group. They decide what is valid and what isn’t by whether or not they have been swayed by the argument.
When the dissenter lacks a valid reason for their opposition, there resistance is for “personal” reasons. Invariably they are arguing against the proposal because of how it will impact them personally. In most cases, personal reasons are not valid, and therefore should not keep the team from making the right decision. Personal dissenters should set their personal feelings aside and make the right decision for the team.
There are times, however, when someone’s personal reasons could be valid if they revealed them to the group. Unfortunately, many team members hide their personal reasons (hidden agenda) because they fear the team’s reaction if their personal concerns were made known. A perfect example of this is a team member who has been given implicit instructions by their boss to oppose the team’s idea and directs the employee not to disclose it to the team. The employee now has a personal (career) reason not to agree with the team, but fears exposing that reason to the team and incurring the wrath of his or her boss for violating confidentiality. The best approach to this situation is to be honest with the team, make the right decision, and then use the team to help determine how best to handle the boss.
16. If a member continues to be a lone holdout, have the team leader or team sponsor meet with the member. The team leader should meet with the team member to discuss his or her opposition. Sometimes things come out in a one-on-one discussion that won’t come out in the group setting. If the team leader cannot get through to the member, then the person who formed the team (the team sponsor) should meet with the member to try to remove the roadblock.
17. If a person continues to resist and offers no valid reason for doing so, demand their consensus. Tell them they must agree with the consensus of the team and actively support it. If they have no valid reason for their opposition they must agree with the team if they want to be a member of the team.
18. If they refuse to give their consensus, ask them to withdraw from the team. The team cannot be held back from accomplishing their mission by one stubborn member. That person must leave the team if he or she can neither sway the team nor be swayed by the team.
19. Finally, if an obstinate member refuses to withdraw from the team, ask the team Sponsor to remove a non-valid dissenter from the team. The person who formed the team is the only person who can remove a member from the team. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to get a team back on track is to remove the resisting member who is holding the team back.
Each of the steps outlined above are designed to get the team to true consensus. Once the team has come to agreement, I like to anchor the consensus by declaring: “So let it be written; so let it be done.” This signifies that, unless something in the world dramatically changes to alter the team’s decision, the team should stay true to its consensus and carry out their decision exactly as planned.§
Innovative Management Group is renowned for our team facilitation skills. We know how to drive groups to consensus decisions on tough issues. We also know how to resolve conflict among struggling teams. We offer several results-oriented team building workshops that help teams stay focused on accomplishing their assigned tasks.
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Someone has postulated that most human beings only use ten percent of their brain. If that is true, then ten people have to be in a meeting to get whole-brain thinking. This explains the value of working in teams.
Everyone who has been in one of my management training sessions knows that I define a “team” as a group of individuals who “step forward together” to achieve a common goal. Teamwork requires individuals to pool information and consider different viewpoints to find solutions and make decisions. Seldom do all team members have the same view about an idea or issue. Polarized views, opposing opinions, and stubborn hold outs can often block the progress of a team. The success of a team relies heavily on how quickly the members can come to consensus on both what their goal is and how it will be achieved.
A significant portion of a team’s effectiveness and “health” is tied to how well the team members interact and make decisions. Too often the most powerful or outspoken member of a team dominates the team’s discussion and determines the team’s actions. Quieter or less assertive members are not heard, which negates the power of the collective thinking of the team.
What happens to the motivation of individuals whose ideas are not considered or whose suggestions are not adopted? How is team commitment impacted when team members are not personally vested? What is the impact when arguments and off-purpose behaviors disrupt the progress of the team?
Coming to true consensus among a group of individuals is hard to do. It takes great facilitative skills and effective process tools among the group to bring everyone to agreement. True consensus requires everyone to remain firmly grounded and completely committed to their consensus decision once the team discussion has ended.
Unfortunately, I’ve found that consensus in many companies is only consensus until everyone leaves the room. Once people get back into their work area or start to ponder the team’s decision outside the team room, some members tend to question the team’s decision and their commitment to it. The key, therefore, to achieving consensus is not just getting it, but also making sure it sticks once it is reached.
DEFINITION OF CONSENSUS
As I facilitate groups I find there are several misconceptions regarding what constitutes a consensus decision. Some people believe consensus is when everyone in the group is in agreement with an idea or proposal. This, of course, is not consensus. A decision that everyone agrees to is unanimous; which is better than consensus. Team commitment to a decision is seldom questioned when everyone on the team is in unanimous agreement.
Other people I’ve encountered have the misconception that consensus is achieved when the team votes on a proposal and the idea that gets the most votes wins. Majority rule is never consensus. Majority rule is where the dominant majority overrules the less convincing minority.
The problem with majority rule is the minority. Whenever the majority rules; someone is left out. And those who are left out seldom step forward with the rest of the team. Majority rule is not an effective group decision making method for a team.
Still others believe consensus is achieved when members of the team agree to compromise in order to get everyone’s buy-in. Compromise is not consensus either. Members on a team may have to compromise to come to consensus, but consensus does not necessarily require compromise. In fact, sometimes compromised decisions can be the worst possible decisions. Compromise usually means everyone had to lose something in order to win. But a lose-lose situation seldom is a win-win for the team.
So what is team consensus?
A consensus decision is an idea that results from the full input of all team members. Sometimes one suggestion is universally accepted as best, and sometimes the decision is a combination of the thoughts of several individuals. Consensus does not necessarily mean the decision is everyone's first choice.
Consensus is defined as . . .
A decision or position reflecting the collective thinking of the team that all members participated in developing, understand fully, believe is workable, can live with, and will actively support.
To reach consensus, every team member must express themselves and participate fully in the discussion. Each member should listen to and respect the input of others and remain open-minded. Disagreements need to be confronted and explored until every idea is out on the table and an acceptable solution is found. Everyone must feel they were heard and their viewpoint considered when making collective decisions.
PSEUDO-CONSENSUS
True consensus cannot be reached until everyone on the team clearly understands what they are agreeing to. Pseudo-consensus – where people agree in the room and then disagree later – occurs when people think of something outside of the team room that was not understood or addressed during the team discussion. Team’s need to take the time during the team meeting to ensure everyone is fully on-board before declaring consensus has been achieved.
Team members seldom accept a proposal that they feel is unworkable. Before consenting to an idea or solution people test the proposal in their mind to assess its viability. To achieve true consensus the team must work together to come up with decisions that everyone feels are feasible. If someone feels the proposed idea won’t work, the team should discuss how to make it work or come up with alternative solutions.
It is possible, however, to achieve consensus even if someone on the team feels a proposed solution won’t work. This happens when someone – usually a lone holdout – cannot justify their hesitation to consent with valid proof that the proposed decision is wrong. Accepting the possibility that the majority of the group may be right, and they may be wrong, the individual agrees to give their consensus to the group.
Please note that this constitutes consensus – and not majority rule – only if the last two elements of the definition of consensus apply. The hesitant individual must be able to live with the decision and actively support it. If they cannot live with it or actively support it, the team discussion must continue until real consensus is achieved.
TRUE TEST OF CONSENSUS
These last two elements of consensus are the true tests of the team’s buy-in. Can everyone on the team live with the decision and will they actively support it? If any team member feels they cannot live with the implications and consequences of the team’s decision, the proposal must be addressed until everyone can. Actively supporting a decision means everyone on the team will put their full energy and effort into ensuring the team’s decision is carried out as designed. Half-hearted or disgruntled support is never acceptable on a team. Real consensus requires real commitment.
Consensus decision-making often requires more time and skilled facilitation to discuss the ideas and issues fully. Teams should not expect quick consensus on every issue. Failure to achieve true consensus usually can be traced back to the team’s failure around one or more of the consensus definition elements. For example, the team may have ignored the introverted or quiet members of the group and failed to solicit the collective thinking of the entire team. Or the team may not have explored the ideas fully enough for everyone to clearly understand what was being proposed. Maybe the team ran roughshod over someone who felt the idea was not workable. Perhaps someone on the team placated, giving in rather than fighting for what they believed was a better solution. Many factors contribute to a team’s failure to achieve true consensus.
CONSENSUS ISN'T ALWAYS NECESSARY
During the early stages of a team’s development the team should decide where consensus support is absolutely essential to the team’s success. On less important issues it’s often possible for the entire group to step forward together with a much simpler and faster decision making process than consensus. However, consensus decision making should always be used on team decisions regarding the team’s charter, ground rules, project plans, completion dates and other critical elements impacting the success of the team’s mission.
AVOIDING GROUP THINK
As a team strives to achieve consensus there will be times when it is difficult to get everyone on board. Invariably there may be one obstinate, hard-headed holdout who refuses to consent to what others on the team agree to. Sometimes this individual is a true roadblock, but often the person is merely trying to keep the team from falling into group think.
Group think occurs when the team cannot come up with alternatives to their ideas or solutions. Group think is particularly prevalent when a solution or decision seems obvious. Devil’s advocate dissidence among the team may be the very thing the team needs to keep the group from falling into the trap of collective blindness.
A perfect example of this is Galileo Galilei, the father of modern observational astronomy. Galileo's championing of Copernicanism – the view that the earth revolves around the sun – was controversial within his lifetime. The geocentric view that the sun revolved around the earth had been dominant since the time of Aristotle. The controversy engendered by Galileo's opposition to this view resulted in the Catholic Church's prohibiting his advocacy of heliocentrism. Galileo was brought before the Inquisition because of his views where he was forced to recant what he knew to be true. He spent the last years of his life under house arrest.
Like many lone voices on a team, Galileo was right. But more powerful voices in the group – in Galileo’s case, that of the ecclesiastical leaders – can dominate the team so strongly that anyone who actually agrees with the dissenting person quickly changes their position to avoid the “inquisition.” Group think often occurs when someone on the team is in a “power position” within the organization. Those on the team, not wishing to jeopardize their careers align themselves with the person who wields power over them. Sadly, consensus by decree or covert coercion is not real consensus.
THE DISSENTER MAY BE RIGHT
This is why a team must take great care to ensure all voices are heard. Sometimes one person can sway the views of many. I saw this happen when I was facilitating a team of 27 scientists. As you might guess, trying to get 27 scientists to agree on anything is extremely difficult. There were many knock-down drag-out fights among the team before the group accomplished its mission.
During one of those fights 26 scientists were in agreement on a particular issue. Only one team member disagreed. No matter what everyone else on the team said to try to sway the one holdout to the position of the group, he refused to budge. He believed he was right. He stood his ground and fought for his idea. And, eventually, many hours later, he convinced the entire team to change their vote and consent to his idea. In the end his solution proved to be the right choice.
HOW TO REACH CONSENSUS
In that case the dissenting voice was correct. But sometimes there are dissenters within the team who are wrong and refuse to give in. They keep the team from moving forward because they stubbornly stand their ground. The nineteen techniques described below show the progressive steps to gaining consensus on a team. The steps start out easy and become increasingly adamant as obstinate team members refuse to consent.
1. The first step to gaining consensus is to make sure everyone understands the idea or issue fully. As stated above, the primary reason why people cannot agree is because they don’t fully understand what is being discussed. A dissenting opinion can often be easily swayed with more information about the proposed action. Ask the dissenting team member what they don’t understand and then address each of their concerns.
2. To solidify the team’s agreement you should “call for consensus” on the issue being discussed. This means you ask the team members to signify their consent. The fastest and easiest way to do this is to ask if anyone disagrees. If no one disagrees, the team is in consensus. However, this step only works if the team has established a ground rule stating that if anyone disagrees they must speak up. Otherwise someone could quietly disagree, but be too afraid or introverted to voice their descent. Passive aggressive individuals often use silence as a way of showing their disapproval. Therefore, if you use this technique, great care must be taken to ensure everyone on the team truly does agree.
3. If there is concern that someone might be silently disagreeing without speaking up, you should visualize the team members’ positions. Call for a visual vote to see where people stand. I’ve found the best way to do this is with thumbs. If a person agrees with the idea or proposal they should indicate their sanction with a thumb up signal. If a person disagrees with the idea being presented they should give it the thumbs down. And if a person is not sure whether they agree or disagree they should indicate their waffling with a sideways thumb. Now you can see where everyone stands.
4. Once everyone’s position has been identified, ask the minority if they can live with the decision of the majority. The purpose of this step is not majority rules but, rather, to speed up the process if dissenting members can actually live with the majority’s decision and will actively support it. It’s amazing how many people can easily accept the opinions of others when merely asked if they can do so. Minority members need to decide whether the proposal is significant enough to adamantly oppose it, or whether they can easily “live with” and “actively support” it so the team can move forward.
5. If any member with an opposing or waffling view cannot live with the majority’s position, always start with the majority first when opening up the issue for discussion. There is a strong possibility that the majority is right. If this is true, then a few additional explanations from the majority may easily sway the minority opinion and get opposing members to consent.
6. After allowing a few comments from the majority, ask if any of the dissenters have been swayed. If everyone’s thumb is now up, you now have the consensus of the group. If not, continue the discussion while continuing to ask if anyone has been swayed throughout the discussion.
7. If anyone on the team has not been swayed by the majority’s explanation, get the opposing opinion (those whose thumb was down) before hearing from the wafflers. Wafflers usually are swayed either by the thumbs up or thumbs down arguments. Allow the team to discuss the issue in a point and counter point fashion. Wafflers should also participate in the discussion if they have points to add to either side of the discussion.
8. Ask the team members to indicate when they have been swayed by showing the changed position of their thumb when they are swayed. When all thumbs are either up or down, you have consensus. Always keep in mind that consensus is when everyone on the team can live with the decision and will actively support it. They do not have to agree.
9. If someone on the team is having a hard time agreeing to something that everyone else seems to willingly accept, ask if they conceptually agree with the proposal. Sometimes a person may agree with the concept, but not with the particulars of an idea. In such cases they may appear to be in complete disagreement when, in reality, they are only stuck on a few minor points. Consequently, by getting them to agree conceptually (or in theory) first, you then can work out the kinks of the minor sticking points.
10. Another technique similar to the one above is to determine how close the person is to agreement. Ask the dissenter to state in a percentage how close they are to agreeing to the proposal. Someone who is “90% there” will be a lot easier to sway than someone who is “not even close – maybe 10%.” Usually the person who is close to agreement can be easily swayed by merely asking them what they need in order to give their 100% support. On the other hand, it may take a great deal of discussion or a revamping of the proposal to sway the person who is far from giving their consensus.
11. Another way to sway dissenters is to agree on the separate parts of the proposal. This is what I call “chunking down the issue.” The purpose of this technique is to separate out the various parts of the proposal to see which pieces a dissenter agrees with and which pieces they oppose. Quite often a team member appears to be in disagreement with an entire proposal when they really are only in disagreement with a specific part of it. For example, they may agree with points A, B, D and E; but be in complete disagreement with point C. In this case they actually are “80% there, yet seem to be in complete disagreement because no one chunked down the issue.
12. Sometimes a consensus discussion bogs down because people disagree with a step that comes much later in the process. Fearing a future roadblock, they feel the need to oppose the idea now. For example, they argue against a proposal because they feel it will be hard to implement. Rather than agreeing that the proposal is the right thing to do, they worry about how hard it will be to implement the decision even though its right, therefore they try to kill what is right because of their assumption of the difficult road ahead. In cases where there is a sequential step-by-step roadmap to follow, discuss and agree on the steps of the proposal in order. Only allow discussion about one step at a time and get consensus at each step. Don’t worry about step three until you get to step two. Don’t let the team take a detour on the right road just because they feel there may be bumps ahead.
13. Make the right decision first. Sometimes team members know a decision is right, but they fear the consequences of the decision. Once when I was facilitating a team discussing a significant reorganization within the company, it became obvious during the discussion that consensus on the proposal being discussed would require everyone in the room to relocate to a different state. Not wanting to uproot their families, some members on the team vehemently argued against the proposal. But it soon became obvious that their dissent was for personal reasons, not because they thought the decision was wrong for the business. Consequently, I had to get them to set aside their personal objections and make the right decision first. Afterwards we would discuss how to minimize the impact that decision would have on them personally.
14. If, after using all of the techniques listed above, the team cannot come to agreement, you may need to table the decision temporarily. This gives people time to think about the proposal and weigh out the points and counter-points in their minds in a less heated setting. However, be sure to come back to the issue at the first opportunity, typically the very next time the team meets together.
15. If someone continues to hold out with a dissenting view after everyone else on the team is fully convinced a proposal is right, there are only two reasons why they cannot give their consensus. They either have a valid or personal reason for not agreeing with the majority decision.
A “valid” reason is any explanation that validates the person’s opposition in the minds of the rest of the members of the team so they, too, agree with the dissenter’s point of view. The purpose of this technique is to allow the dissenter to sway the rest of the team over to their position by presenting reasonable and rational arguments regarding their opposition until the other members see the validity of that position. If they cannot sway the rest of the team with their arguments, then the dissenter’s view is not “valid.” The validity of the team member’s viewpoint is determined by the other members of the group. They decide what is valid and what isn’t by whether or not they have been swayed by the argument.
When the dissenter lacks a valid reason for their opposition, there resistance is for “personal” reasons. Invariably they are arguing against the proposal because of how it will impact them personally. In most cases, personal reasons are not valid, and therefore should not keep the team from making the right decision. Personal dissenters should set their personal feelings aside and make the right decision for the team.
There are times, however, when someone’s personal reasons could be valid if they revealed them to the group. Unfortunately, many team members hide their personal reasons (hidden agenda) because they fear the team’s reaction if their personal concerns were made known. A perfect example of this is a team member who has been given implicit instructions by their boss to oppose the team’s idea and directs the employee not to disclose it to the team. The employee now has a personal (career) reason not to agree with the team, but fears exposing that reason to the team and incurring the wrath of his or her boss for violating confidentiality. The best approach to this situation is to be honest with the team, make the right decision, and then use the team to help determine how best to handle the boss.
16. If a member continues to be a lone holdout, have the team leader or team sponsor meet with the member. The team leader should meet with the team member to discuss his or her opposition. Sometimes things come out in a one-on-one discussion that won’t come out in the group setting. If the team leader cannot get through to the member, then the person who formed the team (the team sponsor) should meet with the member to try to remove the roadblock.
17. If a person continues to resist and offers no valid reason for doing so, demand their consensus. Tell them they must agree with the consensus of the team and actively support it. If they have no valid reason for their opposition they must agree with the team if they want to be a member of the team.
18. If they refuse to give their consensus, ask them to withdraw from the team. The team cannot be held back from accomplishing their mission by one stubborn member. That person must leave the team if he or she can neither sway the team nor be swayed by the team.
19. Finally, if an obstinate member refuses to withdraw from the team, ask the team Sponsor to remove a non-valid dissenter from the team. The person who formed the team is the only person who can remove a member from the team. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to get a team back on track is to remove the resisting member who is holding the team back.
Each of the steps outlined above are designed to get the team to true consensus. Once the team has come to agreement, I like to anchor the consensus by declaring: “So let it be written; so let it be done.” This signifies that, unless something in the world dramatically changes to alter the team’s decision, the team should stay true to its consensus and carry out their decision exactly as planned.§
Innovative Management Group is renowned for our team facilitation skills. We know how to drive groups to consensus decisions on tough issues. We also know how to resolve conflict among struggling teams. We offer several results-oriented team building workshops that help teams stay focused on accomplishing their assigned tasks.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Believing in Oneself and in One's Employees is the Key to Delegation
Delegation requires a manager’s trust, confidence and belief in the abilities of an employee to carry out a task to its successful completion. A multitude of beliefs come into play before a manager will let go of an assigned task.
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I’ve been a consultant for almost 38 years. During that time I’ve noticed a vast majority of managers have a hard time properly delegating tasks to subordinates, particularly those tasks that are of high importance or entail great risk to the manager or company.
Delegation requires a manager’s trust, confidence and belief in the abilities of an employee to carry out a task to its successful completion. A multitude of beliefs come into play before a manager will let go of an assigned task.
The manager must believe the employee delegated to is fully capable of performing the task (competence) and that the task will actually be done (predictability). Managers often don’t delegate a task to someone else because they lack the confidence the task will be done as well as they could do it themselves.
Beliefs within the Manager
To delegate a task to another person, a manager must consciously understand the unconscious elements that play into every delegation. Before the manager can “let go” of an assignment one must harbor certain “beliefs” about the person to whom one is delegating.
The first element is a Competence Belief. A manager must believe the person is capable of performing the task as directed at the level expected. This includes the assurance that the individual has the skills, knowledge and ability to perform the expected result.
Having the skills to do a task and having a willingness to do it are two different things. Consequently, the manager also must have a Disposition Belief that the employee is not only able to perform the task, but disposed to perform as expected. The employee must be eager and willing to take on the responsibilities. If the employee is in any way hesitant or reluctant, the manager will be less inclined to believe the task will be completed properly. The employee’s eagerness to accept the assigned task influences the manager’s willingness to delegate the task.
Hence, the manager also needs a Fulfillment Belief – a sense the worker will carry out the action by actually doing it. To fulfill a responsibility an employee must have the ability, disposition, time, and resources to complete the task as expected. Delegation is not merely assigning a task to another person; it also is giving that person the information, tools, resources, incentive and training necessary to perform the work successfully.
Additionally, the manager must believe the employee will persevere until the task is completed. This Persistence Belief gives the manager the added sense that the employee will stick to the task and do whatever is necessary to get it done in a timely manner. This belief also entails the manager’s assumption that the employee has the ability to successfully circumvent any obstacles that may be placed in their way while performing the work.
Beliefs within the Employee
There are three additional beliefs that the employee must harbor in order to accept the delegated responsibility. Managers should consider these additional beliefs when delegating to an employee.
First, the employee must have a Confidence Belief in his own abilities to perform the task as expected. He must confidently know, or believe, he can do it.
Second, there must be a Benefit Belief regarding the delegated task. The employee must perceive there is a personal benefit from her performing the assigned action. Some type of personal payoff must be predicated upon the satisfactory completion of the task and have significant enough appeal to the employee to generate her commitment to the task.
Finally, the employee must consciously or unconsciously possess a No-Harm Belief. He must feel the task is within his scope of responsibility and that no harm will come to him, his boss, or his company if, for some reason, he fails in the successful completion of the task. Risk aversion is one of the primary reasons why employees fail to take on greater responsibility. Managers who can tolerate failure on the road to success have a greater propensity to delegate effectively.
True delegation might be better understood by using the term reliance in place of delegation. To delegate effectively a manager must be able to rely on another individual to perform the task as expected. A manager can only delegate to an employee when she feels the employee is reliable enough to do it right. §
Innovative Management Group teaches managers how to delegate effectively. We offer two- and four-hour training sessions that take managers through an introspective process where they confront their delegation hesitancies and learn how to let go and delegate effectively to achieve productive results.
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I’ve been a consultant for almost 38 years. During that time I’ve noticed a vast majority of managers have a hard time properly delegating tasks to subordinates, particularly those tasks that are of high importance or entail great risk to the manager or company.
Delegation requires a manager’s trust, confidence and belief in the abilities of an employee to carry out a task to its successful completion. A multitude of beliefs come into play before a manager will let go of an assigned task.
The manager must believe the employee delegated to is fully capable of performing the task (competence) and that the task will actually be done (predictability). Managers often don’t delegate a task to someone else because they lack the confidence the task will be done as well as they could do it themselves.
Beliefs within the Manager
To delegate a task to another person, a manager must consciously understand the unconscious elements that play into every delegation. Before the manager can “let go” of an assignment one must harbor certain “beliefs” about the person to whom one is delegating.
The first element is a Competence Belief. A manager must believe the person is capable of performing the task as directed at the level expected. This includes the assurance that the individual has the skills, knowledge and ability to perform the expected result.
Having the skills to do a task and having a willingness to do it are two different things. Consequently, the manager also must have a Disposition Belief that the employee is not only able to perform the task, but disposed to perform as expected. The employee must be eager and willing to take on the responsibilities. If the employee is in any way hesitant or reluctant, the manager will be less inclined to believe the task will be completed properly. The employee’s eagerness to accept the assigned task influences the manager’s willingness to delegate the task.
Hence, the manager also needs a Fulfillment Belief – a sense the worker will carry out the action by actually doing it. To fulfill a responsibility an employee must have the ability, disposition, time, and resources to complete the task as expected. Delegation is not merely assigning a task to another person; it also is giving that person the information, tools, resources, incentive and training necessary to perform the work successfully.
Additionally, the manager must believe the employee will persevere until the task is completed. This Persistence Belief gives the manager the added sense that the employee will stick to the task and do whatever is necessary to get it done in a timely manner. This belief also entails the manager’s assumption that the employee has the ability to successfully circumvent any obstacles that may be placed in their way while performing the work.
Beliefs within the Employee
There are three additional beliefs that the employee must harbor in order to accept the delegated responsibility. Managers should consider these additional beliefs when delegating to an employee.
First, the employee must have a Confidence Belief in his own abilities to perform the task as expected. He must confidently know, or believe, he can do it.
Second, there must be a Benefit Belief regarding the delegated task. The employee must perceive there is a personal benefit from her performing the assigned action. Some type of personal payoff must be predicated upon the satisfactory completion of the task and have significant enough appeal to the employee to generate her commitment to the task.
Finally, the employee must consciously or unconsciously possess a No-Harm Belief. He must feel the task is within his scope of responsibility and that no harm will come to him, his boss, or his company if, for some reason, he fails in the successful completion of the task. Risk aversion is one of the primary reasons why employees fail to take on greater responsibility. Managers who can tolerate failure on the road to success have a greater propensity to delegate effectively.
True delegation might be better understood by using the term reliance in place of delegation. To delegate effectively a manager must be able to rely on another individual to perform the task as expected. A manager can only delegate to an employee when she feels the employee is reliable enough to do it right. §
Innovative Management Group teaches managers how to delegate effectively. We offer two- and four-hour training sessions that take managers through an introspective process where they confront their delegation hesitancies and learn how to let go and delegate effectively to achieve productive results.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
How to Help Your Employees to Get "It”
There are several key things that every employee needs to understand if they want to get ahead in the work world. These things collectively comprise the “it” that every manager hopes his or her employees will get.
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People who know me know I have been involved with the Boy Scouts of America for many years. When I was a Scoutmaster I had charge over twenty-nine 12-13-year-old boys. I was tasked with nurturing and molding their young minds to help them become better human beings. I took my role very seriously and tried to magnify my calling to the best of my ability.
One night, at one of our monthly campouts, as we were all sitting around the campfire, I asked my boys an open-ended question: “At what age do people typically tend to get it?” I didn’t explain what I meant by “it.” I wanted to see if they, themselves, got it.
Wisely, the boys said there is no specific age when people get it. Some people, they concluded, never get it. They also suggested that people get it at an early age and others only catch on late in their life. They surmised that there are those who only get it only after a life changing or significant emotional experience that caused the person to reflect upon their life.
I then asked: “Who do you feel are the happiest in this life – those who get it, or those who don’t?” They all agreed people who get it are better off than those who don’t get it and end up struggling in life.
Finally, I asked these highly astute young men to tell me what the “its” are in life that people need to get if they want to be happy.
After a very interesting philosophical discussion they concluded there is an “it” in every element of life. There is an “it” in school; and those who figure it out do better scholastically than those who struggle or rebel against “it.”
They said there is an “it” at home and in the family; and those who know it and do it have a happy home and loving family, while those who struggle or rebel against the “it” of healthy family relationships have a difficult home life. They also assumed there must be an “it” at work that, when understood and adhered to, leads to a happy and successful career.
Your Responsibility to Help Employees to Get It
As a manager, you’re in an excellent position to help your employees to “get it.” The main purpose of identifying what you want from your employees is to help them to get the “it” of work – the reason why they exist as an employee. The sooner an employee gets it, the better off they will be. Those who get it go far in their career – and in life – while those who don’t get it generally struggle until they figure it out.
There are several key things every employee needs to understand if they want to get ahead in the work world. These things collectively comprise the “it” that every manager hopes his or her employees will get, because once an employee does get it the manager doesn’t have to manage that employee as closely as those workers who don’t get it.
The "It" in Business
The “it” of business comprises what I call the major premise of work. If an employee doesn’t get the major premise, she will have an even harder time grasping the subtle nuances at work. If, however, she grasps the big picture and understands why she exists as an employee, she is more likely to successfully fulfill her role and win at work.
Many employees struggle because they are confused about why they exist as an employee. They believe they were hired to serve the customer, produce a product, accomplish tasks, or do their job. Some less dedicated employees falsely believe they are only at work to earn a paycheck.
But every employee was hired for two primary reasons: Employees exist to increase revenue and reduce costs in order to maximize the profitability of their employer. Everything else that an employee does is a means to these two ends. All employees exist to either drive revenue or control costs in order to improve the company’s bottom-line. This is the major premise!
When an employee accepts that he was hired to increase revenue or reduce costs, he then can focus his energy and effort toward that end. He can prioritize his work and channel his performance toward maximizing profits, rather than merely accomplishing tasks. All job duties and responsibilities that don’t result in either generating revenue or controlling costs should be revised or eliminated. Everything that matters in the workplace either drives revenue or reduces costs. Everything else is an appendage to these two things.
Employees who successfully deliver this “it” enhance their value to the organization. This is another major premise. Valuable employees generally reap the rewards of their value. Good employees seldom lose their job. During depressed economic times, when cost-cutting layoffs occur, employees and departments with the least perceived value are usually the first to go. Consequently, it’s always in the best interest of an employee to understand and commit to the major premise of their organization by doing all they can to increase revenue, reduce costs, and deliver on the implied promises inherent in their job classification.
Getting Employees to Do It
Another important premise for you to remember is the knowledge that employees will only give you what you want when it is imperative for them to do so. When you find the right imperative you focus the effort of your employees by instilling an internal desire to accomplish what you want.
Sometimes the business imperative of is all employees need in order to perform well. For example, knowing that a company might go out of business if the employees don’t improve the quality of the products they produce can often motivate employees to improve their results. Seeing the impact a new competitor is having in taking away business from your organization can have a motivating effect on a sales force to generate more business. Understanding the fatal impact a production flaw might have in killing a customer can help employees concentrate on job safety. Consequently, finding the right business imperative that the employees can latch onto is critical to gaining their commitment to do it.
The best imperatives, however, are those that are specific to the interests and needs of the individual employee. Most people will not change their behavior until the consequences are such that they want to. Although negative consequences can cause people to move in the direction you want, the best consequences are those that provide an employee with a positive imperative to perform well. For example, delivery truck drivers who are allowed to go home as soon as all of their deliveries are made are less inclined to dally as they go about their work. Salespeople who get a commission on every sell usually stay focused on selling, rather than loitering around the sales floor. Teachers who are held accountable for student test scores are more inclined to teach rather than babysit.
Supporting Those Who Get It
The strongest imperative in the workplace is your support as a manager. There will come a day when every employee will need your support. There will come a day when they want a day off, a special favor, a promotion or a pay raise. When that day comes you will probably be more inclined to support those employees who are worthy of your backing because of how they performed and acted at work.
In other words, it is imperative for your employees to perform and act the way you want them to because there will come a day when it will be in their best interest to do so. The reason why employees need to perform well today is because there will come a day in their future when they will want to be rewarded for their actions.
Those employees who “get it,” realize their performance today determines the support they receive in the future. This is why I tell my employees not to perform well for me, or for the company, or for the customers; but, rather, to do a good job for themselves, because there will come a day when they will want my support. And I only support those in the future who have supported me in the past by doing what I expect. This is the “it” I want them to get.
When your employees understand the major premise of your business and see the imperative for their work, they generally do what you want them to do. The more clearly you can define and articulate the major premises and personal imperatives, the less you will have to manage your people. When your employees keep the major premise and personal imperatives uppermost in their minds, they hold themselves accountable and manage their own performance.
Let me give you an example of this by discussing another area of our lives where there are major premises and personal imperatives – at home.
The Major Premise at Home
If you are like most parents, you may experience the occasional tiff or tussle with your children, particularly if they are teenagers. This struggle often occurs because there is great disparity between what parents perceive their role to be and how teenagers view the parents’ role. Parents believe they exist to teach, nurture and protect their children. Teenagers seem to think parents exist to either make their lives miserable or to give them money whenever they want so they can to do whatever they want.
When we were having difficulties with our son we found it helpful to clarify for him what we felt was the major premise of why we exist as parents. We wrote the premise down and then talked to him about it so he would know that everything we do as parents is governed by one over-arching purpose. We told him the following is why we exist as parents:
We love you.
We would never do anything to purposely harm you.
We want you to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life.
Everything we do as parents is designed toward that end,
So don’t fight against us; we are on your side.
Literally everything we do as parents is governed by our desire for our son to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life. Although it is sometimes difficult for our son to accept it when we tell him he cannot do something, he at least understands our reasoning when we can show our decision is tied to the major premise.
Obviously we don’t want to say no to our son; we want to say yes. We’re not ogres. But there are some things that are not in the best interest of our son’s future happiness, even though he may think otherwise. So we tell him we’re restricting him from doing an unwise thing today because we are not interested in his momentary pleasure; we are only interested in his long-term happiness. We’ve found when a teenager accepts the major premise that you love him and are interested in his future success; it makes the short-term pain of today’s disappointments much easier to bear.
Because our son knows our parental major premise is in his own best interest, it is imperative for him to comply with our wishes if he wants to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life. He knows everything we do and say as parents is designed toward that end. He also knows our support is tied to his acceptance of and compliance with the parental major premise. Consequently, rather than arguing with us or fighting against our expectations, he usually does what we want when we want because he knows we are on his side.
Being on the Side of Your Employees
The “parental major premise” also works in managing employees. When your employees understand and accept the major premise and imperatives in the workplace they tend to be less resistant to your expectations. If you truly “love” your employees and would never do anything to purposely harm them – and they believe it and feel it – they will be more inclined to do what you ask.
Everything you do as a manager should be designed to help your employees have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining career. This is why you must identify what you want, communicate what you want, hire and train your employees so they can give you what you want, and do everything within your power as a manager to help your employee succeed. When your employees sense that you are sincerely interested in their success, they will not fight against you because they will know you are on their side. §
Innovative Management Group’s “Accountability Management Workshop” teaches managers how to help their employees to get the “its” at work by first helping the managers to get it. We focus every employee at every level of your organization on the things that matter most. Call us to learn more about this hard-hitting, results-oriented management training program.
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People who know me know I have been involved with the Boy Scouts of America for many years. When I was a Scoutmaster I had charge over twenty-nine 12-13-year-old boys. I was tasked with nurturing and molding their young minds to help them become better human beings. I took my role very seriously and tried to magnify my calling to the best of my ability.
One night, at one of our monthly campouts, as we were all sitting around the campfire, I asked my boys an open-ended question: “At what age do people typically tend to get it?” I didn’t explain what I meant by “it.” I wanted to see if they, themselves, got it.
Wisely, the boys said there is no specific age when people get it. Some people, they concluded, never get it. They also suggested that people get it at an early age and others only catch on late in their life. They surmised that there are those who only get it only after a life changing or significant emotional experience that caused the person to reflect upon their life.
I then asked: “Who do you feel are the happiest in this life – those who get it, or those who don’t?” They all agreed people who get it are better off than those who don’t get it and end up struggling in life.
Finally, I asked these highly astute young men to tell me what the “its” are in life that people need to get if they want to be happy.
After a very interesting philosophical discussion they concluded there is an “it” in every element of life. There is an “it” in school; and those who figure it out do better scholastically than those who struggle or rebel against “it.”
They said there is an “it” at home and in the family; and those who know it and do it have a happy home and loving family, while those who struggle or rebel against the “it” of healthy family relationships have a difficult home life. They also assumed there must be an “it” at work that, when understood and adhered to, leads to a happy and successful career.
Your Responsibility to Help Employees to Get It
As a manager, you’re in an excellent position to help your employees to “get it.” The main purpose of identifying what you want from your employees is to help them to get the “it” of work – the reason why they exist as an employee. The sooner an employee gets it, the better off they will be. Those who get it go far in their career – and in life – while those who don’t get it generally struggle until they figure it out.
There are several key things every employee needs to understand if they want to get ahead in the work world. These things collectively comprise the “it” that every manager hopes his or her employees will get, because once an employee does get it the manager doesn’t have to manage that employee as closely as those workers who don’t get it.
The "It" in Business
The “it” of business comprises what I call the major premise of work. If an employee doesn’t get the major premise, she will have an even harder time grasping the subtle nuances at work. If, however, she grasps the big picture and understands why she exists as an employee, she is more likely to successfully fulfill her role and win at work.
Many employees struggle because they are confused about why they exist as an employee. They believe they were hired to serve the customer, produce a product, accomplish tasks, or do their job. Some less dedicated employees falsely believe they are only at work to earn a paycheck.
But every employee was hired for two primary reasons: Employees exist to increase revenue and reduce costs in order to maximize the profitability of their employer. Everything else that an employee does is a means to these two ends. All employees exist to either drive revenue or control costs in order to improve the company’s bottom-line. This is the major premise!
When an employee accepts that he was hired to increase revenue or reduce costs, he then can focus his energy and effort toward that end. He can prioritize his work and channel his performance toward maximizing profits, rather than merely accomplishing tasks. All job duties and responsibilities that don’t result in either generating revenue or controlling costs should be revised or eliminated. Everything that matters in the workplace either drives revenue or reduces costs. Everything else is an appendage to these two things.
Employees who successfully deliver this “it” enhance their value to the organization. This is another major premise. Valuable employees generally reap the rewards of their value. Good employees seldom lose their job. During depressed economic times, when cost-cutting layoffs occur, employees and departments with the least perceived value are usually the first to go. Consequently, it’s always in the best interest of an employee to understand and commit to the major premise of their organization by doing all they can to increase revenue, reduce costs, and deliver on the implied promises inherent in their job classification.
Getting Employees to Do It
Another important premise for you to remember is the knowledge that employees will only give you what you want when it is imperative for them to do so. When you find the right imperative you focus the effort of your employees by instilling an internal desire to accomplish what you want.
Sometimes the business imperative of is all employees need in order to perform well. For example, knowing that a company might go out of business if the employees don’t improve the quality of the products they produce can often motivate employees to improve their results. Seeing the impact a new competitor is having in taking away business from your organization can have a motivating effect on a sales force to generate more business. Understanding the fatal impact a production flaw might have in killing a customer can help employees concentrate on job safety. Consequently, finding the right business imperative that the employees can latch onto is critical to gaining their commitment to do it.
The best imperatives, however, are those that are specific to the interests and needs of the individual employee. Most people will not change their behavior until the consequences are such that they want to. Although negative consequences can cause people to move in the direction you want, the best consequences are those that provide an employee with a positive imperative to perform well. For example, delivery truck drivers who are allowed to go home as soon as all of their deliveries are made are less inclined to dally as they go about their work. Salespeople who get a commission on every sell usually stay focused on selling, rather than loitering around the sales floor. Teachers who are held accountable for student test scores are more inclined to teach rather than babysit.
Supporting Those Who Get It
The strongest imperative in the workplace is your support as a manager. There will come a day when every employee will need your support. There will come a day when they want a day off, a special favor, a promotion or a pay raise. When that day comes you will probably be more inclined to support those employees who are worthy of your backing because of how they performed and acted at work.
In other words, it is imperative for your employees to perform and act the way you want them to because there will come a day when it will be in their best interest to do so. The reason why employees need to perform well today is because there will come a day in their future when they will want to be rewarded for their actions.
Those employees who “get it,” realize their performance today determines the support they receive in the future. This is why I tell my employees not to perform well for me, or for the company, or for the customers; but, rather, to do a good job for themselves, because there will come a day when they will want my support. And I only support those in the future who have supported me in the past by doing what I expect. This is the “it” I want them to get.
When your employees understand the major premise of your business and see the imperative for their work, they generally do what you want them to do. The more clearly you can define and articulate the major premises and personal imperatives, the less you will have to manage your people. When your employees keep the major premise and personal imperatives uppermost in their minds, they hold themselves accountable and manage their own performance.
Let me give you an example of this by discussing another area of our lives where there are major premises and personal imperatives – at home.
The Major Premise at Home
If you are like most parents, you may experience the occasional tiff or tussle with your children, particularly if they are teenagers. This struggle often occurs because there is great disparity between what parents perceive their role to be and how teenagers view the parents’ role. Parents believe they exist to teach, nurture and protect their children. Teenagers seem to think parents exist to either make their lives miserable or to give them money whenever they want so they can to do whatever they want.
When we were having difficulties with our son we found it helpful to clarify for him what we felt was the major premise of why we exist as parents. We wrote the premise down and then talked to him about it so he would know that everything we do as parents is governed by one over-arching purpose. We told him the following is why we exist as parents:
We love you.
We would never do anything to purposely harm you.
We want you to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life.
Everything we do as parents is designed toward that end,
So don’t fight against us; we are on your side.
Literally everything we do as parents is governed by our desire for our son to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life. Although it is sometimes difficult for our son to accept it when we tell him he cannot do something, he at least understands our reasoning when we can show our decision is tied to the major premise.
Obviously we don’t want to say no to our son; we want to say yes. We’re not ogres. But there are some things that are not in the best interest of our son’s future happiness, even though he may think otherwise. So we tell him we’re restricting him from doing an unwise thing today because we are not interested in his momentary pleasure; we are only interested in his long-term happiness. We’ve found when a teenager accepts the major premise that you love him and are interested in his future success; it makes the short-term pain of today’s disappointments much easier to bear.
Because our son knows our parental major premise is in his own best interest, it is imperative for him to comply with our wishes if he wants to have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining life. He knows everything we do and say as parents is designed toward that end. He also knows our support is tied to his acceptance of and compliance with the parental major premise. Consequently, rather than arguing with us or fighting against our expectations, he usually does what we want when we want because he knows we are on his side.
Being on the Side of Your Employees
The “parental major premise” also works in managing employees. When your employees understand and accept the major premise and imperatives in the workplace they tend to be less resistant to your expectations. If you truly “love” your employees and would never do anything to purposely harm them – and they believe it and feel it – they will be more inclined to do what you ask.
Everything you do as a manager should be designed to help your employees have a happy, successful, independent and self-sustaining career. This is why you must identify what you want, communicate what you want, hire and train your employees so they can give you what you want, and do everything within your power as a manager to help your employee succeed. When your employees sense that you are sincerely interested in their success, they will not fight against you because they will know you are on their side. §
Innovative Management Group’s “Accountability Management Workshop” teaches managers how to help their employees to get the “its” at work by first helping the managers to get it. We focus every employee at every level of your organization on the things that matter most. Call us to learn more about this hard-hitting, results-oriented management training program.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Positioning Your Company for Success in a Yo-Yo Economy
Today’s economy is like a yo-yo. We have been dangling on a string in a “sleeper” recession for quite some time. The world economy continues to spin at the bottom. Everyone has been wondering how long the spin can continue at the abyss before experiencing a collapse of the market. Thriving in the new economy requires a business model that matches the values and spending habits of customers today. It could entail a complete change in the way you do business.
--------------------
When I was a young boy I liked to play with my yo-yo. I became fairly proficient at performing fancy tricks with interesting names like “rock the baby,” “walk the dog” and “skin the cat.”
I also could do a yo-yo trick called “the sleeper.” This motion entailed throwing the yo-yo down without bringing it back up immediately. If the string tension was correct, the yo-yo would spin for several seconds at the bottom of the string. The difficulty of the trick was knowing when to pull the yo-yo back up before the spin petered out. If I left it down too long the yo-yo would collapse and die at the end of the string.
Today’s economy is like my yo-yo. We have been dangling on a string in a “sleeper” recession for quite some time. The world economy continues to spin at the bottom. Everyone has been wondering how long the spin can continue at the abyss before experiencing a collapse of the market. It’s hard to tell whether the economy is improving or not because the economic indicators keep yo-yoing between signs of improvement and signs of continued economic decline. The recent combative legislative debate over the debt ceiling just added to the economic confusion.
Survival Requires a New Business Model
Sadly, too many companies have been sleeping too long. At the beginning of the Great Recession some businesses refused to accept the notion that things could get this bad. They responded slowly to the crisis, hoping the downturn would be brief. A significant number of these companies no longer exist because they refused to take the necessary actions to save their enterprise.
Some companies did respond to the crash – typically by lowering prices to continue to attract customers – but they never changed their actual business model. Perhaps they thought the spin at the bottom would be short, and they could pull their prices back up when it looked like the sleeping economy was nearing an end.
Fortunately, a few insightful companies realized early on that the economic downturn was going to last a long time. They wisely learned the trick of keeping their company spinning strongly so there would be enough strength in their business after the long spin to pull the business back up. They changed their business model to survive in a sleeping economy. They adjusted what they do to match the conditions of the new world. And they realized that when the economic spin does come to an end, the world will be much different that it was before. Consequently, they repositioned their products and services to appeal to customer needs and expectations in this new market reality.
Changing Priorities of Customers
The world has changed and any company who refuses to change their business model to match the new world is in danger of petering out. Customer behaviors have changed forever and they will not return to where they were before the recession – at least not in this generation.
The majority of customers have changed their spending habits. They now perceive their discretionary money in a different light. They have a completely different view of the value they expect for the money they spend. Customers are putting a lot more thought into their purchases to make sure what they buy is the best possible value for the price. They are less impulsive and more cautious about how they spend their money. They want to be assured that they are spending their money wisely.
If your company wishes to survive in the new world you must change your focus to align with the changing priorities of your customers.
For the most part, companies in the past focused on providing tangible and intangible products that appealed to the excessive and indulgent nature of their customers. Manufacturing companies produced cell phones, computers and other electronic gadgets with more bells and whistles than a person could possibly use. Casinos built massive, opulent resorts with every amenity imaginable to immerse guests in a sensory experience that appealed to their base desires. Restaurants sold the sizzle instead of the steak, emphasizing presentation and ambiance over the quality of the food. Customers spent thousands of dollars for an “experience” or access to products that would make them feel hip or cool. People paid far too much for far too little and flashed their materialistic possessions as indicators of their social or economic status.
What Customers Want Today
Today’s value-conscious customers want more than window dressing. They want ASSURANCE that what they are buying is worth the expense. They must feel confident that the investment of their hard-earned money will provide something of significant value. They need justification – or an excuse – for spending their discretionary money at a time when saving their money may seem like a more prudent action.
No longer are name-brand products or the “premier resort destination” the automatic purchase choice of many customers. People are evaluating their options and scrutinizing which choice gives them the biggest bang for their buck. They’re reviewing previous customer comments for assurance they are making the right purchasing choice. They are seeking to connect on an emotional level with products and services that match their current values.
Customers also want assurance of the RELIABILITY of your products and services. They want to buy products that work. They want whatever they buy to perform at the level promised. And, as the old throw-away attitude diminishes, customers are looking for products that last longer and won’t have to be replaced in a few months with a new generation product.
Customers want service companies to actually deliver quality service. They expect your employees to be friendly, efficient, knowledgeable, attentive and helpful. They want their hot food hot and their cold food cold. In many cases customers expect even higher levels of service during tough times because they expect you to truly compete for their business.
They expect you to stand behind your products and services and guarantee you will deliver what you promise. And if, for some reason, there is a problem with your delivery, today’s customers expect RESPONSIVENESS from your employees who quickly address their concerns and to fix the problem.
In tough times customers expect you to have EMPATHY and understand what they are going through. Very few people in this country have been untouched by the tough economy. Many people have lost their jobs, their home and even their possessions. They’ve downsized their lifestyle significantly. They’ve postponed their retirement. Those who are still employed may be underemployed, having had their hours or their wages cut. Some families may have more than one wage earner who has been affected by the downturn.
Consequently, when these customers do spend their money on a vacation, at a restaurant, bar or theater, they expect your employees to show APPRECIATION for the investment the customer is making. Stressed out customers expect your employees to understand their need for escape, relaxation, rejuvenation and a life free from the hassles of their daily grind. If they purchase a product from you, they want that product to be easy to use and not add any additional burden to their life. If they have to interact with your employees, customers want the experience to be pleasant and problem-free. They expect your employees to be totally focused on ensuring they have a good experience patronizing your business.
Aligning Your Business Model to New Customer Demands
It’s time to pull the yoyo back up and regain control of your company’s economic future. Innovative Management Group can help position your company for success in the new economy based on the realities of the market conditions you can expect over the next 3-5 years. We will help you:
• Define your strategic focus and outline your strategic intentions
• Reclaim your brand identity or redefine a new one based on the new market realities
• Identify your value premise and unique product differentiation
• Determine which of your current products and services match current customer needs
• Identify new products and services needed to create customer demand
• Align your marketing strategies and tactics with the new world
• Ensure consistent product and service delivery to create customer loyalty
• Engage your employees in making the changes necessary to succeed in today’s competitive world
• Ensure the commitment of your executives, managers and employees to focus on the things that matter most
During difficult times your company needs to stay focused, or refocus if your current strategies and tactics are ineffective or no longer appropriate. Now is the time to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Tough times require clear, creative thinking to minimize the weaknesses and threats and take advantage of the strengths and opportunities in order to drive value to your business. It is a time to rediscover the fundamentals of the business — the critical success factors that will keep your organization spinning successfully for many years to come.
Good leaders make good decisions in tough times. Call Innovative Management Group today to help you maintain or regain a strong competitive position in a weak economy.§
--------------------
When I was a young boy I liked to play with my yo-yo. I became fairly proficient at performing fancy tricks with interesting names like “rock the baby,” “walk the dog” and “skin the cat.”
I also could do a yo-yo trick called “the sleeper.” This motion entailed throwing the yo-yo down without bringing it back up immediately. If the string tension was correct, the yo-yo would spin for several seconds at the bottom of the string. The difficulty of the trick was knowing when to pull the yo-yo back up before the spin petered out. If I left it down too long the yo-yo would collapse and die at the end of the string.
Today’s economy is like my yo-yo. We have been dangling on a string in a “sleeper” recession for quite some time. The world economy continues to spin at the bottom. Everyone has been wondering how long the spin can continue at the abyss before experiencing a collapse of the market. It’s hard to tell whether the economy is improving or not because the economic indicators keep yo-yoing between signs of improvement and signs of continued economic decline. The recent combative legislative debate over the debt ceiling just added to the economic confusion.
Survival Requires a New Business Model
Sadly, too many companies have been sleeping too long. At the beginning of the Great Recession some businesses refused to accept the notion that things could get this bad. They responded slowly to the crisis, hoping the downturn would be brief. A significant number of these companies no longer exist because they refused to take the necessary actions to save their enterprise.
Some companies did respond to the crash – typically by lowering prices to continue to attract customers – but they never changed their actual business model. Perhaps they thought the spin at the bottom would be short, and they could pull their prices back up when it looked like the sleeping economy was nearing an end.
Fortunately, a few insightful companies realized early on that the economic downturn was going to last a long time. They wisely learned the trick of keeping their company spinning strongly so there would be enough strength in their business after the long spin to pull the business back up. They changed their business model to survive in a sleeping economy. They adjusted what they do to match the conditions of the new world. And they realized that when the economic spin does come to an end, the world will be much different that it was before. Consequently, they repositioned their products and services to appeal to customer needs and expectations in this new market reality.
Changing Priorities of Customers
The world has changed and any company who refuses to change their business model to match the new world is in danger of petering out. Customer behaviors have changed forever and they will not return to where they were before the recession – at least not in this generation.
The majority of customers have changed their spending habits. They now perceive their discretionary money in a different light. They have a completely different view of the value they expect for the money they spend. Customers are putting a lot more thought into their purchases to make sure what they buy is the best possible value for the price. They are less impulsive and more cautious about how they spend their money. They want to be assured that they are spending their money wisely.
If your company wishes to survive in the new world you must change your focus to align with the changing priorities of your customers.
For the most part, companies in the past focused on providing tangible and intangible products that appealed to the excessive and indulgent nature of their customers. Manufacturing companies produced cell phones, computers and other electronic gadgets with more bells and whistles than a person could possibly use. Casinos built massive, opulent resorts with every amenity imaginable to immerse guests in a sensory experience that appealed to their base desires. Restaurants sold the sizzle instead of the steak, emphasizing presentation and ambiance over the quality of the food. Customers spent thousands of dollars for an “experience” or access to products that would make them feel hip or cool. People paid far too much for far too little and flashed their materialistic possessions as indicators of their social or economic status.
What Customers Want Today
Today’s value-conscious customers want more than window dressing. They want ASSURANCE that what they are buying is worth the expense. They must feel confident that the investment of their hard-earned money will provide something of significant value. They need justification – or an excuse – for spending their discretionary money at a time when saving their money may seem like a more prudent action.
No longer are name-brand products or the “premier resort destination” the automatic purchase choice of many customers. People are evaluating their options and scrutinizing which choice gives them the biggest bang for their buck. They’re reviewing previous customer comments for assurance they are making the right purchasing choice. They are seeking to connect on an emotional level with products and services that match their current values.
Customers also want assurance of the RELIABILITY of your products and services. They want to buy products that work. They want whatever they buy to perform at the level promised. And, as the old throw-away attitude diminishes, customers are looking for products that last longer and won’t have to be replaced in a few months with a new generation product.
Customers want service companies to actually deliver quality service. They expect your employees to be friendly, efficient, knowledgeable, attentive and helpful. They want their hot food hot and their cold food cold. In many cases customers expect even higher levels of service during tough times because they expect you to truly compete for their business.
They expect you to stand behind your products and services and guarantee you will deliver what you promise. And if, for some reason, there is a problem with your delivery, today’s customers expect RESPONSIVENESS from your employees who quickly address their concerns and to fix the problem.
In tough times customers expect you to have EMPATHY and understand what they are going through. Very few people in this country have been untouched by the tough economy. Many people have lost their jobs, their home and even their possessions. They’ve downsized their lifestyle significantly. They’ve postponed their retirement. Those who are still employed may be underemployed, having had their hours or their wages cut. Some families may have more than one wage earner who has been affected by the downturn.
Consequently, when these customers do spend their money on a vacation, at a restaurant, bar or theater, they expect your employees to show APPRECIATION for the investment the customer is making. Stressed out customers expect your employees to understand their need for escape, relaxation, rejuvenation and a life free from the hassles of their daily grind. If they purchase a product from you, they want that product to be easy to use and not add any additional burden to their life. If they have to interact with your employees, customers want the experience to be pleasant and problem-free. They expect your employees to be totally focused on ensuring they have a good experience patronizing your business.
Aligning Your Business Model to New Customer Demands
It’s time to pull the yoyo back up and regain control of your company’s economic future. Innovative Management Group can help position your company for success in the new economy based on the realities of the market conditions you can expect over the next 3-5 years. We will help you:
• Define your strategic focus and outline your strategic intentions
• Reclaim your brand identity or redefine a new one based on the new market realities
• Identify your value premise and unique product differentiation
• Determine which of your current products and services match current customer needs
• Identify new products and services needed to create customer demand
• Align your marketing strategies and tactics with the new world
• Ensure consistent product and service delivery to create customer loyalty
• Engage your employees in making the changes necessary to succeed in today’s competitive world
• Ensure the commitment of your executives, managers and employees to focus on the things that matter most
During difficult times your company needs to stay focused, or refocus if your current strategies and tactics are ineffective or no longer appropriate. Now is the time to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Tough times require clear, creative thinking to minimize the weaknesses and threats and take advantage of the strengths and opportunities in order to drive value to your business. It is a time to rediscover the fundamentals of the business — the critical success factors that will keep your organization spinning successfully for many years to come.
Good leaders make good decisions in tough times. Call Innovative Management Group today to help you maintain or regain a strong competitive position in a weak economy.§
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