Getting everyone actively involved

Almost every day I read about how more organisations are recognising that their management frameworks are not achieving the necessary engagement of all employees. In some instances there is a recognition that a significant number of employees do not need the level of ‘management’ that is in place. The reason is simply due to the general improvement in the level of capability that is available if only it was given the opportunity to be released.

Feedback clearly indicates that there is too much ‘management’ and not enough scope to enable a greater number of employees to ‘manage’ themselves. Although a certain degree of scepticism is poured on the concept of ‘self-managing’ the evidence drawn from organisations who have implemented it illustrates that it is a powerful self-motivator. The three new managing roles described below can significantly impact the level of employee engagement. The reason is quite simply the allocation of accountability from the manager to the person who is expected to deliver the desired results. This is a move from ‘management’ control to one of focused empowerment linked to achievement of specific outputs.

As I briefly review the three roles, I use the term learner to cover anyone who needs to develop skills, knowledge, and/or appropriate mindsets, irrespective of ‘level’ in an organisation.

The new managing roles (continued)

I focused on the Visionary role in my last blog and will now turn to the next three roles central to engaging effectively all employees to be part of the managing of the organisation irrespective of their sector of influence. The roles of Enabler, Coach, and Mentor can be critical facilitators of empowerment in that they focus on development by using positive and non-judgmental processes. I will now briefly explore each of the roles:

1. Visionary
2. Enabler
3. Coach
4. Mentor
5. Team champion
6. Cheerleader

One of the most exciting aspects of the three roles is that they are not predicated on hierarchy in that a senior person should work with a less senior person. It is more about capability, skill, knowledge transfer, and development which is not age or gender specific. There are now many examples of younger employees enabling their more experience colleagues to handle the increasing demands of a technological world and thus stay more connected and engaged.

The Enabler

If you would like an in-depth explanation of the role of the Enabler you will find it in my book entitled Enabling Leadership published by Gower in 1989 and is still very relevant today. I believe that we should all adopt the enabling role as it is one of the most effective ways of positively connecting with others to achieve required goals. The reasons are straightforward and can be observed by the following:

• ¨     It is non-judgmental in approach
• Is focused on achieving mutually beneficial outcomes
• Operates on the principle of belief in the capability of others
• Respects the person whilst assessing the performance
• Identifies and then works to develop appropriate skills and knowledge
• Involves others in decisions that could have an impact on them
• Is based on personal self-confidence that keeps ego in check
• Encourages everyone to ‘manage’ themselves and their resources

The enabling process is about developing capability in ways that fit with each person’s needs whilst being conscious of helping them to manage their expectations, because there can be a disconnect between the person’s wants, needs, and expectations.

The enabling process is beginning to replace traditional training and development in that it is based on encouraging learners to take full accountability of whatever they want/need to learn. This means assisting them to identify their skill or knowledge gap based on a clear understanding of what they aim to achieve. Followed by helping them to secure the support and resources they will need to make the development journey. Enablers will maintain a watching brief for as long as colleagues feel that it is being helpful. Primary enablers would usually be learner’s key supervisors/managers as they are the people mostly in a position accountable for ensuring learners receive the support and encouragement needed to help them succeed.

Coach

I don’t think that I need to expand too much on the coaching role as it is generally accepted and has been implemented in a significant number of organisations. The role used to be mainly associated in general with sport and more specifically with football; however, the coaching role has been embraced by both public and private organisations around the world. The reason for its wider acceptance is that is offers those who supervise/manage learners a much more powerful process of development of learners that the traditional ‘command/control’ process ever achieved. It is also a role that can be adopted by any person who has the required skill and knowledge base.

The real value of coaching is in its clear focus on skill development with the ability to call on a wide range of resources designed to suit the learner. It usually starts with establishing a benchmark on the current skill level followed by an assessment of what needs to be acquired to meet the new performance requirements. The focus is on knowing what learners need to achieve and on helping them to find the most effective ways of acquiring the resources to make it happen. The coach’s role is usually employed for the time necessary to enable learners to achieve the desired performance level in a sustainable manner. It is a most effective process for growing the capability of the individual thus enabling them to feel valued by the organisation and it also effectively meets the ongoing performance requirements of the organisation.

As mentioned above it is a role that can be applied by many employees who have a capability that is needed by other colleagues. There is no doubt that they would also benefit from learning to effectively coach from those who are experienced coaches. There are also many organisations offering certificated training in coaching which moves the process to a more experienced level.

Mentor

When carried out in an effective manner the role of mentor can be a very powerful short or longer term process that enables individuals to develop their potential.  Organisations that support the mentoring process are more likely to be seen as able to integrate individual aspirations with opportunities thus creating a motivational and innovative culture. Individuals may use a number of mentors that can add value to their thinking and provide insights about potential opportunities.

Usually a mentor is an uninvolved confidante and advisor i.e. not the person’s manager. Sessions are strictly confidential and not part of ‘management’ processes, thus allowing the mentee to explore issues and take risks without fear that the conversation will become known. I have had first hand knowledge of the effectiveness of mentoring when it is done well and of the ineffectiveness when done poorly. In fact it would be better not even attempted unless it is going to be well done. What is needed is a constructive relationship between mentors and mentees based on respect with a clear agreement on the groundrules they will work to. Done well it provides both parties with growth and development as there is challenge in mentoring others’ aspirations and enabling them to achieve what they want.

Whatever your position of accountability, If you do not have in your life an effective enabler, coach and/or mentor, get one or more of them now and experience the empowerment that will result.

Completing the six roles

You will have observed that the Enabling role is usually associated with the people accountable for learners outputs, however, the role can also be adopted by others who have a constructive interest in assisting learners develop. Enablers will be concerned with ‘smoothing the pathway’ for learners to enable them to acquire the additional skills and knowledge required to be improved performers. Whereas, the Coaching role would be carried out by people who have the necessary skills and knowledge. The Coaching role is the most intense due to the nature of the close liasion needed with learners to guide them by instruction, drills, practice to acquire the ability to perform at the level they and their organisation requires.

Although the final two roles of Team champion and Cheerleader have some characteristics that are similar to the four roles that I have described there are some interesting differences. I will cover the roles in my next blog, however, in the meantime if there are any parts of the role that you would like to learn more about contact me at tom.jaap@centell.org or leave a comment on the blog.

Best wishes

Tom

The new managing roles

I briefly outlined the following six new managing roles in my last blog and will provide more detail on Visionary in this blog:

1. Visionary
2. Enabler
3. Coach
4. Mentor
5. Team champion
6. Cheerleader

Although I have called them ‘new’ managing roles the reality is that they already exist and are practised in the more enlightened organisations. However, we need to be aware that sometimes the roles have been applied in ways that fail to deliver the positive outcomes that they are designed to achieve.

At all times it is important to remember that these managing roles are about creating a constructive environment that is designed to encourage and release team member talent. The aim is to enable every team member to empower themselves to use their capability to deliver whatever they are accountable for, to the desired quality and on time.

Understanding the context of managing behaviour

Before we explore the Visionary managing role in more detail it would be useful to explore the fact that although we are all different we share many behavioural characteristics. From the time of Aristotle it was recognised that in the population there tended to be FOUR distinct types of people who have been described in a multitude of ways since.

Centell Limited decided to use a colour metaphor to describe four types of behaviour as a means of providing a relatively easy way to understand differences and similarities. The diagram below illustrates the four colour types with a brief description of each in terms how you can observe their managing behaviour.

This should help you to appreciate that we all tend to approach the way we manage from quite different perspectives and by using different contexts. With regard to the Visionary managing role, if we are a person with

• a very strong Red managing orientation, our preferred approach (vision) will be to inspire others to achieve the big picture outcomes
• a very strong Green managing orientation, our preferred approach (vision) will be to achieve perfect, detailed outputs that can withstand scrutiny
• a very strong Blue managing orientation, our preferred approach (vision) will be to focus others on achieving the agreed results
• a very strong Yellow managing orientation, our preferred approach (vision) will be of achieving outcomes through collaboration

As you can see, there is a high probability that conflict could emerge when working with others of a different ‘colour’ orientation unless one or both of us understand the differences in our respective managing approaches.

The fact that we all see the world differently to varying degrees makes the process of managing a highly skilled activity. It requires us to suppress our ego in order to focus on understanding the needs of our individual team members and then to seek the most effective ways to meet them – believing that this enabling approach releases their capability. This is where the new managing roles are critical in achieving this outcome; however, let us now look at the Visionary role in a bit more detail.

Visionary

As mentioned in my last post one of the most important needs that a team member has is to be clear on the purpose and direction of their organisation.

This is to provide team members with an understandable framework on how their contribution enables the required outputs to be achieved in collaboration with other team members. Understanding our own colour preferences and the colour preference of our manager means that we should be able to appreciate how they arrived at the vision they communicate and how this relates to us

Irrespective of a managers colour preference they need to be able to take a “helicopter view” in ways that take them above the minutia of everyday activities in order to perceive where they should be going in the future. One of the main blockages to shaping a vision that is meaningful to all team members is that managers tend to arrive at a collective vision based on what the board has deemed to be the way forward. This is then expected to be cascaded through the organisation. The basic flaw is in the belief that the vision can be ‘cascaded’ in ways that make sense to the various listeners without their active participation in shaping it.

The power of dialogue

The proven fact is that in today’s fast moving world no single person has all the answers even if they hold the position of CE or Director. This makes it essential for the Visionary manager to engage with others within and outwith the organisation to gain their insights. Therefore, dialogue with a wide range of team members is essential for managers to really understand and differentiate what the key issues are that can propel the organisation forward from the issues that anchor it in the present or past. The different perspective and contexts can help manager to put shape to a pathway to the future that is both visionary and inclusive. Engaging both formal and informal leaders in the envisioning process can make the difference between success and failure.

The Visionary manager manages by keeping the team informed about the way forward with:

• Keeping in touch” interactive sessions that focus on ways to improve performance and productivity.
• Regular feedback on how well the team is tracking on achieving its desired outputs.
• Information on potential changes to the team or its outputs with the opportunity to discuss them.
• Helping the team to get on with their work by dealing with all the internal and external issues that could deflect them from what needs to be achieved.
• Active involvement in dialoguing ideas on what could be the most appropriate way of developing the team and its capability.
• Confronts the issues of non-performance and inappropriate behaviour in ways that make those involved recognise the consequences of their actions. Their aim is to give the team members the opportunity to make the necessary changes to enable them to effectively and appropriately contribute to the teams outputs.
• Seeks every opportunity to applaud the team’s success in overcoming difficulties including when it achieves the desired outcomes in a truly effective manner. This is about seeking to discover what the team is doing right and acknowledging it rather than looking for what it has done wrong and then attributing blame.

The Visionary manager manages by being constantly aware of the danger of being stuck in the past due to the pressure from others to take the safe and well trodden route. They are conscious of the desire for Red managers to take excessive risks and for the Blue managers to agree if it produces quick practical outcomes. They also know that Green managers are likely to cautious and more risk adverse in being less likely to support the Red managers ‘impulsive’ ideas. The Yellow manager will tend to support the Green managers caution particularly if what is proposed could have an adverse impact on the team or a team member. Being able to ‘read’ the perspective and context used by managers without trying to ‘pigeonhole’ them can be exceptionally valuable. Insights are gained by observing how each manager operates and building a framework that enables you to keep focused on the now whilst looking forward into the future.

Engaging team member talent

The challenge we read about constantly in the business press around the world is about how to improve employee productivity. To meet this challenge effectively will require a significant mind shift by top management to help them appreciate that their drive for command/control over work inputs/outputs methodology minimises productivity over any benefits achieved. If only they would realise the immense potential that could be gained by encouraging their managers to adopt and employ the managing roles that empower rather than disempower team members. To jog your memory, the disempowering practices that spring from command/control include:

• Ineffective managers (don’t know what they are doing)
• Bullying and other abusive behaviour by managers/team leaders
• Using ‘performance issue’ as cover for own bullying behaviour
• Poor relationships with colleagues fostered by management
• Inadequate resources and information
• Limited or no effective feedback
• Lack of fulfilling work
• Blame culture that creates fear through intimidation
• HR and management processes that ineffectively deal with team members who complain of abuse or disadvantage by their managers/team leaders/colleagues

To overcome these debilitating behaviours will not be easy as they are endemic in many organisations. With increasing online/offline networking by team members who share what is going on in their workplaces, change will become easier to implement. The first step by organisations and managers is to recognise and accept that some, or all, of the ineffective behaviour exist. This needs to be coupled with a genuine desire to change by introducing an effective enabling culture. This is where the new managing roles can play an important part.

Managing – using the six roles

I have focused on the Visionary role and introduced the ‘colours’ metaphor to describe one way of looking at the behavioural similarities and differences expressed by people in their everyday interactions. The more that we understand what influences our behaviour the better equipped we will be in dealing with others in a widening range of situations.

As effective performance is critical to achieving the desired outcomes I will deal with this when exploring some of the other managing roles in my next blog.

Tom

Management – wake up call!!!

The explosion in internet networking brought about by Facebook, Twitter, My Space, and a host of other channels means that people are more willing to share their ideas, opinions and fears than ever before. This new level of open communication is beginning to impact on organisations that are not making the best use of all their employees.

The fact that almost every employee survey reports a decline in productivity appears to be missed by most management teams. The reason for the poor productivity is due to employee demotivation caused by a range of factors including:

• Ineffective managers
• Bullying
• Poor relationships with colleagues
• Inadequate resources and instruction
• Lack of fulfilling work
• Fear
• Inappropriate culture

Although there are many effective managers who work well with their teams somehow they don’t appear willing to confront those other managers who fail to behave in ways that enable their teams to perform at truly effective levels. Part of the reason for their reluctance is often associated with a culture of blame and fear in that any perceived criticism of another more senior manager often results in a witch-hunt. The risk of being ostracised, sidelined or even asked to resign, is just too great for some managers due to negative financial consequences. Consequently few managers take the risk and tend to conform in ways that ignore the inappropriate behaviour of their colleague managers.

The new managing opportunities

I foresee a time in the near future in which employees at all levels will not be prepared to accept behaviour from another colleague that is inappropriate. They will use the internet networking processes to share their opinion of the situation to test how many others are experiencing a similar situation. This will raise increasing awareness of what is going on and will likely result in strategies being formed to deal with the inappropriate behaviour.

Instead of waiting for a ‘popular revolution’ to happen, now is a great opportunity for managers to adopt roles that are focused on empowering their teams to enable them to deliver effective results. The following roles are not new but are ones that are not used often or effectively enough. I will briefly describe them now and give more detail in later blogs:

1. Visionary
2. Enabler
3. Coach
4. Mentor
5. Team champion
6. Cheerleader

1 Visionary

Most teams want to have a manager who can communicate a vision of the future shape of the organisation in order to be clear on the direction it is taking and the parts they will play. Managers don’t need to read ‘crystal balls’ to create scenarios as most team members would be happy with a big picture description and the opportunity to ask questions that put more detailed shape to the way forward.

The importance of the Visionary role is in engaging in dialogues with a wide range of colleagues to obtain a clear understanding of what is going on in the organisation and externally, and how this impacts on the way forward. Armed with these insights they can then engage the team members in exploring how they will work together and individually to achieve the agreed goals. Managers would also keep their teams updated on progress and potential changes to plan in order to keep them up-to-date and focused on achieving the desired outputs.

2 Enabler

The Enabler role is very much about finding the most effective ways to assist colleagues and team members work productively on the things they need to do to achieve the desired outputs. This could involve interacting with other sections to clarify and resolve issues that could potentially deflect the team. The aim is to be fully informed of what is going on in the organisation in order to smooth the way by enabling team members to keep focused on what needs to be achieved. This includes removing blockages, resolving disagreements, engaging additional resources, acquiring new equipment and processes, and any other activity that facilitates/improves the team’s performance.

3 Coach

There will always be a need to develop capabilities in terms of knowledge, skill, and behaviour simply due to change being consistent. Managers who invest time keeping informed about the performance capabilities of all team members will be in an ideal position to help when needed. Regular informal performance reviews done on a daily or at least weekly basis are essential. The aim is to maintain constructive engagement with team members in order to be aware of their areas of over and under achievement. In some instances they will need to provide coaching to assist team members to improve their performance and in other cases to seek more challenging opportunities.

4 Mentor

This can be a very important role in providing effective guidance and support for team members. It is often suggested that managers should not mentor their own team members. Although this may be the case in some instances of difficulty between the manager and team member, in most cases the manager is in an ideal position to mentor team members. This is because the manager is usually informed about what is going on in the organisation and about new opportunities that could be available to the team. Being able to share these insights and to provide ideas on how team members could position themselves for new challenges is an important part of the effective manager’s role.

5 Team Champion

Almost every team will need to believe that their manager is a strong supporter of the team and uses every opportunity to be its champion. They would want their manager to be their advocate in meetings with other managers and with senior management. If difficulties were being encountered the team would expect their manager to share the issue with them and to seek their input on how to deal with it. Once an acceptable solution had been agreed the team would be confident that their manager would be supporting the decision whenever needed. If the issue was not being resolved appropriately they would expect to hear that from their manager and to have other opportunities to suggest a different way forward. When difficulties do arise it has been discovered that team members frequently know what needs to be done to fix the issue. This is why managers need to be available and willing to continually engage with their team. Once they learn to have confidence in their team they are then in a better position to champion them.

6 Cheerleader

Constructive and genuine encouragement given regularly to a team is the life blood of higher morale and productivity. Managers need to learn ways to find their teams doing things right rather than focusing on what they do wrong. Getting away from a ‘blame’ culture is the first step to discovering really effective ideas on how to effectively lead a team. Having confidence in the team and believing in their capability to be highly productive is an essential ingredient for a modern manager. Team members want their manager to be open and honest with them and if there is a performance problem to have this addressed in an appropriate manner. Most team members actually want to do a great job and it is the manager’s accountability to find ways to keep them on the right track. Finding them doing things right and letting them know this will provide significant benefits for both manager and team.

Managing – using the six roles

I intend to expand on the six roles in my next blog as the time is right for existing and new managers to think seriously about why the efforts of the truly effective teams are adversely impacted by the underperforming teams, and they appear to get away with it. This is where social networking is beginning to expose the incompetent managers and will eventually give encouragement to the effective managers to confront the underperformance in constructive ways. Their teams will come to expect no less from them.

Tom

Achieving outstanding results

The one thing that I have learned from my work in Enabling Leadership is that the majority of people really want to do the best they can. Time after time this belief has been proved correct in practice, particularly when the following conditions exist:

• The people are interested in the work/activity and want to be successful at doing it.
• They are effectively briefed on what is expected to be achieved.
• Given the necessary materials/equipment and guidance on how to use them in the most effective manner.
• Provided with feedback on how well they are performing and given guidance and support if their efforts are not to the required standard.
• Given room to experiment and to learn from the mistakes they might make.
• Encouraged to try new things in order to extend their skills and capability.
• Provided with regular constructive feedback and encouragement.
• Recognised and appropriately rewarded for their contribution.

If outstanding results can be achieved and sustained when the right people and conditions are in place, the question is, “why do many public and private organisations not recognise and implement them”. From my experience the answer lies in the way many organisations are structured. The hierarchical structure tends to be the most prevalent because it is perceived to provide management with the greatest degree of control over the performance of employees. In reality this tends to be a myth in that it may appear to control employees yet it fails to achieve the degree of performance that employees are capable of producing. This is mainly due to the hierarchy being built on superior/subordinate relationships that are fundamentally flawed.

There is the mistaken belief that the superior in the hierarchy is better placed than the subordinate to make the important decisions. Whereas, in today’s fast changing world the roles are frequently reversed yet the so called “subordinate” is not encouraged to help to the degree he/she could.

Take back your life from the organisation

I have invested many years as an organisational consultant with two main goals. Firstly, to find ways that enables people to make an added-value contribution to their organisation. Secondly, to encourage them to create an appropriate life/work balance that their organisation has the potential to take from them. The often subtle demands increase to the point where the job begins to consume a greater amount of both thinking and actual time. It can happen in ways that are not noticed because of the gradual way that the demands are made. Before long “working for the corporation” takes on a vastly different context because it permeates almost every part of a persons life. And this applies to a wide range of people from directors along to front line colleagues; in fact, very few people escape this creeping erosion of free time.

Beside some organisations that were able to sustain effective change the majority tended to gravitate back to their old practices when change initiatives stopped. Even when a new CEO, who is all fired up with the need to change, implements a new change strategy it is only a matter of time before the embedded culture regains its power by returning to the status quo. Therefore, as it would take something akin to a major catastrophe to effect any change to the traditional hierarchical organisation I now, somewhat belatedly, realise that my focus needs to change.

I now recognise that the focus should not be on even attempting to change the organisations hierarchy, but instead to focus on ways to encourage employees to empower themselves to create the environment that enables them to shine.

What encourages me in this mission is that one effect of the information age is that no single person has all the knowledge necessary to meet the needs of every situation he/she encounters. However much the organisation attempts to operate on the superior “knowing” and the subordinate “doing” the less effective it will become. Why? It has become a time for sharing knowledge and experience in collaborative ways to enable effective results to be achieved.

To remove the manager/subordinate relationship from being a major weakness, the ‘management” needs to move beyond its dinosaurian attempt to control everything. The internet has opened up a whole host of new ways to communicate with social media playing a particularly critical part. It is almost impossible to keep information controlled as it was in the recent past.

In addition, the amount of information, complexity in the structure, and pace of doing business today makes it almost impossible for many managers to be fully in touch with what needs to be achieved in their area of accountability.

However, when all the people who are involved in the process collectively share their knowledge they are more than likely to find suitable solutions and be committed to make them become a reality.

Happy with mediocrity?

Let us briefly look at why the change in focus is so critical at the start of a new decade. A situation that initially puzzled me was why so many enthusiastic, energetic, and highly motivated people who joined an organisation had become less enthusiastic, somewhat lethargic and with limited motivation after only a few months in their jobs. When I asked a number of then to explain what had caused the difference the main reasons given were:

• Forced to quickly conform to office politics, policies, practices, and rules that, to them, did not make sense in terms of achieving effective results (“this is how we do things here”).
• Being given work to do that did not make use of their capability or experience.
• Restrictions placed by management on their ability to connect with colleagues in other sections on issues that was relevant to getting things done. Some were told to always get permission before engaging with colleagues from other sections.
• Simple tasks were made complex by the number of people who apparently had a “finger in the pie”.
• Being expected to attend meetings that did not have a clear purpose or outcomes other than to “represent” my department and make certain that nothing was agreed that adversely impacted on it.
• Friction with those colleagues who had learned the rules and were now “protecting” their jobs and thus reluctant to help achieve what we were expected to accomplish.
• Receiving abstract and conflicting instructions from managers who were not willing to expand or clarify or made you feel stupid if you asked.
• Experiencing aggressive and abusive behaviour from managers and some senior colleagues which was “bullying”

It would come as no surprise to you to appreciate that one or more of the above reasons could result in most people producing at least average or possibly even mediocre performance. However, there will always be the exception to the rule in that some people will have the capacity to operate effectively in such environments. The opportunity we have is to find ways to enable an increasing number of people to develop who are willing and capable of dealing constructively with each of the above situations.

Being liberated

It was interesting to discover that many of those who were the exception were in fact ‘characters’ who were strongly ‘inner directed’ and, as importantly, very active learners.

They described how they operated saying that they:

• Felt empowered to make decisions and take whatever action was appropriate to achieve desired goal or outcome.
• Formed alliances and partnerships with like minded people as this enabled them to gain strength from these positive relationships.
• Kept in active touch with their networks by sharing what they were doing and received feedback on what was going on in the wider world.
• Were willing to constructively confront the people and practices that they observed were producing less than satisfactory outcomes.
• Had created a personal vision of how a constructive organisation could operate and were willing to strive to make this a reality.
• They deliberately chose strategies that enabled them to continue to be empowered

During the many conversations they often describe that they felt ‘liberated’ in ways that helped them to successfully overcome the barriers to effectiveness discussed above. With this amazing potential available to organisations it is a puzzle why so many continue to act in was that fail to realise this incredible potential for the benefit of all in the organisation and those it serves.

The emerging roles for ‘senior managers’

I indicated in my last blog that I was excited by the significant opportunities that exist for senior managers to adopt new roles designed to bring out the potential described. However, I felt a need to find ways to encourage everyone to take back their life from the organisation before share my thoughts on the different roles in my next blog. In this way it provides a framework on which to connect the roles with ways that liberate all colleagues.

Tom

Helping colleagues to be empowered

Although the term “being empowered” has been abused by sloppy application in some organisations this should not be a barrier to making it happen in an effective manner. The main rule is to recognise that it is about creating the environment that enables all colleagues to empower themselves. Therefore, it is not about the leader empowering colleagues. It is more about the leader finding how to appropriately encourage colleagues to grow and develop their capability in ways that fit with their needs and the needs of their roles.

A leader would look to create an environment that contained at least the following components:

• Provide colleagues with opportunities to do work that is perceived to be meaningful and fulfilling for them.
• Information on what a colleague was expected to achieve and how performance would be reviewed.
• Describe how the colleague’s outputs fits in with the overall plan and the need to work collaboratively with other colleagues.
• Describe and agree on the resources the colleague would need to be successful.
• Agree the basis and form that feedback will be handled including how feedback on the leaders’ performance would be arranged.
• List the opportunities a colleague would have for developing capability.
• Describe the opportunities that could exist to take on more responsible/demanding assignment.
• Encourage the sharing of information and supporting other colleagues when needed as well as how the colleague can obtain information and support if needed.

The goal is to create a dynamic environment that is achievement focused by encouraging colleagues to work as a team rather than as an individual. This would result in rewards systems being based on the team result with possibly a small element given for exceptional individual contribution. Giving colleagues the opportunity to grow and develop together can provide the basis for exceptional achievement. It gives opportunity to colleagues to do their best whilst knowing the when needed they will support other colleagues or receive support from them.

Get rid of what restricts achievement

The more we can trust colleagues to take full responsibility and accountability for delivering the desired outputs that will really delight customers the less need there will be for all the HR and other organisational systems and paperwork. It does not make sense to keep using systems and process that fail to add value to the organisation or to its people. All that happens is a series of activities that are time consuming and de-motivating. The time is ripe now to move to a truly enabling way of working that actually values and respects everyone involved.

Often MDs think individual rewards are essential in recognising performance as well as avoiding paying more to people who under-perform. It has proven to be a fact that poor performance is seldom effectively dealt with due to inadequate systems and commitment. The more the accountability is with teams of effective colleagues the more likely they are to help each other achieve. If someone demonstrates an unwillingness to learn and improve then they would be removed from the team and the organisation if nothing suitable for their capability was available. One of the strongest motivators is to belong to a successful team and to be appreciated for the contribution made.

What stops senior management making changes

A whole industry of control and procedures based on HR initiated processes such as job descriptions, position descriptions, job evaluation, job grading, performance reviews, reward systems are great ways of retaining the status quo. The same applies to other business systems such as the budgeting process, strategy and planning, key performance indicators (KPI) which usually involve lots of management meetings. Many of the above systems have become rituals that are frequently considered a chore and meaningless to many of those involved at middle and junior management. The reason they exist and are still used even when many know that they are ineffective is that they have become woven into the fabric of organisations.

The weight of responsibility and time consumed attending to completing and following the procedures is so demanding that even to think about doing things differently is perceived to be too difficult to even consider. Yet the answer is quite simple when the focus changes from controlling colleagues to one of finding ways to help them empower themselves. Instead of using tools that have been proved to be ineffective such as the HR procedures listed above, encourage colleagues to generate new tools that are meaningful to them. Most of the people I work with in organisations are more than capable of designing a one or two page outline of what they are expected to achieve in their role and how this fits with other colleagues. This simple document then would be used to get immediate feedback on performance and achievement from those who receive a service or product from the colleague. What I suggest is not difficult to achieve once trust is placed in the capability of each and every colleagues. It also requires senior managers to see their role as enablers who are continually seeking ways to encourage colleagues to be empowered. Thus the focus moves from command/control to empower/self-manage.

Finding Solutions

It is a fact in today’s fast moving world that no one person has all the answers and therefore it makes sense to connect with other colleagues who each have a part of the answer. By involving a number of colleagues in a solution seeking process the probability is very high that a number of potentially effective solutions will emerge to deal with the issues being encountered. In addition to the satisfaction of being involved and in generating solutions most colleagues gain a stronger commitment to make sure that the agreed option actually achieves the best outcome.

The entrenched mindset of traditional management just fails to recognise the tremendous potential and capability that exists within their “staff”. Given a genuine opportunity to be involved in solving the kinds of issues that most organisations face most colleagues would respond in a positive manner. However, the involvement must be genuine, and not a palliative exercise, as confidence needs to be built by seeing that the outputs from the exercise are actually being used by the organisation. Colleagues have sadly experienced being involved in initiatives that have started with a bang only to fizzle out when the next “flavour of the month” initiative appeared. It would not take a leader very long to have a team of highly engaged colleagues working to achieve really sound results simply because they want to!!!

Power of a traditional mindset

I was contacted recently by the MD of a fairly large organisation who had been given a copy of two of my recent blogs. He wanted to discuss the relevance of my ideas on creating true engagement in an organisation. Over a long conversation it was interesting to note that for every idea I suggested on creating a community based engagement structure he raised reasons why it would not work. There was certainly a great deal of ‘truth’ in what he said from his perspective as the points he made resonated with my experience over the past 10 years in particular.

The central issue that emerged was that many senior managers are not actually change resistant but that the hierarchical organisational structure tends to be so strongly embedded it is capable of repelling any attempt at major change. There are just so many people who are ‘comfortable’ with the current practices because they are in control of them to the point where they can derail whatever “unwanted” changes that are attempted. The derailing is certainly not done overtly but by covert action designed to undermine the change process and any of the potential benefits that it could produce. Yet the surprising thing is that the people who do this covert work are few in number but are in influential formal and informal positions. The potential damage they do impacts on the majority who often are unaware of what is going on and this is where my thinking about developing engaged communities would enable colleagues to be fully informed and able to act positively with change initiatives.

Resistance to change

Since my last blog in January I have been reflecting further on some of the interesting things that go on in both public and private organisations. It is becoming increasingly clear that a lot of leaders and others in organisations are actually crying out for change that makes their effort more meaningful. However, their cries are drowned by the ‘noise’ of many supposedly support functions who are ‘wedded’ to procedures and systems that are generally ineffective. This high level of vested interest in retaining the status quo is one of the main reasons for the poor results many organisations experience. When change is sought it is no surprise when the ‘new’ procedures and systems are similar to what existed other than to be now computerised. I have continued in this blog to add to my agenda for change that can create empowering organisational environments.

The emerging roles for ‘senior managers’

I am excited by the significant opportunities that exist for senior managers to adopt new roles as they depend less and less on the traditional “command/control” philosophy and practice. I will share my thoughts on the different roles in my next blog.

Tom

6.3.2010

Let us do the best we can!!!

Firstly let me wish you all the best for 2010 and that it is a year that brings you all that you desire.

Having had the privilege of working with many people in both private and public organisations I have first hand experience of the amazing level of capability that existed. However, initially it was a mystery that the results these talented people produced was at best average and at worst mediocre. I know that we are all different to some degree and this also applies to our capability. Yet the general level of capability of the people I interacted with was nearly always more than enough to achieve the outcomes expected from their role. I set out to discover the reasons and found that in most instances it focused on the inadequacy of the organisational structure to encourage the best results from their people. It was also obvious that the talent pool was present at all levels in organisations therefore my mission became one of seeking better way of developing people to provide them with the ability to more effectively use their talents.

You will have noted in my earlier posts that I was critical of the disempowering effect that many hierarchical organisations have on their people in general with a few exceptions. This stimulated me to explore different models that have been tried elsewhere and from this experience to draw out the elements that would provide a working environment that truly enabled everyone in an organisation to give of their best. Before describing this environment I think it would be useful to reflect on the present situation in many organisations to make my case for the changes I suggest later on in this blog.

Why the need for a different landscape

From conversations that I have had with people who operate at different levels in both private and public organisations a consistent theme emerged. There appeared to be a significant difference in the mindset about people held by managers from the mindset of those they managed. The mindset gap could be described as follows; those who are managed tend to consider that they are capable of achieving what needs to be done when given the scope and resources to do so. Whereas, managers in general appear to question the capability of their subordinates to perform and this reinforces their need to closely manage them. This gap in expectation is a major reason for the level of dissatisfaction that many employees experience from being unable to accomplish the best results that they know they can achieve.

Therefore, change is necessary and it has been interesting to note that an increasing number of books, magazines, and media have been commenting on the need for a different approach to managing. The general picture painted of current management practice is that it leads to average or mediocre results and the reasons quoted for this can be summed up as follows:

• The notion that corporate goals can be cascaded down an organisational hierarchy in ways that makes sense has been proved to be fictional.
• The focus on shareholder return in preference to dealing effectively with all stakeholders fails to inspire most employees with the exception of those receiving exceptional bonuses.
• A ‘bonus’ culture fails to actually motivate in a healthy way as it tends to generate greed and selfishness with the outcome of disenfranchising the majority of employees.
• Paying senior managers significantly higher benefits that those in key operational roles is one of the main weaknesses of the traditional hierarchical organisation.
• People referred to as ‘subordinates’ tend to feel, to different degrees, ‘second class’ employees.
• ‘Reporting to’ a manager implies a ‘master – servant’ relationship.
• The ‘boss’ is expected to have all the information and answers to the issues that their ‘reports’ have to deal with.
• Working within a functional silo means that the ‘boss’ will operate from that functional mindset that may not be in the best interests of the organisation.
• Many ‘bosses’ are out of touch with what goes on in the organisation, particularly the higher up the hierarchy they are.
• ‘Bosses’ working in a functional silo tend firstly to act to protect the function when things go wrong rather than focus on what needs to be done to fix the problem.
• A management hierarchy tends to demotivate individuals to the point that their energy and creativity diminishes and is encouraged to flourishes in out of work activities.
• The scenarios painted by top management often bear little resemblance to what is experienced by front line staff. Therefore, initiatives generated by management frequently fail to deal with real needs in the organisation.

It used to puzzle me that the structural and productivity weakness of hierarchies had not been recognised by management to the point where they actually acted to implement a more effective way of meeting all stakeholders needs and expectations. However, I soon realised that the policies, rules, practices, and general orthodoxy of hierarchical organisations were deeply embedded. Therefore, the ideas that follow are my suggested way of effectively engaging everyone in the mission and purpose of their organisations.

Components of this different landscape

As we move from the ‘noughties’ into the next decade it needs to be a time to implement ways to encourage every ‘employee’ to be engaged and committed to achieve their organisation’s purpose for being in existence. The following ideas would make up some of the components of a new managing landscape:

• Equip each colleague with a clear appreciation of what they are expected to accomplish expressed in terms that they understand.
• Make certain that they also appreciate the impact of their contribution to others in the organisation and how they can keep informed on their actual performance as an ongoing process.
• Provide them with the tools and materials needed to help them succeed in making their contribution.
• Set up teams or ‘communities’ of colleagues who are linked to the outputs required with the authority and accountability for their outcomes.
• Involve everyone in determining and selecting the organisation’s strategic options as a means of capturing inputs from all the operational ‘communities’.
• There is likely always to be a need for a ‘manager’ who has a responsibility for seeing that each ‘community’ is given the information and support necessary to enable it to succeed.
• The ‘manager’ will also be a member of the community with a specific contribution to make that is understood and accepted by the other ‘community’ colleagues.
• Bonuses are unlikely to be part of the landscape as new ways of recognising and rewarding colleagues will be developed that take account of the effectiveness of each colleague’s performance.
• Regular and ongoing feedback on performance and other relevant information would be central to keeping everyone informed of progress, issues, problems, and of colleagues changing, joining, or leaving ‘communities’.

This suggested landscape takes for granted that most colleagues will be committed, motivated and responsible when treated with respect and given the opportunity to be effective contributors. To achieve this some of the current language and notions need to be eliminated.

Removing some of the ‘corporate speak’

I wonder who dreamt up the idea of using the term “human capital” to describe a group of colleagues in an organisation. The term is a ‘switch off’ for most colleagues who also find “Human Resources” equally irrelevant. The quicker that those who have significant influence in organisation recognise that they are dealing with people who want to be individual. Not people who appear to fit easily into the square boxes frequently displayed in organisational charts. The language used in hierarchical organisations is aimed at controlling the actions of all its employees so that they will conform. The notion of ‘levels’ where you “go up to meet the boss’ or “go down to the shop floor” are examples of how the hierarchy uses language to remind its employees of the ‘master/servant’ relationship that exists. It was also interesting to note that although many of these organisations have embraced the concepts of “engagement” and “empowerment” that they attempted to implements these concepts within the management hierarchy orthodoxy. This means that employees are ‘given’ opportunities to engage and be empowered as per the perception of their managers. You can bet that if they become too engaged or empowered in ways that are perceived to threaten the security of their manager, action will be taken to restrict their initiatives.

I have described much of the language used in earlier blogs and don’t intend to repeat them here as I guess that most of you will already have a very clear picture of what I am getting at. The fact that many employees experience ‘fear’ is often due to the way ‘management’ and managers operated. It no longer surprises me when I am told by someone that they are fearful of their manager or of other colleagues who are in the manager’s ‘favour’.

The dinosaurian manager!!!

This is a theme that I frequently raise in my writing and working as a consultant/facilitator. The reason is straightforward in that I encounter a significant number of people who share their frustrating experiences with managers. After hearing from so many people I produced an e-book entitled “Dinosaurian Managers” – “how to effectively deal with them” as a free source of ideas. This e-book was stimulated by how many wanted ideas on how to handle the relationship with their manager without adversely impacting on their jobs. The ideas expressed have been drawn from the actual experiences of those who chose to act to improve the relationship. However, it is important to always remember that we are all different and this means that what works for one person may not work for another.

My passion is to find ways to assist colleagues to gain the confidence and skill to develop effective relationship as this is the only way to make working with others a worthwhile experience. I KNOW that the majority of those I meet are desperate to make a truly effective contribution from which they receive an appropriate reward that may not only be monetary. The problem is that many organisations just don’t know how to treat their people in ways that genuinely encourage them to be fully engaged and committed.

True engagement

My picture of true engagement can be described as follows. “To be truly engaged I need to believe that I am fully informed in ways that enable me to produce effective results. I need to be respected and valued for the contribution I make which would be shared in the regular constructive feedback I receive. I would feel part of my community because I am actively involved in agreeing how and what we need to contribute to fulfil our purpose. This would be achieved in the way we openly discuss issues to reach agreement on the action that I need to take in collaboration with my colleagues. I would have ready access to whomever I need to connect with in order to be an effective contributor. I would know how well I am performing, how well my community is performing along with other communities, and finally how well my organisation is performing. I would be encouraged to feel a valuable member of the organisation by all colleagues simply because they know that I am giving of my best to my community and therefore to the organisation”.

The result of an engaged environment described would be a high level of commitment, willingness to share and contribute, permission to empower oneself, keen involvement in what the organisation stands for and strong support of its brand. A sense of being valued; building self-confidence resulting in an even greater willingness to do ones best for the benefit of all.

Making the change

Making the necessary changes in working practice outlined above does not need anyone’s permission as it is really up to each individual to take action. The first step is to connect with like minded colleagues to form a community in which ideas on how to shape working practices that encourage engagement and cross-functional collaboration. Sharing information and ideas with colleagues can provide a very useful platform on which to firstly be informed and secondly know the action to take to create a truly empowered working environment. Patience will be needed coupled with a determination to succeed as other colleagues may be less than enthusiastic about what you are creating. However, as they see you beginning to enjoy your working relationships and be more effective this can be a big influence in getting others to come on board.

Proposing a new era for managing

In my next blog, I will suggest ways to create what some might believe is an organisational utopia. However, as we enter this new decade, the signs are becoming very clear that ‘people power’ is on the rise and almost anything that is perceived to be constructive is possible.

Tom

04.01.10

The effect of ‘others’ on our productivity

I was recently working in Singapore with a really competent manager who was experiencing a lot of work related stress. She had read my earlier blog on managing and the negative impact of being ‘busy being busy’ and asked if I could help her deal with her ‘busy-busy’ situation. I enquired about how she planned her day and it emerged that she had a good handle on what needed to be done to achieve her daily goals. She then listed activities that were the things that tended to interfere with, and deflect her from, getting on with what she believed needed to be achieved:
• Receiving a significant number of emails from colleagues that were for information only.
• Emails from her manager asking for more detail on an issue that her MD or other directors had an interested in.
• Additional unexpected tasks given to her by her manager
• Colleagues dropping into her office to ask for information or just to chat.
• Being requested to attend meetings that she did not consider necessary or relevant.
• Frequently called to attend impromptu meetings arranged by her manager at short notice.

During our conversation it became abundantly clear that she was someone who was committed to achieve her goals on time and to agreed standards. She tended to be regarded as a ‘high flyer’ in the organisation and had been given extended responsibilities over the past six months. Although being overloaded and overcommitted was not a new experience for her, the current situation left her feeling, for the first time, inadequate for the role. It was interesting to note that she had accepted responsibility for her current position as she tended to be reluctant to say no when asked for help. As she was such a dependable performer she was seen as a reliable ‘pair of hands’ in terms of making things happen and thus attracted more work from others. In fact it emerged that the perception was that high performers were frequently “rewarded” by being given more work.

Punishing the willing worker!!!

This was a situation of the willing worker apparently being given more than she could effectively cope with, yet she still appeared prepared to accept even more work from others. It was interesting to observe this happening during our conversation and I reflected on how many other competent people had been put in the same position by being too willing to help others. I have come in contact with very effective people who were nearly destroyed by overwork and this was often accepted as being OK by others. Yet in the same organisations there are people who had developed strategies that allowed them to operate with a comfortable easily managed workload.

This unfortunately appears to be a fairly common case of giving additional work to the ‘willing horse’, which often results in reduced overall effectiveness.

Finding Solutions

Returning to the Singapore case I invested a couple of hours getting her to list the activities that needed to be done on time, those that had more flexible timeframes, and finally those that could be delegated or done more effectively. The information only email issue was easily resolved by adding a few rules to her Outlook system to effectively manage the different emails received so she did not need to open them.

The emails and additional tasks from her manager were a bit more difficult to resolve as she had established an unrealistic expectation by the way she had quickly responded to his many requests. I suggested that she arrange a meeting with her manager to discuss workload issues to see if he appreciated the impact on her of his practice of allocating unexpected extra work. This should also help her to learn if he understood the effect of his actions on her performance and if not, to explain how his requests deflected her from accomplishing what he expected from her. The meeting could accomplish at least two important issues, firstly, recording that his actions were creating stress through her work being overloaded, and secondly, offering the opportunity for solutions to be found. Fortunately, for both people in this story they were able to work out a satisfactory process that enabled an acceptable working arrangement to be achieved.

We had also examined in detail each of the meetings she was expected to attend from how the purpose and expected outcomes related to her role and performance requirements. This resulted in her ability to reduce her time spent at meetings by up to 7 hours a week. Working well with her manager and needing less time to attend meetings actually enabled her to effectively engage with colleagues who needed to talk to her as she no longer considered them as interrupting her work routine.

The role of fear as a motivator?

Frequently, I am told that with job restructuring and downsizing, those people left in jobs are being expected to handle the additional work. Empirical evidence certainly supports this observation and I have no doubt that it contributes to the increasing level of work based stress and fatigue that many colleagues experience. However, I am equally not surprised at how readily people are prepared to accept this unreasonable level of overloading and when asked why the main response was “fear of losing their job”. The level of perceived fear has increased in organisations of different types over the past few years and does not look like abating soon. Yet, although I accept that their perception is their reality, when exploring the situation with the decision makers there were often no plans in place that included staff reductions or major changes.

The pressure of keeping a job in order to maintain an appropriate lifestyle, that may include the basic need of survival, is intense for many employees. This could explain why some really competent people work themselves to a point of increasing ineffectiveness due to stress and fatigue. The fact that sensible people at all ‘levels’ in both private/public organisations experience the overwork syndrome and appear to ‘accept’ the consequences of low productivity is a real worry for society in general.

The need for, and value, of ‘reframing’

I have expressed in earlier posts my concern at the ineffectiveness of most traditional hierarchical/bureaucratic organisations and that many of the people described above are ‘employed’ in them. There is an urgent need for a total rethink about how we can create organisations that actually operate using the considerable talent that exists within them. The focus on leadership and strategy has actually diverted attention from the essential practice of effective managing of organisations.

It was refreshing to read the ideas presented in Henry Mintzberg’s book with the title ‘Managing’ where he comments on the research he did studying 29 senior managers for a day each. The analysis and insights on the practice of managing would be valuable for all new and experienced managers. He noted that many people expected changes to happen to the command/control type organisations from the introduction of the following initiatives: “Theory Y”, “human relations”, “participative management”, “quality of work life”, “total quality management”, and “human resources”.

However, in Mintzberg’s view, the result of all the initiatives was that people in organisations remained “subordinates”. Even “participation” kept them subordinate, because this was seen as being granted at the behest of the manager who was still fully in control. And the latest term “empowerment” has not changed the sense of people being “subordinate” because the term itself indicates that the power remains with the manager.

Achieving results with people

I do not have a particular model of organisation in mind as a ‘silver bullet’ that would solve all the current problems. However, I am working on developing several models that will focus on practices that effectively engage everyone in an organisation in ways that truly empower them to achieve agreed results. This could be achieved by using self-managing processes with occasional support and guidance being provided by ‘enablers’ in the organisation when needed. Some of the other characteristics that are likely to be found in the models are:
• Collaborative working that diminishes the rigidity and ineffectiveness of functional silos.
• Open sharing of information across units designed to assist everyone focus on, and work towards, achievement of agreed goals.
• Everyone being explicitly clear on, and understand how, their work contributes to what needs to be achieved.
• Feedback on performance would be part of the ongoing daily sharing of information on the progress being made by the teams and individual team members.
• Learning would be central to the way everyone operated by the way the knowledge gained from the successes and failure was captured and shared

The overall aim would be to have everyone actively engaged in producing the results that customers and stakeholders expect because they want to and not because they need to be “managed”.

Achieving Results with ’self-managing’

I am saddened by how much time and energy is wasted time in traditional hierarchical organisations by processes and practices that are recognised by many to be ineffective “management”. I will explore my thoughts on self-managing in my next blog.

Tom

2.12.09

What does ‘managing’ mean?

The light bulb came on recently when working with a very competent senior manager who was encountering difficulties with his vice president. Both managers were genuinely committed to achieving the best results possible with limited resource constraints. Yet the person I was working with felt under severe pressure due to what he considered to be unreasonable demands by the VP. Having the opportunity to talk to both managers over a period of time it became very clear that each was working to quite different project priorities. The problem was around the fact that the VP kept adding new projects or modifying existing projects and putting them into ‘do now’ priority category.

Although both were able to discuss the issue they appeared unable to ease the tension or agree on what to do to make the situation better. On further analysis the first manager was handling a lot of operational issues that were ongoing on top of the various projects that had been agreed would be tackled by the team. The manager set out a plan to deliver each of the projects based on the agreed priorities. However, the VP was more focused on strategic issues and tended to respond to what the President communicated were important priorities. We therefore had three different perspectives being taken on the performance of the first manager.

The President was generally interested in what needed to be done to meet the needs of her board and the business. Her VP was interested in responding positively to her instructions as he was also committed to the success of the business. However, the first manager was the only one of the three that actually knew what resources were available and the demands that this put on his team. Therefore, although all three could discuss the priority issues the President and her VP appeared to be on a different planet to the first manager. To explore this somewhat familiar situation we need to examine the practice of managing

Managing Others

The term managing means being clear about what needs to be achieved with the available resources and working with colleagues to make it happen in an effective manner. To be truly effective a manager also needs to have a clear understanding of the operational and personal circumstances faced by a range of people including:

·        those who have overall responsibility for the outputs

·        the people who supply materials and other necessary resources

·        colleagues who have an input to make to help achieve the outputs

·        the team who will do the actual work

·        customers who will receive the quality outputs

Because businesses are usually under a range of performance and delivery pressures many managers and team leaders are forced into being “busy being busy” and don’t appear willing to invest time in getting a clear understanding of what is involved to achieve the desired outputs from the different perspectives describe above. The reality is that a lot of assumptions are made that are not checked with the result that some of the parties continue working on potentially distorted perspectives. This is a recipe for disaster in terms of achievement and relationships.

Failure by senior managers to appreciate the day to day as well as strategic issues that are being handled by their direct reports has led to many unacceptable practices being adopted just to get the result the senior manager wanted. One of the most damaging is on relationships in that once a poor relationship develops between a manager and his/her colleagues, morale and performance is adversely affected. Yet the opposite outcome is just as possible to achieve.

Understanding each others ‘reality’

Being able to listen and appreciate another person’s perspective on an issue that affects both parties usually produces lots of potential “golden nuggets”. There are so many opportunities to learn really important things from others that can help us to be more objective in our understanding of mutual issues. Many people use a method called ‘triangulation’ as a process of gathering a number of different perspectives on an issue as a way of achieving a better understanding of the issue. This is their way of benchmarking the issue as it provides them with a frame of reference constructed using the inputs from others. It helps us test our own thinking about the issue and the people involved by contrasting it with the usually different scenarios presented.

The power of active listening is in the way it helps us connect with others in a truly empathetic way as we genuinely want to appreciate the other person’s view of the world. It is a fact that we all see things differently and that we all believe that our view of the world is the right one. The reality is quite different as most of us experience when discussing subjects that appear to be non-contentious. Somehow or other it becomes contentious because someone makes a comment of expresses an opinion that offends others. The disquiet caused can usually be resolved when the discussion is taking place in a constructive environment. However, just think of the effect on people when the environment is negative or hostile.

Making time to listen

Poor listening is a habit that many of us have developed over time simply because in most instances we are mainly concerned about how we see an issue. This influences us to listen defensively if we feel that our position is being attacked or to arrogantly assume that we have all the right answers.

Therefore, if managing is about being clear about what needs to be achieved with the available resources and working with colleagues to make it happen in an effective manner, we need to gather the insights from those colleagues involved in the project with us. This is the only effective way of achieving the desired outcome with the active collaboration of colleagues. It is also a fact that most us want to do a great job and to have the support and resources that enable us to achieve superior outcomes. Listening to understand in ways that demonstrates respect for the speaker will go a long way to encouraging them to actively enrol in making the project a success. This is mainly what ‘managing’ is about in that is effectively draws on the talent, ideas, skills, and motivation of all those involved, because that believe that they can make a significant contribution by being ‘involved’.

Breaking the busy/busy habit

I will suggest in my next post a number of ideas that can be used to move away from being trapped in the busy/busy syndrome. The aim will be to release our capability from potentially meaningless activity to focus it on effectively ‘managing’ ourselves and others

Tom

The end is nigh for ‘command/control’

I am fairly certain that most of us will have heard lots about the global financial crisis and maybe even experienced its negative impact personally. One of the clear messages emerging from the chaos is that the traditional ‘command and control’ management practice is fundamentally unable to cope with the dynamic demands of today. The result of greed and excessive risk taking was not tempered by the ‘management’ of many organisations and in fact was actively encouraged by them as these meant yet bigger bonuses/rewards. The result was, as we have come to experience, one of the worst global financial crises of all time and the worry is that no one yet can say that we have reached the bottom of the recession.

It is well understood by many of us that all the apparent safeguards associated with ‘command/control’ style of management is not usually robust enough to stop the type of financial abuse that we have learned about. The main weakness in ‘command/control’ is the dependence on someone being in ‘charge’ who knows exactly what needs to be done by those who they are expected to ‘manage’. The reality is usually quite the opposite in that the people being ‘managed’ actually know much more about what needs to be done than the ‘manager’. However, the hierarchy demands that each ‘level’ in the organisation needs to have a ‘manager’ over those who work ‘for them’. The outcome from this process tends, unfortunately, to lead to increasing mediocrity in whatever is being produced.

Time for change!!!

Many experts tell us that we live in a world that is information rich and time poor. Therefore there is the tendency to be overwhelmed by the amount and complexity of the information coming our way. This is why the managers operating a ‘command/control’ type of structure are generally unable to effectively handle all the information produced by their: superiors, peers, subordinates, suppliers, clients, trade associations, etc. However, there will be people in the organisation with part of the knowledge of what needs to be achieved and by connecting all these people a clearer picture is likely to emerge of the what and how to get it done.

Many years ago I promoted the notion of an organisation being like an amoeba in that its shape and structure could change to take account of the needs of the present and respond effectively to perceived future challenges. It is therefore very interesting to learn that a number of organisations are adopting a ‘cell’ like structure which in many ways is similar to the amoeba concept. The ‘cell model’ metaphor has been described in a number of ways and the one I prefer says that it is a structure that has elastic edges the can dynamically expand and contract and are porous with a central nucleus that regulates semi-independent processes. It is a fluid structure that allows the free circulation of critical knowledge, information, and energy. Like cells in the human body these organisational cells are alive!

A new order is beginning to emerge

The ‘cell model’ could appear an exciting environment to be involved in although I guess that there are a number of people who would still prefer the safety that the ‘command/control’ hierarchy usually offers. I believe that we need to have a number of different structures to meet the different needs of each organisation. However, whichever structure is developed by an organisation it needs to have the capacity to energise and engage all its people in ways that enable them to produce truly effective results. Unfortunately the evidence shows that those with traditional hierarchies are prone to creating a culture that produces general mediocrity.

Most of us will have heard lots about the global financial crisis and its devastating effect on people who have lost fortunes made by lots of hard work over many years as well as those who have lost jobs and homes. Although it is unlikely that we could ever act in ways that stop downturns and recessions in the global economy there are certainly opportunities to equip people with the skills that enable them to make effective contributions to whichever organisation they are involved with. This is why a new order is slowly emerging that is based on a different working paradigm in that we are encourage to be ‘self-managing’ to a much greater degree than exists for many of us today. However there are a number of hurdles that need to be overcome before the new order can be established.

Strong hierarchical DNA exists in people/organisations

It is interesting to review the history of many of the potentially powerful initiatives that have been introduced into organisations over the years. Here are a few examples:

• Total Quality Management with its Quality Circles that were designed to actively involve those at the sharp end of the organisation.
• A number dealing with Customer Service that was once again designed to involved those facing customers.
• Process Re-engineering with the aim of simplifying and improving business processes.
• “Management Competencies” were seen to be a great way to define management roles from strategic to the supervisory.
• Employee Engagement as a strategy to enable all employees to feel involved and committed to achieving the best results for the organisation.
• Leadership Academies that aim to share and develop effective leadership knowledge and skills.

In all these examples the potential to produce significant improvements within organisation was available yet somehow or other those who drove the hierarchy appeared to quickly drain the energy and enthusiasm of those involved until the initiatives slowly die.

The reason was twofold, firstly, the initiative did not have a sponsor who was committed for the long term, who owned the initiative, inspired those involved, had enough ‘power’ to make things happen, and enough power to negate the efforts of those who resisted any change to the status quo. Secondly, the stifling effect of command/control methodologies that needs to get everyone to conform to a set of rules that are designed to limit risk. However, these rules are often created with the purpose of dealing with deviant behaviour by the less than 5% of employees yet have such a negative impact on the 95% who really want to do a great job.

A relatively minor example of the constraining power of those who manipulate the hierarchy was observed by how it handled “mufti” days. This was an initiative designed to introduce a degree of informality and encourage a more relaxed working environment. Friday was often chosen as the day because it was at the end of the week and usually not particularly a highly productive day. In many instances the people were left to select what to wear with in some cases a guide in terms of it being “smart casual”. In a number of organisations that I have experience of many of the senior manager were very uneasy about the experiment as in their view their people could not be trusted to be sensibly dressed. As one could expect, and as they did, 5% of the people did appear in dress that was certainly unsuitable for the occasion and after a short time in many instances the experiment was cut short or more appropriate guidelines were introduced.

Although this happened some years ago the general relaxation in dress standards within many organisations fuels my confidence that, given an increasing number of people who see the value in creating different working practices, they can make it happen. Therefore, I believe that the value of self-managing in terms of effective achievement and personal fulfilment will be increasingly recognised by many.

Describing the new order

My confidence in seeing new ways of working is reinforced by the fact that there are an increasing number of leaders who are introducing new working arrangements that go a long way to enabling people to be accountably self-managing. I will invest time in my next blog to set out what I see as the new order with the confidence that there are leaders already exploring and implementing effective ways of encouraging self-managing practices.

Tom

Yes you can!!!

Lost, bewildered, confused, “at a loss to understand” are just some of the comments we hear about the impact on people of the current financial crisis. There is certainly a lack of confidence in our leaders being actually aware of what is going on as each major injection of taxpayers money into the Banks does not appear to achieve the necessary release of funds to businesses in need. The one potential sign of hope and confidence is in Barack Obama as a quite different style of President of the USA. There is a lot of optimism and faith being placed on him being able to gather a team around him with the capability of achieving a turnaround in the economy of the US.

With this in mind I am attracted to the term “Smart Power” recently used by Hillary Clinton and others to describe what they see as an effective strategy to deal with a range of global issues including the financial meltdown in the US. The term and what it implies is a neat fit for what I consider is needed to assist every bottom-up-leader fulfil their mission. Bringing together a range of tool and tactics designed to tackle the four critical areas of helping ourselves and others to develop potential, be self-assured, debt free, and continue to shape a better life for all. Fulfilling the mission is becoming even more essential as we enter a period of deepening economic recession.

Self-assurance is the foundation on which the other three are shaped. Self-assurance grows as our self-belief increases in relation to our ability to achieve our goals. However, it is interesting to note that being debt free would place us in the advantageous position of having the money to pay off credit cards, the mortgage, loans, and any other financial liability. In today’s financial climate this must be a great confidence and self-belief builder.

Smart Power and the bottom-up-leader

For those of us who aspire to be bottom-up-leaders we have the opportunity of using the smart power strategy to continue to assist our colleagues to take greater control of their lives. The first challenge is to be informed on what is going on in the local, national, and international business environment. Because being “up with the play” means that we are in a better position to make informed choices that are beneficial to all we interact with. Therefore when we work with others to develop their potential we are in the best position possible to truly assist them to build capability in the four areas.

Being relevantly informed about the actions you plan to take is most important if you are going to achieve the desired results. You have probably noticed how the description of an incident by several people tends to have quite significant variations on the detail. This is a natural phenomena caused by the fact that we each see things and situations differently. To avoid this trap it makes sense to triangulate by seeking input from three or more people to see what the common denominators are that would enable you to gain a relative clear picture on the issue. However, you may need to take a bigger picture perspective to enable you to really capture what is influencing the issue you are interest in dealing with. As an example, and before examining what we can do as bottom up leaders let us briefly explore the current situation and how it was created.

Financial turmoil impacts most on those who have been responsible savers

I have observed with amazement the sudden meltdown in the global financial market and how this has robbed many investors of most, if not all, of their savings. In addition the majority of sensible and responsible savers are seeing their hard earned savings being eroded by inflation and the miniscule interest now being paid by the Banks due to the financial meltdown. During the boom years many investors were seduced by high interest rates offered by investment houses and placed their capital with them only to be left high and dry when many of then were unable to continue to pay interest or even return the capital invested. Although they may now be considered greedy and unaware of the high risks associated with high interest earning believing that growth was inevitable as this was the investment culture for the past decade. Others who invested their savings conservatively have also lost out considerably as the interest on these accounts is now pathetically low.

However, it is almost beyond belief that those who helped create the crisis are being given extraordinary financial assistance from governments around the world. Yet even during this extraordinary time we learn that these same Banks and Investment businesses are unbelievably considering giving generous bonuses to their top executives with the spurious explanation that this is needed to keep their top performers. This could be considered a travesty of logic as it was reported that many of the very people they are attempting to retain were the ones whose greed and irresponsibility helped create the global financial mayhem.

The Deviants appear to have all the Power!!!

I was recently made aware of a very interesting video that shocked those who viewed it. The video explained in simple language that the mess we are currently in had been carefully orchestrated by a small group of very influential financiers. The video called “The Money Makers” described how a small group of very influential people managed to manipulate the American economy for many, many decades for their personal benefit. In fact their influence has extended around the world to the point that they can effectively plan for bust and booms to take place at a given time in the future. The most surprising piece of information was learning the that the US Federal Reserve, the US Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund are all privately owned and are not under the control of the US government. A number of specific actions to remove the power from these individuals is proposed with the warning that they would be aggressively resisted by the cartel.

Where from here?

The scary thing is that most people are given the impression that no one really knows what is going on and how to fix it. However, if what is said in the video is true, action is required by governments to take away the power of the “Money Makers”. This begs the question “do government see the need and if so do they have the will to act in face of what could be a tough battle with the “Money Makers”. The one thing that encourages me is the availability of information on the internet that provides different perspectives on the issues that face us today that was not available during previous recessions. This means that we can be much better informed about what is going on and thus able to interpret the messages that are communicated through a variety of channels ranging from the main stream media to blogs on the web.

As mentioned earlier, it makes so much sense to be better informed as this enables us to identify the choices we have when making decisions about many of the things that impact on our lives. Instead of being influenced by misinformation we are able to interpret issues from different perspectives to help us arrive at the best decision possible. 

Using Smart Power to Stop the Rot

The goal of using Smart Power is to help us all to regain the power we have allowed to be taken from us. It is very illuminating to hear the stories of lost power being told by those who have decided to act to recover it. They have become aware that their power was drawn from them from a number of sources including; parents, friends, work colleagues, organisations, and local and national government. Learning to seek and triangulate information we need from a range of sources will enable us to better able to identify when and where our power is under threat. Armed with this awareness we can act in ways that stop the rot and thus keep us on a path of increasing personal power.

Smart Power can be strengthened by like minded bottom-up-leaders connecting with each other to share experiences. In this way we can enhance the information in ways that leads to more effective methods to deal with the power reducing actions we encounter. Instead of being fed a diet of gloom and pessimism by the media and those around us we are able to tap into the wealth of constructive ideas and actions that already exist and can be improved through sharing. Collective sharing of information can lead to the types of constructive action needed to redress the balance of power in ways that assist more and more people to regain their personal power.  

 This will happen when a greater number of us truly care about each other and act in a responsible manner when dealing with the issues that have an adverse impact on our personal power. Being responsible means avoiding taking an unnecessary advantage of others when you are in the stronger position than them and instead to look for ways to help them empower themselves. President Obama described the opportunity in a nutshell when he recently said “Don’t underestimate the power for people to pull together and to accomplish amazing things.”

Regaining Our Personal Power

In my next post I will focus on the steps we can take to regain our personal power for the good of ourselves and others by developing the four areas that assist ourselves and colleagues to become more effective bottom-up-leaders through our use of Smart Power.

Tom