Your Employees Are Reading Between The Lines

Robert Lee Frost was a guest speaker at Syracuse University back in the 50's when my father was doing his undergraduate work.  During the question and answer period, a student asked the famous poet about his meaning of a particular line about the wind, and whether it could be correctly interpreted as having been intended as a metaphor for death.  Mr Frost answered, "No".  He was actually just talking about the wind.  The line had come to him as he was sitting on a high school baseball field, watching an early spring training session.  The wind was blowing.  Spring winds are cold.     

My dad laughs as he tells this story.  After hours of analysis in English classes where he and the other students had scoured each line of text for its hidden, deeper meaning, it turns out the poet meant exactly what he said.  Nothing was intended between the lines.

Whether you know it or not, this same analysis occurs in your organization every day.  Or at least it does if you haven't built a culture of open communication and trust.  Reading behind the lines is a learned behavior.  English students learn it in class.  Employees learn it on the job. 

If you want your memo interpreted exactly as it was written, here are a few tips. 

• Know the organization's vocab history - In last year's memo, did "restructuring" mean work was shifted around, a reorganization, or actual staff reductions? If it meant layoffs even one time, it will always be so for those who lived it in your organization, and that's what they will read between the lines next time they see that word. Chose your words carefully so that they match your intentions and aren't misconstrued due to past history.
• Don't forget what you've already said - Make sure your communications refer back to prior messages. Call it out if something has changed and explain why. Failure to connect the dots causes suspicion and confusion.
• Maintain an active dialogue with your team - Whether you're the CEO or a front line supervisor, you need to be in an on-going two-way conversation with your team.  Group discussions allow people hear information at the same time and with the same words.  The team is less likely to make assumptions about what you write or say if they have up-to-date data and a chance to ask questions on a regular basis.    
• Don't shy away from sharing bad news - Increasingly, employee feedback indicates that they want to hear both the good news and the bad from their leadership.  It's an opportunity to educate the whole team on the challenges of running a business and let them participate in finding the solutions.  If they know they'll hear both sides of the story, they don't have to go looking for the secret meaning of each memo.  They'll trust that you're going to tell them what they need to know, good and bad.
• Keep your influencers in the loop - Make sure your non-management influencers (the subject matter experts, the senior team members, the change agents) are informed early on so they can assist you in shutting down or redirecting misconceptions at the water cooler.  People listen to their peers, especially those they trust and look up to.
• Write to the level of your audience - Leave the eloquent language to the poets.  Your messages should be clear, using the language of the reader.  Employees think you're hiding something when you don't say it straight out.

I leave you with a verse from the Robert Frost poem "Two Tramps in Mud Time".  It's a beautifully stated description of what an April day is like here in the Northeast.  No need to read between the lines.  The wind is cold.

“The sun was warm but the wind was chill.

You know how it is with an April day

When the sun is out and the wind is still,

You're one month on in the middle of May.

But if you so much as dare to speak,

A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,

A wind comes off a frozen peak,

And you're two months back in the middle of March.”

 

 

Bringing Habits Into Our Awareness

"The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" is a new book by Charles Duhigg.  This video shows the author describing the "habit loop" of Cue-Routine-Reward with a personal example of a habit he wanted to change.  The habit loop is covered much more extensively in the book at both the individual and group levels.   

One of the things I found most fascinating from "The Power of Habit" was the research on how our brains can convert a sequence of actions into an automatic routine.  One example given is the process of backing a car out of the driveway.  When we're first learning to drive, this takes a great deal of concentration, but after a short period of time, we're hardly giving any thought to it at all. 

Or consider your drive to work in the morning.  You listen intently to the radio for today's news headlines, create a mental checklist for the workday ahead, and replay yesterday's board meeting in your head, all while simultaneously keeping your vehicle on the road, driving within a reasonable speed, avoiding the potholes and pedestrians, headed in the proper direction until you safely reach your company parking space.  Most days, you hardly remember anything about the actual drive, yet your brain just completed an incredibly complex sequence of activities. 

In coaching, we'd refer to that state of mind, when we're on autopilot, as being out of awareness.  That's where habits live, out of our awareness.  The first step to changing a habit is to become aware of it in the first place. 

In his video (and the appendix of the book), Charles describes an undesirable state - being 8 pounds overweight, and gaining.  He wants to lose weight, so he starts by reviewing what routines, or habits, are part of his day that could be considered for change.  A thoughtful review like this is typical in a coaching engagement.

What I like about the habit loop is that once a routine is identified, the model can then be applied to populate the associated reward that the brain was craving, and then the cue that triggered the brain to begin that routine.  This provides a tangible diagram, bringing the unseen into awareness where it can then be adjusted to drive the desired change.  Again, this is part of the coaching engagement, to identify the rewards and the cues in order to take action.

As anyone who has tried to make a significant change can tell you, awareness of a habit is just step one.  It takes well targeted action to move forward, with personal accountability, repetition, and often, support from others. 

How is Science Education Like Coaching?

I'm stealing this interview from Big Think and re purposing it.  The original article on this video is by Megan Erickson, "No, Seriously. Science Can Be Funny.".  It's based on this 90 second clip from an interview with Bill Nye, The Science Guy, and his response to Big Think's question "How is Science Education Like Comedy?". 

But I'm re purposing it here because as I watched the video, I was immediately struck with the idea that the core of his response might have been exactly the same had they asked him "How is Science Education Like Coaching". 

"You always want the student to figure it out for her or himself, you don't want to give her or him the answer.", says Bill.  "You want to get people to choose, to choose to embrace it."

Whether you want to encourage discovery, change, or as this interview spotlights, comedy, you need the "audience" to become active participants. 

This is why people don't make significant change in response to being told "just do it" or "do it this way".  They need to make the discovery on their own, to choose to do it. 

And that's the science behind coaching.  Actively engaging in exploration.  A catalytic process that brings new awareness, reveals different perspectives, allows for possibility, and inspires choice.

So I choose to hear Bill Nye share a message about choice that has a broader application than initially proposed.  And not coincidentally, that's exactly how science and innovation works.  Thanks, Bill, you are The Science Guy.

Overcoming Your Business Nightmares With Teamwork

You know the old saying, "the show must go on"?  Well, sometimes, it doesn't.  And if your business industry is the performing arts, telling your packed theatre that you can't deliver the show, is your worst nightmare.  Here's a story about how a prominent theatre in my local area faced that nightmare using teamwork.    

The full article appears in The Daily Gazette and is titled "Proctors overcame 'disaster' with teamwork".  Here's the scenario:  the audience is seated (all 2400 of them) for the afternoon matinee of a popular new musical, but the engineers could not get the sound to work.  Never before had Proctors been forced to announce to an audience that the show, which hadn't even started, was being cancelled.  Due to the complexity of ticketing/seating/scheduling/union hours, the next steps had logistical migraine written all over them, and the whole thing had all the potential to be a public relations nightmare.  And on top of that, there was an evening show scheduled of this same production. 

Skip to the end of the story, and what you learn is that it's in the midst of your biggest business nightmare when strong leadership and teamwork pays off.  And Proctors passed that test with flying colors.

Here's an overview of what they did right:

• The leader steps out front - CEO Philip Morris was on site, overseeing the crisis personally.  Further, he stepped forward and took on the toughest assignment of the day-announcing the bad news to the audience.  In an emergency, you need your leader to be visible to your customers and an example to the rest of the team.
• Explore all options -  The leadership team began thinking outside of the box on options for rescheduling well before the cancellation was made, even considering the use of "dark" days (down days for the theatre).  Be prepared to present creative alternatives and your best offer to the customer.   
• All hands on deck - Proctors called in every employee to come to the theatre to assist.  By the time the announcement was made, there were 26 employees from various departments on the phones and staffing all 6 box offices, programmers had reset the computer system to accept exchanges without charging a fee, and work had already begun to save the show that was scheduled to go on that evening.  Leverage your team and leave no one out.
• Honor unique customer needs - The team recognized that they had some special groups in attendance that day, specifically 3 groups of students.  Rescheduling needed to honor their request for a block of seats during a matinee show.  Also, one of the groups couldn't return to school right away, so the actors were enlisted for a special question and answer session with the students until their bus returned.  Knowing your customers allows you to address their needs.
• Keep working on the problem - Proctors had another show to run that evening.  The engineers stayed focused with debugging of the system, specialists were flown in, and new equipment was on its way.  The team never let up their focus to identify and fix the issue, and as a result, the evening show was able to take place on time.  While part of the team works on addressing customer needs, the rest of the team stays focused on fixing the underlying issue.
• Consider previous creative solutions - During the run of the "Lion King" at Proctors, the audience couldn't be seated until 20 minutes before the show was scheduled to start.  This was a logistical challenge, but the team was able to develop a plan to seat a full house in a tight time frame.  This same plan was called upon for the evening show when the engineers gave the go ahead on the sounds system with only 25 minutes before curtain call and a long waiting line of ticket holders.  Plans you've developed for unique situations can also work during a crisis. 
• Be transparent - Patrons for the evening show were notified in advance that a 10 minute delay was anticipated, resetting expectations for seating times.  And the full story of what went on that day was shared with the media, setting the record straight for the rest of the general public and future patrons about how unusual this was for Proctors and how well they handled a very difficult situation.  Get ahead of the situation by sharing your story in a factual and timely manner with your customer base.  

Congratulations to Philip Morris and his team on a job well done during their worst business nightmare.   

Study Shows CEOs Prefer Team Model

A working paper that came out this month from the Harvard Business School on "Span of Control and Span of Activity" sheds some light on how today's CEOs engage with their senior executives. 

Interactions between top executives are central to the top management team (TMT) literature in management. According to this area of study, senior senior management acts as a team, not as a group of executives operating independently.  The CEO interacts with senior managers and senior managers interact with each other to share information and collectively make decisions.  

In contrast, models in economics propose the classic inverted tree model of organizational structure.  The CEO and each subordinate has a pairwise nature (one-to-one) and there is no multilateral interaction involving more than one subordinate, or with a subordinate and other managers (one-to-many).

According to the time use data from this study, when the CEO sits down for an internal meeting, there is representation at the table from across the organization.  In fact, "almost a half of CEO interactions with insiders are in fact cross-functional, which provides some initial supportive evidence for the team model of managerial interactions", and this lends itself to collective thinking and decision-making. 

One of the findings reported in the report's summary is that "CEOs interact with their subordinates in a team-like fashion and less as a group of independent executives. This is generally supportive of the central implicit assumption of the TMT literature that senior managers interact like teams, and in contrast with the simple inverted-tree model prevalent in the organizational economics literature."

There's more to learn from this study about CEO interactions with subordinates, yet the confirmation that the cross-functional senior team is going strong seems to mirror the increased focus on team dynamics within the industries of leadership training and development, management consulting, and executive coaching. 

"Individuals don't win in business, teams do."  Sam Walton

Answers To Your Questions About What Coaching Can Do For Your Organization

In celebration of International Coaching Week, I share with you today a link to the Library of Professional Coaching.  As noted on their home page, "Our library includes a growing collection of articles, research briefs, and white papers which will serve as the ultimate free Internet-based source of information about professional coaching.  It's an easily searchable database of trusted, high-caliber, peer-reviewed content." 

This site is a valuable resource to those looking for answers to questions like these about coaching:

•      Why does an organization hire a coach?
•      How long is a typical coaching engagement?
•      How does coaching work for groups and teams?
•      What is the Return On Investment (ROI) for coaching?
•      How is coaching applied in different industries?

Additionally, you will find a wealth of articles on leadership topics such as :

•      Managing Change
•      Applying Emotional Intelligence in the workplace
•      Ethics and Values
•      Breaking Down Organizational Silos
•      Employee Engagement

Sponsors for this site include the International Coach Federation, and you can find more articles, research, and case studies about coaching on their Research Portal.

If you are interested in coaching for your organization,

•      send me an email at april@charltonconsultingservices.com
•      call me at 518-557-2864
•      visit my website at TeamsInTransition

 

  

Living In Your Calendar

I just read an article today on Harvard Business Review, thinking I might learn about a new productivity tool.  The article is called To-Do Lists Don't Work by Daniel Markovitz.

Turns out I was already following his suggested alternative, I just hadn't thought to give it a name.  I like the one he's come up with, Living In Your Calendar.  Having used this method for a few years now, I share it for your consideration. 

Here's Daniel's advice:  "The alternative to the feckless to-do list is what I call "living in your calendar." That means taking your tasks off the to-do list, estimating how much time each of them will consume, and transferring them to your calendar."  "In essence, you're making a production plan for your work."

For me, what that means is that my day, while still full, is realistic.  If the task doesn't fit, I move it to a day and time where it does.  And if something of higher priority comes up (for example, a client meeting), I move the task to a future day/time on the calendar to make room. 

Advantages

• Sanity  As I said, it makes for a realistic day.  Things don't so much move off the list as they just get done.  And I don't lose track of the rest of the work because it's already been scheduled somewhere else on the calendar.    
• No Guilt  The to-do list always made me feel like I was starting my day with a backlog of things I "should" have bene able to cross off yesterday.  The calendar method instead follows the philosophy that there's a time and place for everything.
• Prioritization  Since I'm scheduling, not just making a running list, I put things on the calendar in a manner that corresponds to due dates, appointments, and even best time of day for my work style. 
• Running Time Tracker  When I look back on my week or my month, it's easy to see where I've spent my time and then I can adjust on the go-forward if I think it's not in balance with my business goals.  It can also be an easy way to keep track of accomplishments.

Disadvantages

• Tough Fit For The Corporate Environment  If your typical day is back-to-back meetings with other people, you'll spend too much time moving your to-do appointments around.  At best, you might be able to work them into early or late day, but even then, only if you have little to no meetings with people in other time zones.
• Public Viewing  If others (like your team) have access to the contents on your calendar, they will also see these appointments, along with the details.  Unless the whole team has adopted this method, these appointments with yourself to do work may look to others more like free time such that they can insert themselves by calling/stopping by.  It can take a lot of discipline for you to protect these to-do appointments.
• Harder To Delegate  If you set up to-do's as tasks (Outlook), you can delegate them.  If you set them up as appointments, you can't.  The calendar approach assumes you are the only one who can do the task, or at least that you need to be involved while it's been accomplished.

So depending on your work situation, Living Your Calendar is an approach to consider.  The small business leader, solopreneur, or senior leader with a manageable meeting schedule (perhaps, 4 hours or less per day spent in meetings) would seem like a good fit.  Corporate leaders who are already double and triple booked in meetings from morning til night, not so much.