Once again, I am in awe at the collective wisdom and the willingness to share among the people who read Management Skills Blog. Yesterday we published a question from our mailbag. Here is the essence:

I have difficulty getting anything done because the people lack interest. They do not realize how much the business hinges on IT. I have tried introducing standard policies like email, AUP, DRP, a disaster recovery plan, but they just have no interest despite the importance.

To read the full story and all of the comments, please follow this link. Silly Policy.

One thing I have found over the years in classroom teaching, no matter how smart I think I am, no one listens. My son doesn’t listen, my wife doesn’t listen, my class members don’t listen. Yet, I am a teacher. How do I get people to listen? It’s the same conundrum for our IT manager. How can he get people to understand how important his IT policies are? It’s actually the same conundrum for any manager with any policy. How do we get people to listen?

We don’t. People will not listen until they see the benefit to listen. Here is what I would do if I were the IT manager in this situation. The objective is to raise awareness of the importance of these policies and procedures.

I would start with a survey. This can be administered via email without anyone’s permission. The questions should follow something like this:

1. On any given day, how many hours do you spend at the computer?
2. What tasks do you perform each day that are made easier with the computer?
3. How would you accomplish those daily tasks if the computer system were to fail this Friday?
4. How important is our computer system to your ability to perform in your role?
5. How could the computer system better help you perform in your role?
6. What could the IT department do to better help you perform in your role?

Remember, this is just the beginning to establish two things.
1. How the computer system is really helpful.
2. How much you are interested in their success.

And this is just the beginning. -TF

“Culture should be practiced and not need to be communicated,” says Naill in a comment to the post last Thursday about culture and how it is communicated through the company.

Hmmm. I agree culture should be practiced, but actively talking about the positive aspects of the desired culture is critical.

All kinds of conversations will occur about people and behavior in every company. These conversations will take place at the water cooler, the coffee break room, the smoking lounge, in meetings and in emails. They will occur in official communications and unofficial whispers. All of the conversations drive and document the culture inside the organization.

For the company that has determined its values mindset, actively talking about the positive aspects of people and their contribution (behaviors) is critical. The purpose is to identify those conversations and amplify them so they become the driving force, the tribal history.

These are the conversations that keep us alive. These are the conversations that distinguish one company from the next, one that is struggling and the other that sees success. -TF

Last Thursday, we received comments about the practice of communicating culture through official communication channels like newsletters. Eric observed that “the problem with company newsletters is, they come from headquarters, no wait, they reek of headquarters/HR etc.”

So, Eric points out a fundamental principle of management. Cluetrain calls it the “voice.” Dale Carnegie calls it “being genuinely interested in other people.”

This culture stuff is powerful. Most companies that merge together often fail, not because of financial difficulties or unsound business practices. They fail because the acquiring company failed to understand the culture.

And, yes, even an official company newsletter can find its voice, communicating like we are all sitting down over a cup of coffee, telling the truth and talking about things that matter. -TF

This next idea was easy. We had been working to create a bunch of ways that we could frequently and consistently communicate our company culture.

“It was right in front of us and we didn’t see it,” said Miguel. “Our company newsletter was full of informative articles about our 401(k) plan and how to make a claim with our health insurance carrier, but there was nothing about what our company is all about.”

Sadie spoke up next. “We put out our newsletter each month, that’s 12 issues a year. How hard could it be to come up with 12 stories that promote our company culture?”

Sam raised his hand. “Wait a minute, guys. You all think it’s important to spend time making up a bunch of stories to put in the company newsletter. I gotta tell you. I have work to do. I don’t have time to fiddle around with stuff like this.”

The group stopped. We had been in such a positive, back slapping, high fiving mode that we hadn’t noticed Sam in the back of the room. I could tell by the body language from the rest of the team that they would just as soon pooh-pooh Sam out of the room.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “You all are on board with this, but Sam has some serious heartbreak with the direction. And if Sam has heartbreak with it, some of the rest of the company is going to feel the same way. You can’t ignore it. How are you going to respond?”

How would you respond? I would like to hear your comments. Why is culture so important? -TF

“I need each of you to become an author,” I said. The management team looked at each other. I saw a set of eyes roll in the corner. I smiled.

“I need each of you to write a story.” I stopped for dramatic effect. “The story will only be four sentences long.” I could see a silent sigh of relief wave across the room. “In fact, we are going to write that story right now. To make it easier, you will all work with a partner. So, pair up. Let’s get going.”

We had been working on how to communicate our list of values throughout the organization. The idea was to create a story, four sentences long, that captured a positive example of a behavior aligned with one of the values the group had selected. Each manager in the group would be an author. In the room, we had vice-presidents, managers and supervisors. All told, twenty-three members of the management team.

Once each week, a story, written by a member of the management team, would be included in the weekly paycheck of each employee in the company.

In the next ten minutes, twenty-three stories would be created and signed. We had a volunteer from the clerical staff to collect and type them all up. We were covered for the next twenty-three weeks. -TF

As I walked through the entry way to the lobby, I noticed Miguel had posted the list of values in a cheap plastic frame next to the Mission Statement. I ducked into the conference room. Miguel sat up. “I know, I know,” he said. “At least it’s a start.” I stared at him.

“No impact. It’s not even a start.”

The rest of the management team huddled around, taking their places at the table. “Look,” I continued. “You have done a lot of work, but until you breathe some life into these values, communicate them as part of your culture, you might as well have stayed in bed.”

We worked the values list for thirty minutes, and in that short time, a series of ideas was constructed. There were details and accountabilities. For the next couple of days, I will share those ideas. If you like, you can comment or contribute below.

Hiring topped everyone’s list. That meant identifying behaviors connected with those values and constructing interview questions to be used in the selection process. We spent ten minutes brainstorming those questions. Interestingly, that ten minutes revealed more about the meaning of those values and how they would positively impact the culture than any framed poster on the wall.

We amplified those questions by circulating an email copy to several other committees and groups in the company. We got lots of feedback and suggestions for more questions.

We will take a look at another idea tomorrow. -TF