Energy and a Picture of the Future

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“I am sitting with my team at the warehouse door. Every product carton is sitting in its bin with its barcode label facing front. On the clipboard hanging by the shipping table is a computer report showing, in order, the highest turnover items. The top fifteen items on the list occupy the fifteen bins up front next to the staging area.

“Our controller is standing with the group. He has two reports from his computer system. One report is our book inventory in the computer. The other report is the cycle count report from the inventory just completed. The numbers at the bottom of the report match.

“The UPS driver just showed up for his afternoon pickup. All outgoing shipments have been sitting in the staging area, ready to go, for the past twenty minutes. There is no picking backlog.” Calvin was proud as he described this picture of his warehouse two weeks in the future.

“Calvin, why do you think this picture is important?” I asked.

“There are a hundred details that make this picture happen,” he said. “Some of the details, we will put on a list, but others we won’t. But if we continue to work toward the picture, it will all come together.”

“Calvin, the most important part of this picture is the pride I see in your face, knowing that you have finished a complicated process. We can set all kinds of goals and performance standards, but it is that picture of the future that drives the emotional energy to attack and complete a project. The most important planning skill is to create that picture of the future. Now, go make it happen.” -TF

Third Time is the Charm

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“I don’t understand,” puzzled Calvin. “It was only a two week project. Why do you think we need a plan, now? All we have to do is get the labels on the product boxes.” Calvin and I were working on the implementation segment of a barcode project.

“You tell me,” I said. “How well did the project turn out?”

“Well, we’re still working on it. It’s a lot of boxes, and we missed some as we were going through the inventory.”

“How did you find that out?”

“Oh, my boss showed up late in the afternoon and started looking around. It’s amazing how he can always find the stuff we missed. It’s almost like he went straight to it. Boom. In five minutes he found 36 product bins that we missed completely. Now he is making us go back through and check every single item.”

“What is that doing to your completion schedule?” Calvin, just looked at me. No answer. “So, there wasn’t enough time to plan this thing up front? There wasn’t enough time to do it right, but there is enough time, now, to do it twice?

“Calvin, I know it seems you are really behind the 8-ball, but I want you to stop. Right now. Stop, and get your team around. I want you to draw out each of the steps with your team on a big piece of butcher paper. I want you to plan how you are going to get all the labels on and then plan how you are going to check for accuracy. You should be able to get that done in a half an hour. That half hour will end up saving you eight hours on the back end, and you shouldn’t have to do it a third time.

“Remember, doing it a third time is always an option.” -TF

Too Much Appreciation?

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“Andrea, tell me, at work, do you think you receive too much appreciation?” We had been talking about motivation and her team. This question cracked her up.

“What, are you nuts? Nobody even notices me unless something is going wrong. My boss thanked me for something almost a year ago at the holiday dinner thing we have.”

“Andrea, one of the most powerful things you can do with your team is to give them honest and sincere appreciation, and do it frequently. When your boss thanked you last year, how did it make you feel?”

“It felt nice, nice to be noticed. But it wore off pretty quick. By the next Monday, it was business as usual,” Andrea replied.

“Your job, as a manager, is to create that environment constantly, so your team understands their contribution is important. This is something that you have to consciously think about. It does not happen automatically. You have to focus on it. Sincere appreciation is one of the most powerful things you can do to bring your team to higher levels of performance.” -TF

A Pure Emotional Choice

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“Andrea, what is the critical factor between poor performance and superior performance?” We had been discussing her team issues about motivation.

Andrea pondered for a minute. “I guess it would be attitude.”

“Exactly, everyday, your team shows up with an attitude. That attitude is based on their experience the day before, the way they feel about their teammates, the way they feel about you, as their manager. It has to do with the way they feel about themselves. This attitude is a pure emotional choice. It has very little to do with logic.

“Each day, your team chooses their performance. That emotional choice determines their energy, enthusiasm and focus. It determines their cooperation and support of the team. Your job, as a manager, is to create an environment where that choice is a positive choice.

“Creating that environment is like creating Home Field Advantage for your team.”

That’s today’s question. What can you do, as a Manager, to create Home Field Advantage for your team? -TF

Like Showing Off for your Mom

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“I really have to find a way to motivate my team,” said Andrea. “Sometimes they are so slow, I just want to scream.”

“Andrea, have you ever heard of Home Field Advantage in sports?” I asked.

“Well, yes. I know it is important, especially in the playoffs.”

“So, what are the real differences for a home team? Is the field any different? Are the rules any different? Is the ball any different?”

“No.” Andrea thought for a minute, then continued. “The crowd, the cheering crowd. The home team usually has a crowd cheering for them.”

“Do you think people perform better when they have a cheering crowd around them?” I asked.

“Of course. It’s kind of like showing off for your Mom.”

“Andrea, here is the bad news. As a manager, you cannot motivate anyone to do anything. Your only play is to create an environment where your team’s performance is like showing off for your Mom.” -TF

Lizard Eyes

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“Sometimes, when I ask them a question, I just get a blank stare,” complained Emily. “They look at me with lizard eyes.” We had been talking about getting more participation in her team meetings.

“So, you ask a question and get no response? Why do you think that happens?” I asked.

“I don’t know. No, they don’t know. It’s like maybe there is something in there, but I just can’t get it out.”

“Let’s start with that,” I replied. “Let’s assume there is something in there and it is our job, as the manager, to get it out. We need to prime the pump.”

“What do you mean?” Emily sat up straight, much more attentive.

“Whenever you pose a question to your team, especially a difficult question, you need to prime the pump. Provide some time for people to jot their thoughts down on a piece of paper. Even thirty seconds will dramatically improve the quality of their ideas. These written notes prime the pump with ideas that will now come flowing out.” -TF

P.S.
We will be taking an extended holiday this Thanksgiving week. Don’t eat too much. Hug your family. We will see you back here on Monday.

Ever Had a Team Slow Walk a Job?

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“Why can’t I just tell the team what they are supposed to do?” complained Aaron. “Why do I have to bring them into the meeting? I can figure out what we need to do much faster.”

“What happens if they disagree with your solution?” I ask.

“Well, that’s just tough. I’m the boss and I am supposed to be smarter than they are.”

“Aaron, have you ever had a team slow walk a job on you? Or worse, sandbag a job on you?” Aaron stopped. A blank stare came across his face. I could see this had happened more than once. He was just trying to decide which one he was going to tell me about.

I continued, “Aaron. You may be a smart guy. You might even have the right answer to solve the problem, but you need the cooperation of your team to execute that solution. The time for your team to have questions is before they get into the thick of things. Once things get rolling, if you have to stop to explain your thinking, it’s too late.

“So, let’s set up a meeting beforehand. Let them ask questions, let them challenge the solution. Let them grapple with the problem a bit and then agree on a course of action. Once everyone is in agreement, then we can roll forward, full steam ahead.” -TF

Deeper Questions

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“Tell me about someone in your life who had a significant impact,” I queried. Lydia paused, a smile crept across her face. Without speaking a word, you could see a warm emotional connection with the person she was thinking about.

Lydia and I had been talking about communication skills, specifically listening at a deeper level. Deeper questions move the conversation to new level.

“I am not sure I am comfortable asking those questions,” she explained.

“If you want to have significant conversations, you have to ask significant questions. In the beginning you may not feel comfortable, but with more practice, you will find that people actually like to talk about things that are significant to them. It happens to be their favorite subject.”

Lydia was thinking about that significant person. As she began to speak, I could see this conversation would be interesting, inspiring and thoughtful. Lydia had been waiting a lifetime to have this conversation with someone and she was just getting started. -TF

Deeper Listening Skills

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“What do mean, I wasn’t listening. I heard what he said,” protested Lydia. We were discussing different levels of listening.

“I know you heard what he said, but I want you to listen deeper.” I challenged.

“What do you mean?”

“Most of the time, when we are listening, we make eye contact, we exhibit great body language to show we are engaged, but in truth, we are just waiting for them to take a breath so we can – respond. Listening to respond shows you are paying attention, but I want you to listen deeper.

“I want you to think about understanding. Listen for understanding.” I stopped. Lydia was thinking. I waited. She nodded.

“Lydia, listening for understanding will help you gain insight to the other person’s point of view, to understand their position.” I stopped again.

“But I want you to listen even deeper. Once you understand the other person’s point of view, understand where the other person is headed (in life), you have to look at where you are headed. Between where the other person is headed and where you are headed, there is some common ground. You have to find that intersection. The deepest level of listening is listening to learn.” -TF

You Need to Know

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“It felt a little strange. I am not normally a nosy person,” reported Nicholas. We had been working on the most basic communication skill, talking to one person.

“It’s not being nosy. It’s being a supervisor,” I replied. “Nicholas, you supervise four field technicians. On any given day, what is the biggest issue you have to deal with?”

“I don’t know. A difficult project?”

“No, that is the easy part of supervision. You love to help with difficult projects. The most difficult part of being a supervisor, often, is knowing whether your technicians are going to show up for work, whether they show up on time so you can get the crew started, and what kind of personal baggage they bring to the workplace that is going to influence their attitude.”

“You’re right, especially on Monday.” Nicholas lamented.

“As a supervisor, can you afford to be surprised? If you have a crew of four and two don’t show up for work, you just lost 50 percent of your workforce for the day. If you are the supervisor, you need to know your people well enough to anticipate. At the same time, you need to know what gets your guys jazzed up about things. What motivates them? What interests do they have? What does get them to work on time? What is important in their lives?

“As a supervisor, it is your job to get to know your people, their work habits, their reliability, things going on that will impact their performance on the job. It’s not being nosy. It’s being a supervisor.” -TF