Growing up I was fascinated with the amount of information on a baseball card. There was a great picture on one side, and I could "know" a lot about the player after just investing a few seconds reading.
Wouldn't it be great if everyone we met had a personal baseball card? We could keep it handy and whenever we were about attend a meeting with that person, we could give it a quick read. We would then know how to communicate with that individual and thus avoid months of trial and error mistakes.
I ran across this template in BusinessWeek a long time ago. I used it with a team the other day and it really worked.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/35010098/Blank-Working-With-Me
For example, one category is called "Communicating With Me." Everyone took a moment to fill this out and then we talked about it. We found that the members of the team only wanted emails on things that were quick, logical, and less then a half-page. Anything that was longer wasn't going to be read.
However, when it came to anything else, including anything that had an emotional element, they wanted a phone call. They felt this was the best way to connect, and understand the situation. This was surprising as the team was in sales and their time was limited.
Understanding how people think and want their information is key to communicating with them.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Forget Brainstorming
The Newsweek cover story for July 19th, 2010 is worth a read. It's entitled "Creativity Crisis."
The real value in the story comes on page 50 under the title "Forget Brainstorming". Most people don't like brainstorming sessions because of the lack of action and followup on "their" ideas. It's hard to get everyone involved and excited, and the sheer volume of ideas can be daunting.
The suggestion from the article is to have the individual, "Do something only you would come up with - that none of your friends or family would think of." What is interesting is that as soon as I read this suggestion, I had one I thought was better. Rather than having people start on an individual level I have always found it better to split people into groups and provide the groups with a problem, and a timeframe to think about the problem and come up with potential solutions. The problem provides the focus and the timeframe provides the action orientation.
The "I hear your idea and want to piggyback/hitchhike/improve on it" mentality is timeless. You just have to prime the pump and let people start talking.
In future meetings when suggestions or ideas are needed, present the problem, split the team into small groups and provide a timeframe. Great things will ensue.
Remember most people think they always have great ideas, it's just no one will listen to them.
The real value in the story comes on page 50 under the title "Forget Brainstorming". Most people don't like brainstorming sessions because of the lack of action and followup on "their" ideas. It's hard to get everyone involved and excited, and the sheer volume of ideas can be daunting.
The suggestion from the article is to have the individual, "Do something only you would come up with - that none of your friends or family would think of." What is interesting is that as soon as I read this suggestion, I had one I thought was better. Rather than having people start on an individual level I have always found it better to split people into groups and provide the groups with a problem, and a timeframe to think about the problem and come up with potential solutions. The problem provides the focus and the timeframe provides the action orientation.
The "I hear your idea and want to piggyback/hitchhike/improve on it" mentality is timeless. You just have to prime the pump and let people start talking.
In future meetings when suggestions or ideas are needed, present the problem, split the team into small groups and provide a timeframe. Great things will ensue.
Remember most people think they always have great ideas, it's just no one will listen to them.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Sunk Costs: Business vs. Personal
Recently I bought a course called "The Art of Critical Decision Making" from The Teaching Company.
Definition
Sunk Cost Effect: The tendency to escalate commitment to a failing course of action if one has invested a great deal of time, money, and other resources that are not recoverable.
I have seen this happen several times in business. We start out all fired up. We have an idea, a budget, and some skilled people to help deliver the vision. About mid-way through the project it starts to fall apart as resources, people, and competing ideas turn heads.
What should happen is a meeting where the original group meets to see if the idea, budget, and skilled folks still think the idea has merit and is a priority. What often happens is the Senior Leader draws a line in the sand and says we must now dive in and "rescue" the project. The project is given to the "fixer" who has the reputation for getting things delivered. They do what they feel needs to be done. Of course, this is often at odds with the original idea. This causes dissent and the original team distances itself from the idea.
We now have an idea delivered that no one claims, and no one wants to look after for the next 18 months to ensure it's woven into the fabric of the company.
Solution
One idea, one team start to finish. Once the company commits, the project team regularly communicates an update on the project in order to keep the leadership team updated and energized by the progress.
If events happen that cause a shift of priorities then the project lead is the one that makes the decision to hit the kill switch rather then limping along for the next couple of years.
Sunk Costs in Personal Life
What works in business doesn't always work in real life. We have tremendous sunk costs in our families and friends. It is rarely a good idea to abandon people.
"Goodness is the only investment that never fails" - Henry David Thoreau
Definition
Sunk Cost Effect: The tendency to escalate commitment to a failing course of action if one has invested a great deal of time, money, and other resources that are not recoverable.
I have seen this happen several times in business. We start out all fired up. We have an idea, a budget, and some skilled people to help deliver the vision. About mid-way through the project it starts to fall apart as resources, people, and competing ideas turn heads.
What should happen is a meeting where the original group meets to see if the idea, budget, and skilled folks still think the idea has merit and is a priority. What often happens is the Senior Leader draws a line in the sand and says we must now dive in and "rescue" the project. The project is given to the "fixer" who has the reputation for getting things delivered. They do what they feel needs to be done. Of course, this is often at odds with the original idea. This causes dissent and the original team distances itself from the idea.
We now have an idea delivered that no one claims, and no one wants to look after for the next 18 months to ensure it's woven into the fabric of the company.
Solution
One idea, one team start to finish. Once the company commits, the project team regularly communicates an update on the project in order to keep the leadership team updated and energized by the progress.
If events happen that cause a shift of priorities then the project lead is the one that makes the decision to hit the kill switch rather then limping along for the next couple of years.
Sunk Costs in Personal Life
What works in business doesn't always work in real life. We have tremendous sunk costs in our families and friends. It is rarely a good idea to abandon people.
"Goodness is the only investment that never fails" - Henry David Thoreau
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
What Kind of Senior Leader Will You Be?
The Situation
It's Friday afternoon and an email hits your inbox. It's from the senior leader of your group which means you have to at least skim it. The leader is asking for their "inner circle's" ideas on how to communicate with leaders of other lines of business on a monthly basis.
You know how this works...if you have a reasonable idea the leader is going to ask you to develop it and roll out the new communication on a short timeframe. Armed with this knowledge you ignore the email.
Several hours later another email appears from the senior leader addressed only to you. The leader butters you up with some praise and asks for your ideas. You take 3 minutes and toss something back across the fence that seems doable.
Guess what? The senior leader responds in about two minutes, assigns you the task, and asks that I have it ready to roll out by Tuesday. Remember it is Friday afternoon.
The Question
Why do leaders do stuff like this?
It's Friday afternoon and an email hits your inbox. It's from the senior leader of your group which means you have to at least skim it. The leader is asking for their "inner circle's" ideas on how to communicate with leaders of other lines of business on a monthly basis.
You know how this works...if you have a reasonable idea the leader is going to ask you to develop it and roll out the new communication on a short timeframe. Armed with this knowledge you ignore the email.
Several hours later another email appears from the senior leader addressed only to you. The leader butters you up with some praise and asks for your ideas. You take 3 minutes and toss something back across the fence that seems doable.
Guess what? The senior leader responds in about two minutes, assigns you the task, and asks that I have it ready to roll out by Tuesday. Remember it is Friday afternoon.
The Question
Why do leaders do stuff like this?
- They know you have great ideas and can execute on them. They show confidence and trust in you by asking for your opinion. They feel that you can be trusted to handle time sensitive projects.
- They are "too busy", and when they see a decent idea they flip it back to the person so they can get it done. This isn't bad once in awhile as we all have great ideas. However, the leader will get a reputation for doing this an pretty soon, and very few people are going to want to be on their team.
The Rest of The Story
Rather then stew about this, I opened up a computer program and hammered out a nice visual newsletter that did not require opening (i.e. PDF) and that could be read in less than five minutes. You see I knew the secret with most communication today is to make it short and punchy. If you get people interested they will read your missive every time.
You Can't Make This Up!
So the senior leaders provides super positive feedback and tells me what great work this is. He then flips the newsletter idea to someone else with a few comments.
- Let's make this several pages
- Let's make this a PDF
- Let's include a calendar of future activities
- Let's include a whole page of contact information for the 15-20 people on the team
The length alone guarantees that this will not be read.
The Lesson
If you are a senior leader and see this need, add this for discussion at your next strategy meeting. The group can then hash out if this need is real, and what the best format is to reach out and communicate to other lines of business. Then a group of folks can be assigned to help with the final format. This involves the entire team, brings the team closer together as they work on a team need, and can be a success that everyone can celebrate.
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