June 2005
The changes in the business right now are centered around creating a new leader – me. That has been the biggest priority since it appears to be the plug to progress.
The biggest hurdle (in June) was to follow the advice that I got from Daphne (from Action Consulting), and that was to take more time to do what I imagine leaders do and delegate the non-leadership jobs to my staff. I shared with her that I have known that I have been doing something wrong since my business has not been able to break out of its' cocoon for the last few years, and that now I believe the problem is in between my two ears. How am I supposed to act differently? What are the behaviors that lead the staff to better accountability, responsibility and, ultimately, production? How do I get to top priorities? How do I get past the guilt of “just” reading, thinking, analyzing when I think I should be doing something more productive? In my Irish Yankee background planting potatoes is work; thinking about it isn't. (It doesn't put a potato on the table.)
It was refreshing to hear Daphne say that she has heard that same question asked by many different business owners. (That, and, “How do I hire great staff?”) I decided to buckle down and try something new. I took 6 hours to review my cash flow statement line item by line item to make some decisions about how to spend (and stop spending) money, then I had a leisurely meeting with my bookkeeper. (Usually my meetings with her are hurried.) I took about 15 hours to think and write details about what I wanted my staff to do and when I wanted them to do it. I wrote up training notes and filed them in logical sequences with logical names so I can find them. (That even led me to carefully rename several groups of files!!) These three activities were high priority and done during a normal 40 hour work-week instead of done in the evening during my ‘family time'. It made me nervous to say “no” to other things, but in the end I gave myself a 10 for sticking to it. I felt different inside, and the production at the office was still quite good. In other words, a change of habit didn't seem to harm anything.
The other thing I started doing was building a different relationship with the staff. I cringed after Daphne, Ginny (my M3 coach), and I met on the phone and they suggested that I just bring in some food and sit around to talk with my employees to start a new type of dialogue and relationship. They thought (by my description) that my relationships with the staff didn't sound very congenial or supportive, and they were right. I have been keeping them more ‘business relationships' probably. It scares me to feel more vulnerable to the staff by getting to know them or vice versa. So, when it was suggested that we start with sharing food and chatter I thought, “How unproductive! What kind of example is that? I would be paying everyone to chat!” But, I have done something like that twice, and I am learning about their priorities and enjoying the candor of their conversation. I have yet to see how it effects production, but I am humble to the process. I must say that I have been reminded what really talented, smart, interesting people work for me! I like them personally on top of respecting them professionally. This is a new ‘team' since we have had 6 staff turnovers (of 12 full-time positions) in the last 10 months. (The transition has been brutal: expensive, time-intensive, frustrating, worrisome, and downright all-consuming. In fact, the story of my experience was a small feature story in Crain's Chicago Business a couple of weeks ago!) I have been focused on building a new team in a different way, so food and chat has been our starting point. That is not where it ends, but it is now part of the process.
Lastly, Ginny suggested that I add to my data collection by making trend graphs with my statistics, and that has helped somehow. Looking at the data collection in a different way – many different ways now – helps me ask better questions. High quality questions are the road to high quality answers, so I appreciate the new insights I get and the questions that come up.
It has been a really challenging month in the wake of staff turnover, but I think a good opportunity to start with a “new me” too. I feel hopeful, and with good reason. There is a good ‘feel' at the office, and the stats are growing stronger.
The biggest hurdle (in June) was to follow the advice that I got from Daphne (from Action Consulting), and that was to take more time to do what I imagine leaders do and delegate the non-leadership jobs to my staff. I shared with her that I have known that I have been doing something wrong since my business has not been able to break out of its' cocoon for the last few years, and that now I believe the problem is in between my two ears. How am I supposed to act differently? What are the behaviors that lead the staff to better accountability, responsibility and, ultimately, production? How do I get to top priorities? How do I get past the guilt of “just” reading, thinking, analyzing when I think I should be doing something more productive? In my Irish Yankee background planting potatoes is work; thinking about it isn't. (It doesn't put a potato on the table.)
It was refreshing to hear Daphne say that she has heard that same question asked by many different business owners. (That, and, “How do I hire great staff?”) I decided to buckle down and try something new. I took 6 hours to review my cash flow statement line item by line item to make some decisions about how to spend (and stop spending) money, then I had a leisurely meeting with my bookkeeper. (Usually my meetings with her are hurried.) I took about 15 hours to think and write details about what I wanted my staff to do and when I wanted them to do it. I wrote up training notes and filed them in logical sequences with logical names so I can find them. (That even led me to carefully rename several groups of files!!) These three activities were high priority and done during a normal 40 hour work-week instead of done in the evening during my ‘family time'. It made me nervous to say “no” to other things, but in the end I gave myself a 10 for sticking to it. I felt different inside, and the production at the office was still quite good. In other words, a change of habit didn't seem to harm anything.
The other thing I started doing was building a different relationship with the staff. I cringed after Daphne, Ginny (my M3 coach), and I met on the phone and they suggested that I just bring in some food and sit around to talk with my employees to start a new type of dialogue and relationship. They thought (by my description) that my relationships with the staff didn't sound very congenial or supportive, and they were right. I have been keeping them more ‘business relationships' probably. It scares me to feel more vulnerable to the staff by getting to know them or vice versa. So, when it was suggested that we start with sharing food and chatter I thought, “How unproductive! What kind of example is that? I would be paying everyone to chat!” But, I have done something like that twice, and I am learning about their priorities and enjoying the candor of their conversation. I have yet to see how it effects production, but I am humble to the process. I must say that I have been reminded what really talented, smart, interesting people work for me! I like them personally on top of respecting them professionally. This is a new ‘team' since we have had 6 staff turnovers (of 12 full-time positions) in the last 10 months. (The transition has been brutal: expensive, time-intensive, frustrating, worrisome, and downright all-consuming. In fact, the story of my experience was a small feature story in Crain's Chicago Business a couple of weeks ago!) I have been focused on building a new team in a different way, so food and chat has been our starting point. That is not where it ends, but it is now part of the process.
Lastly, Ginny suggested that I add to my data collection by making trend graphs with my statistics, and that has helped somehow. Looking at the data collection in a different way – many different ways now – helps me ask better questions. High quality questions are the road to high quality answers, so I appreciate the new insights I get and the questions that come up.
It has been a really challenging month in the wake of staff turnover, but I think a good opportunity to start with a “new me” too. I feel hopeful, and with good reason. There is a good ‘feel' at the office, and the stats are growing stronger.
posted by Dr. Amelia Case at Thursday, January 05, 2006
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