Can't they just read it?

The goal of training is always to improve the performance of an individual. In your company, this means improving performance relative to their job goals defined relative to corporate goals. Tying training outcomes to performance improvement through application of new skills or tools accountable by a manager is critical in enforcing the embrace of new information and the formation of new habits (applying the new information and/or tools).

Training is basically knowledge and skill transfer. It would be wonderful if we could easily be enlightened by simply reading. Oh how easy college would have been and what a genius I'd be right now!

Training without interaction, performance goals, and expectations will not maximize benefit to the company nor the colleague forced to spend possibly hours away their daily assignments.

Training with performance goals is not easy. It involves at minimum three people: the trainer, the colleague trained, and their manager. It involves participation in the training, assignments afterward, and accountability with a manager. The purpose is to stretch and grow colleagues within your company to make them better contributors and to positively impact the bottom line.

Training that is active and involving all senses to force new ideas and skills to become habits through hands-on application, role-play, tests, and discussion maximizes how much information is retained and ultimately applied on the job.

What do you like least about training?

What do you like best?

why do we need training?

The need for training is often identified when something goes wrong.

• Bad parts are getting to the customer
• A customer is angry, or too many customers are angry
• It takes too long for the team to solve problems
• Validation testing yields 40% first time failures
• Program targets aren’t being met in a timely manner

These are just a few examples of common business problems. These issues have root causes that are not always correctable through Training. Let’s take the first example of “Bad parts are getting to the customer”. A few of the root causes could be:

• Lack of manufacturing poke-yokes
• Lack of design poke-yokes
• Bad parts feeding manu- facturing from a supplier
• Operator instructions not correct or difficult
• Machine not operating as designed

Each of these root causes identify a different person as responsible for the failure, which in turn identifies specific training – or does it?

In addition to understanding what, where, and when, it is important to identify who is responsible and who will impact future outcomes. ‘Who’ is commonly defined in a process explaining the performance required. It should be noted that job performance is simply tied to job expectations, work experience, job knowledge, and workload. Everyone goes to work wanting to do a good job.

Any employee should be able to say:

1. I know what’s expected of me
2. I have experience that helps me do my job better
3. I know how to do my job, and
4. I have enough time to accomplish all that is assigned to me.

Training is needed when an employee can’t do #3 well. Setting employees up for success can only make the company more successful.

Why it's so hard to do new things

Continuing my review of the 2007 MIT Management Conference, I listened to educator, Rebecca Henderson talk about why it's so difficult to make changes in a company.

Her words rang all too clear relative to a recent project I'm working on. If your company is bleeding, there are two things you can do:

1. blame the lazy people who work for you - after all, the last time you pushed them, they came through for you. (so the problem must be with them)
2. work really really hard so there isn't time to make decisions

There are really two theories Rebecca talks about and she's spot on:

The first one is: "There's a problem let's fix it"

The second says, "We have a problem, someone is screwing up, let's go beat them up"

The funny thing about the second theory is that (if it were even appropriate to use this option!) the wrong person is beat up.

If the problem is to be truly solved, we have to start looking at the first theory and make long lasting change.

I have two steps for you:

NUMBER ONE
Spend a very worthwhile hour listening:



NUMBER TWO:
Call me.

busy doing nothing

Progress.

Defined simply by Wiktionary as “a moving or going forward; a proceeding onward; an advance”

Progress is something you can witness, effect, and feel. You know the days I’m talking about. It just feels good when you’ve completed a project, nailed the critical idea in the development of a product, solved the root cause of a big problem, or simply sold a new program.

It feels good when you make progress.

What about the other days you work? What about the people you work with? Can you tell when they make progress?

Can you tell when they’re not making progress?

Sometimes.

It can be witnessed by individual or company – as in a culture of a company.

You know what I’m talking about. You witness:

• People walking really fast needing to get somewhere fast
  

• Someone walking in breathless to a meeting because they were rushing there

• A person who begins many sentences with, “I’m going to…” and “I’ve been really busy”
  

• People who choose to focus on the now with disregard for future work

• A person or group of persons busy but not getting done what they need to

There are a few top causes why this happens, let’s start a list:

• Procrastination

• Lack of understanding

• Lack of planning

• Alternative agendas

• Bureaucracy

• Conflicting directives

• Multiple ‘bosses’

• Lack of strategic direction

• Lack of leadership

Are you experiencing any of these?

mirror mirror on the wall

Looking at yourself whether under a magnifying glass or in a mirror rarely reveals results you want to find.

You may find flaws you thought didn't exist. It's hard to discover bad things about yourself. It's even harder if someone else knows (or tells you) about them. Discovering them however, is the first step in eliminating them.

Of course, I'm not talking about you physically now am I?!

I'm talking about your business.

What's wrong today?

Do you have quality problems? Did you miss ship -or another important customer date? Are your machines down frequently? Does your staff seem incredibly stupid or underperforming?

The good news is that these are only symptoms of (gulp) bigger problems and they can be fixed. The first step of course is understanding the root cause of these issues. Only in solving the root cause will you be able to forever-fix your woes. You may not like what gets uncovered, but facing issues head on is the right thing to do.

Finding things wrong you thought were perfect such as finding out that your processes aren't being followed as you thought they were, or finding out that your empathetic staff was not so respectful of others is hard to face. These problems didn't start overnight. Luckily with a little insight - perhaps unbiased by the fresh eyes of an outside consultant, you can start correcting quickly.

What is your company's culture like?

When was the last time they looked in the mirror?

us verses them

For as long as I've been in manufacturing, I have been aware of the 'us verses them' phenomenon. I'm talking about the exchange between new product and equipment engineers who create stuff versus the manufacturing engineers who are handed this new stuff and expected to make product.

The 'us' is typically the manufacturing guys who are handed the short stick when the development guys (them) use up all the customer timing and may not finish their work.

The problem arises with expectations I suppose.

The (new product) engineers expect the manufacturing plant to know everything they know * VERSUS * while the manufacturing engineers expect product and equipment to be delivered in working order.

I can see both sides:

New engineers are pushed on timing, timing to their managers or timing to the customer.

Manufacturing engineers are often in charge of multiple pieces of equipment and have less time to work on an incomplete designs.

So, how do we fix?

Meeting expectations is really the solution.

How? (some basic solutions often missed)

FOR THE PRODUCT & EQUIPMENT ENGINEERS

• Finish your work

• Do the high volume product run-offs to uncover (less than complete) equipment

• Find variation and fix it

• Complete documentation (and all 'PSO' materials)

• Create operator instructions specific to your machine/product

• Train the manufacturing crowd on 'how' to run it and how to fix it (note: see above where it shouldn't really need to be fixed at all!)
  

• Hand off all your documentation to help manufacturing stand on their own

FOR THE RECEIVING MANUFACTURING ENGINEERS

• Hold the developers accountable for delivering complete designs

• Be available to learn how to use the new equipment

• Understand basic problem solving and use of basic tools for basic fixes

communication & leadership

I finally watched the latest Alice in Wonder land film this weekend. With all the special effects and quirky characters, what I remember most actually is a new word, “muchness” defined early in the movie when The Mad Hatter explained to Alice that she had lost her much-ness, as in she had been so much more.

I like this new word. Let’s consider the muchness of people, leaders we know.

Have you ever witnessed someone to lose their muchness? …Their moxy? …Their rapport? ..Their cover?

It’s amazing how quickly your trust, respect, and “follow-ship” of a leader can be annihilated. I recently witnessed just this phenomenon. In this situation, the leader felt compelled to give grandiose speeches via email paired with long spaces of time between communications and avoided questions from others.

Was the intent to be cryptic? Controlling? Passive aggressive? Persuasive? This could also have been someone incredibly busy, prone to thinking out-loud, and not considering the relationship with the team.

Then this leader avoided, as in didn’t show up to a critical meeting with her team.

Unfortunately, whether meaning to or not, her cover was blown, her “muchness” removed, and her “follow-ship” erased.

Any benefit of the doubt was removed due to blatant disrespect.

The trap can be easy to fall into. How you are perceived by others is their reality of you. Constant communication helps to correct misconceptions and to keep conversation going.

What opinions are you holding of someone that a conversation might clear up?

What has caused you to lose “follow-ship” of a leader?

When does the season of joy end?

Christmas time is one of my favorite holidays for many reasons a part from the celebration of my faith. I enjoy the beauty and calm of the first snow fall, of twinkling lights from houses, how stop lights even appear to be hung for the season, all along with a change in attitude of complete strangers smiling more to each other and extending gracious (and common) social courtesy.

In the first two weeks of January, most households dismantle their holiday cheer often spurned on by city deadlines for tree pick-up services and in the northern parts of the country whether brought on by frustration at the difficulty of driving in icy conditions or simply forgetting how good it felt to be courteous to one another, motorists drive selfishly once again.

When does the season of joy end?

What is the acceptable date to take down Christmas decorations? What makes this date acceptable?

When does it become acceptable to dismiss extensions of grace?

A ‘season of joy’ exists outside of the Christmas celebration however, as I would say we experience a season of joy in our relationships as well, both personal and professional.

Think of the new hire’s first two weeks in the office; how he’s treated and how he acts. Think how you behave in the first few months of a new relationship.

Initially everyone is on their best behavior and providing the benefit of the doubt for actions misunderstood. We even go above and beyond expectations to delight our new partner, boss, colleague, or friend.

In this season, everyone is mostly happy, contributing, and collaborating.

Then what?

It changes.

You know what I’m talking about: suspicion, jealousy, pride, mistrust, ambition.. it all comes rushing in.

The season of joy ends.

Unlike holy days marking a calendar, within our relationships we have no excuse to let our diligence falter. We have no excuse to take advantage of others, to stop providing the benefit of the doubt or to desist in giving our personal best.

Let the season of joy continue with collaboration, adoration, trust, and extensions of grace.

For me – in regard to the season of celebration to Jesus’ birth, I’ve decided that perhaps Ash Wednesday is a good date to desist and remove the frolic of Christmas decorations; somber holy days clashing wildly with colorful paper ornaments and twinkling lights.

It's not my job

A month ago Thanksgiving, I talked about being thankful to your colleagues. As the week of Christmas has arrived, I am thinking about what and how you give in your organization.

What are you giving back to your organization?

Ideally, your teams are made up of diverse skills and viewpoints complimenting each other on how they interact and what they bring to the table. Your teams are confident enough to counter view points for creative discussion leading to creative solutions.

We all have our role. We all have our job.

Having our role also means that there are roles that don’t belong to us; tasks and responsibilities that don’t fall under our umbrella – tasks left to others.. jobs that aren't ours.

Do you ever do things that aren’t directly assigned to you? Of course we all have to mindful of our immediate and long-term responsibilities to ensure our work is getting done without being overworked ourselves, but I’d like to explore what happens when we give of ourselves fully at work.

Let’s starting with making a list of things that we could give:

• Pick up any trash you come across that’s the size of a dime or larger on the floor

• Help a colleague pick up something that accidentally spilled

• Walk a strong pace to get to your destination quicker – to finish quicker

• Smile and greet every person you encounter in your office

• Listen respectfully to every person you interact with in your office

• Help someone do their job if you have idle time

• Research and brainstorm on products, services, or just plain ideas that will help your company to do more.

• Contribute in discussion at meetings

• Prepare for meetings you’ll attend

• Finish your work when you’ve committed to finishing it

• Continuously think of ways you can do your job better

• Continuously think of ways your company can service its clients better

• Choose to share the positive verses complaining or dwelling on the past

• Support the team decision and make it successful even if you disagree with the method (within moral limits obviously)

• Go the extra step, put on the finishing touches, and do a little more proudly to delight your clients (or the colleague you’re delivering to)

• Be proud of what you deliver

• Understand the ‘why’ of decisions so you can support them fully

Wouldn’t you like someone who did all these things to work for you?

What more would you add to this list?

Are you giving thanks in your head?

Some managers have a policy of shaking hands and saying thanks when they hand out checks to their employees. It’s humbling to be on the receiving end of this. I worked for a company where all managers were required to do this. I knew this, but still felt genuinely thanked by most managers.

There was one manager who quite obviously felt corny saying 'thank you' when distributing checks, perhaps knowing that I knew he was required to do this, thus not feeling genuine.

Frankly, his cynical nature was off-putting. I felt less than thanked. It was worse than had nothing been said at all.

In the world and in your workplace, we are a community filled with a mixed bag of nuts. We’re all different people in how we think, perceive, and make decisions. Sometimes it’s hard to get over differences especially when someone who is so different from you seems to make your life difficult.

How could you make that better?

How could you communicate what you need to help this other person work with you better? (and visa versa by the way!)

Since this is the week of Thanksgiving, I’d like to share with you an exercise. Starting with your work colleagues and possibly including the extended family you’ll be rubbing shoulders with Thursday (and perhaps the extended family you’re avoiding Thursday!), then finishing with your immediate family, think about each person individually and consider three characteristics about them that you are grateful for.

Do they seem as bad as before?

This can only make seeing them next more bearable.. and perhaps take your relationships to whole new efficiencies.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

In defense of negativity

There’s good reason to not feel so positive these days.

Events, attitudes, and circumstances can throw us for a loop. We react based on fear, experience, upbringing, our values, understanding, and openness to change. We can react negatively in spite of our age and all the self help books we’ve read.

"We have good reason. Negativity is akin to grieving."

Why not be a sourpuss? You can share with the world your anger by wearing a frown on your face, ignoring people you work with, being snappy with answers to questions, being incredibly aloof, only giving out small tidbits of information but not all the information your coworkers need to do their jobs well…

What else can you think of?

Perhaps you could also rally resentment against a manger by quietly questioning their whereabouts when absent from the office. This is especially effective when you know the manager is at a legitimate meeting, but no one else does. You could undermine the manager’s leadership when they have delegated something by going to that person and asking any series of questions such as: “why doesn’t he do it?” or, “Does he even know how this is supposed to work?” or better, “that’s not appropriate.”

One could make a new employee whom they resent perhaps for not being a part of their hiring decision, feel incredibly unwelcome through several vibrant ways:

• the silent treatment,

• withholding information, and

• pointing out faults superficial, made-up, or exaggerated to fellow colleagues.

"Negativity Tip: This last is best executed in small huddled groups where upon the new person coming across you in the hallway or break-room, you immediately stop talking and remain silent until the person passes."

Denying critical elements a new person needs to do their work is also an excellent negativity tool to wield. Examples of this could be falsifying customer deadlines, conveniently forgetting each week to make an extra copy of the office key for the new employee, or forgetting to convey important messages.

This type of anger transfer is especially useful in spreading negativity as the new person has nothing to do with why you are angry, hurt, or unappreciated. The effectiveness of this negativity is wonderful because the poor sap never sees it coming and will be completely blindsided by the treatment.

But why go to all that bother?

Wouldn’t all this bad behavior only drain energy from you? What good could come of it? If you find that you’re not able to accept new direction or effect change in your workplace positively through collaborative healthy means, perhaps a job change is better for everyone, especially you.

The difficulty in negative behavior is that it rubs off. Like it or not, we tend to learn and mirror patterns we witness in others. Negativity is best tackled quickly.

Luckily, good leaders know this too. Good leaders know how to ignore petty negative passive outbursts and when to step in. They understand that learning the root of the anger will help bring resolution quicker moving everyone forward. Establishing trust and creating an environment where a negative employee can open up and start to describe what is wrong in a one on one environment can lead to mutual understanding and positive change in how you work together. Long term everyone benefits, even if this employee chooses to leave the company.

How have you tamed a bad seed?

What tools do you use to help your teammates shine?

Originally posted by me on the L2L blog, November 6th, 2009.

Securing your legacy

What’s your exit strategy?

“What?

Who?

Are you talkin’ to me??”

If you are about to jump ship or you're plotting to move your career elsewhere in the next 3 to 5 years, then I’m talking to you. Here is a serious question that you should be consistently considering:

How will your leadership be regarded after you have left this job and hit the high road?

In considering your leadership legacy and beginning to work on an exit strategy, you need to be concerned with three things: your ideas, your initiatives, and your people.

I’m sure you’ve had some great ideas and maybe even implemented several of them, but will they persist after you’ve gone? Will your initiatives and the people on your team shine when you are not there to mentor them anymore? What is your legacy going to be once you are no longer there? Next are three things to think about in building that better legacy.

ON IDEAS
Every leader has the responsibility to come up with creative problem solving ideas that are supposed to keep things running smoothly, trim expenses, and generate income. Some positions require a lot more ideas than others. Some workplace environments are more conducive to change, while others are more reluctant to the concept of implementing “new & improved” ideas. As a leader, your ideas matter. Let’s take a look at the ones you have already created. Are these ideas sticking around after you’re not pushing them anymore?

Are these ideas dependent upon you or did you build them with longevity and a legacy in mind? A great leadership legacy has tried and true ideas that stand the test of time.

ON INITIATIVES
Structuring change so that a smooth implementation is engineered with collaboration and buy-in from all quarters involved is key to a successful roll-out. Just like with any strong structure that is built to last, it is also foundational to the long term success of your project after you’ve moved on that its implementation was embraced. Perhaps you wrote the product launch procedure, you developed the new marketing communication program, or you’ve created the strategy for increased client sales.

How are you rolling it out to the team and to the company such that it is effectively communicated and designed for all involved? Who else was involved in it’s development?

How much are you involved day to day and what happens when you go on vacation? A great leadership legacy is built with plans that roll out smoothly so that foundations are built with strength and durability.

ON PEOPLE
It’s inevitable that some on your team will require more hand holding than others. What about those whose goal is to take over your job? Are you afraid of that occurrence and are trying to thwart their efforts? Or are you grooming them for the future with confidence and poise? If you have in mind securing a great leadership legacy, you will be asking yourself compelling questions that allow you the freedom to leave gracefully.

Ask yourself: “How am I helping the right person achieve eventual success in my current position?” And.. “Who is next in line to take over my position and responsibilities when I have moved on?

Preparing your team through training and mentoring in addition to providing critical information is key to setting them up for success when you’re gone. I’ve found that allowing those working for you to spin and toil on their own problems a little while and allowing them to come up with their own solutions helps them grow more quickly than if I had stepped in to intervene immediately. Similarly I try to bring in others on big initiatives to help them learn the process of development.

Some of us truly are indispensable and control information critical for our position. How are you making this available and easy to understand for the one who follows you?

The mark of a great leader is the legacy one leaves behind.

How your company survives and recovers from your absence is a tribute to your leadership.

Are you setting up your company for success in the long term? What is your exit strategy?

Will the company remain strong and not falter upon your departure?

Article originally published by me on the Linked 2 Leadership blog, June25, 2009

Starting a new gig

A list. A 9 point action list.

I have some friends starting new opportunities soon and it got me thinking about how their company will survive their leaving. It got me thinking about how to gracefully leave an organization and even how to successfully leave a position within an organization. I did a quick search to find some do-s and don’t-s, but it really goes deeper than this. I decided to write this post. I’ll expand more next week, but for now, a list:

1. Be transparent. Ensure that your boss and your team understand what it takes to do your job.

2. Record justification. For every project and initiative, there is strong justification for decisions made throughout its development. What are they? Filling in others and recording for future reference will ensure that others understand ‘the why’ of decisions. This will make it easier for the team to support and to carry plans forward when you’re not involved anymore. Your project could be a fundraising strategy with a particular company, a manufacturing process, or a specific product design. Ask me about the life of a thin-wall plastic product I designed and why recording was so important.

3. Train your team. Consider how well your team does their individual jobs. Conduct formal in-house training that will make them perform even better. You have a lot to share from your years of experience. Not sure where to start? Work with a consultant who can customize and develop training with you.

4. Define your strategy. It’s probably a good one so why not share it? This will enable your boss and your team to do two things: a. carry it forward in your absence, and b. improve upon it.

5. Perform a thorough review of your role. Define what you do and what your replacement should expect as their duties. Identify gaps in your position and the organization to help drive improvement after you’ve moved on. This is not a criticizing letter, but a bulleted list.

This organization’s future success can also be yours.

6. List assets to your position and how they help or hinder you. Do you really need three computers? That blackberry? Better managing database software? You might also have several marketing pieces, prototypes, or other inventory you control. Passing this list on to your team and replacement will help them save money and continue critical customer support.

7. Develop a schedule for implementation. We all have ongoing projects and it’s likely you’re leaving in the middle of one. Finish what you can and put in the works details that will ‘run’ during your departure. The idea is to allow for seamless transfer to your replacement. This is not the time to let your customer or donor down. Successful transfer can only reflect well on both of you.

8. Open your books. Reorganize if necessary. You may hold sensitive and critical information for the operation of your company. Ensure this information is gathered in one place, is easy to interpret, as well as easily found. What kind of information you ask? Things like:

1. current customer lists – contact names, products they buy from you, products they buy from competitors, what they like to order for lunch, how they take their coffee, where they spend their holidays. Information should include special strategies with them and details from your last meetings.
2. Show budget information including when you spent money, when your group was reimbursed. Provide details on how you plan for your department/company.
3. If you work for a nonprofit, be sure to include volunteer information (and not just names!), donor schedules, cashflow timing, donor in the works information and the like.
4. For your projects, clean up your to-do action lists and ensure those responsible understand they get no slack during the leadership transition.

9. Communicate. Everyone will miss you whether they like you or not. Close the loop gracefully informing all in appropriate positive ways whom their future contact will be. For customers, work hard to introduce personally your new replacement. For suppliers, work hard to introduce your new replacement. For colleagues, work hard to introduce your new replacement. These face to face meetings show a strong level of professionalism and can only bode well for your future and that of your ‘old’ organization.

What would you add to this list if it was your boss leaving?

What would you add to this list if one of your teammates was leaving?

The problem with training:

Good Intentions.

I was flying recently and while listening to the flight attendant talk about how to use the oxygen masks it got me thinking about training. There is no actual hands-on training for a flight crash situation for us lay people. The attendant doesn't give us all the information either - like the fact of not getting your own oxygen mask on quickly is imperative in a loss of pressure situation as otherwise you'll be unconscious in 15 seconds.

That's good information, yes?

Akin to reading leadership and self help books, it's all good information but there are no hands on practice. Overcoming bad habits and learning new methods is possible with workshop and accountability based training.

Reading books on leadership, problem solving, strategic planning, software development, time management and while this list really could go on and on as you know the point is, reading books for purpose of development is –and how can I say this politely: “nice”.

Reading books as a group allows for some camaraderie and spontaneous discussion. Reading books is self affirming as often you read about ideas that you currently execute. Reading books is helpful as they give you ideas on how to improve and the methods in how to apply them. Reading books can only take you so far.

The same goes for attending a live training class. Training classes are great for two reasons. First, training exists for most major job skills. Second, it’s pretty easy to send someone to training. Because skills are taught by an ‘outside’ person, one can be vulnerable and ask questions without fear of looking bad in front of their supervisor. As an aside, this is also why I don’t advocate joining your team in the training unless it truly is something new to all of you.

The intention is a good one: you recommend books and send your colleagues to training so that they will better themselves and better the company.

But, what happens after the training?

• What gets implemented?
  

• What new is executed?
  

• How much better is that person at their job?
  

• How will they react in a critical moment?

We all go to work wanting to do a good job. We all want to be the dynamic leader we read about. We all want to be the fast problem solver and the most effective salesmen.

Q: But how?

A: Hands on practice, follow up and accountability over time.

Frankly if you as a manager don’t ask what was implemented from new learning or if you don’t ask to see details illustrating that a better method was employed, why should that employee change?

What do you do to encourage higher margins, permanent root cause problem solving, and effective leadership to those on your team?

Image credit: Daniel Iggers. See more pictures by him here: