Make Teamwork Happen

The idea of Work-Out started in 1989 as a way to push cultural change throughout General Electric.  Neutron Jack had just streamlined the workforce, but the work processes had not been redesigned well enough to acknowledge the difference.  So Jack (and a bunch of consultants) developed the Work-Out to literally “work” the bureaucracy, rework and otherwise stupid stuff out of the process.

The whole point of holding a Work-Out event is to maximize the number of high-quality ideas for change and to carve out a doable list of actions that will deliver fast results on the improvement opportunity.

So what makes a Work-Out unique?  First, the people who do the work define the issues and develop recommendations.  Then leadership makes the decision “on the spot” so that all involved with making the recommendations know the status.  Every recommendation has an implementation owner and a champion (a business manager who has the clout to make the approved recommendation a reality).  Finally, every approved recommendation has the highest level of commitment to action (in other words, leadership gets in front of the action versus “behind” or supporting the recommendation).  That means all obstacles are removed for swift action.  It’s all about easy fixes and quick successes in an environment ripe for reducing waste – not long, complex science projects!

The Work-Out consists of three phases:

Planning.  A small planning team defines the problem and issues, identifies the information needs and sources, identifies and prepares Work-Out session participants, identifies and prepares the leadership, and designs the session. Participants are selected for their particular expertise/information about the process, ability to influence the process and potential to implement solutions at all levels.

Work-Out Session.

• Work Out Introduction.  Brief participants on the business issues and opportunities, review the objectives and agenda for Work-Out, and introduce the overall Work-Out process.
• Small-Group Idea Generation.  Set up sessions to create an initial array of ideas and opportunities that can be further focused during the course of the session.
• Gallery of Ideas.  All the participants meet to prioritize and select ideas and opportunities for further work.
• Small-Group Recommendation Development.  Split up and turn initial high-level ideas and opportunities into specific recommendations with measures of success and accountable owners.
• Town Meeting.  Teams present the issue, root cause, recommendations for action and potential payoff to the leadership.  The leadership openly dialogues with the team and other participants about the viability of the idea, and asks for input from the managers who will be affected by the team’s recommendation, before making a “yes/no” decision on the spot.

Execution.  The next day, the implementation owners will meet with the Sponsor to discuss next steps including action planning, identifying key players/team and establishing disciplined oversight/periodic progress reviews.  Then it’s simply a matter holding people accountable for following the plan!

For more information about Work-Outs, get the book, “The GE Work-Out” by Dave Ulrich, Steve Kerr and Ron Ashkenas.  As the original consultants to GE, they describe the Work-Out process and give you enough information to help you sponsor a Work-Out – or scare you away!

Question:  Have you tried this process and what were your tangible results?

To book Kristin to speak or view her products go to www.ExtraordinaryTeam.com

One of the largest challenges facing many organizations today is the effective communication of important information.  With all the bits of news coming at us from the internet, phones, faxes, email, and the good ol’ fashioned grapevine, it is hard to know what is important.  Add geographic distance to the mix, and you have the recipe for a guaranteed breakdown in communications.

Does your organization have a methodical, systematic way to communicate important information “down” to all levels, as well as bring information/questions “up?”  If not, try this “Flow-Down, Flow-Up” method:

Senior Team. The CEO/Leadership team decides what information should be “flowed down” for the week.  One team member (rotate this role, rather than rely on the same senior team member) captures the information in an e-mail or memo sent to all employees and posted in key strategic areas such as the cafeteria bulletin board.

Team Leaders. All team leaders or supervisors meet with their teams for five to ten minutes to discuss the Flow Down.  The team leader goes through the information while asking for comments or input from the team.  The team leader then sends these comments to the “collector.” Some teams even go another step and coordinate the Flow Down as a regular agenda item at their weekly staff meetings.

Collector. Usually someone from Human Resources, the collector simply creates an action item list from the comments, inputs or suggestions.  The list identifies the action, the appropriate team leader or manager to address the issue, as well as a reasonable response deadline.  (Some comments take longer than others).

Appropriate Lead. The team leader or manager assigned to the action item responds to the issue or concern to the Collector.  It is his responsibility to coordinate or “find” the answer, even if the Collector did not select the best possible person to address the issue.  The Appropriate Lead makes sure the issue gets addressed by the right people by the response deadline.  If the Lead needs more time to analyze or address the issue, the Lead simply states the “new” response deadline as well as the reasons why he or she needs more time to respond.

Collector. The collector assembles the responses and sends them “up” to the senior team to attach to the next “flow down” cycle.

Ground Rules. The only way this process will work is if the senior team, supervisors and collectors agree to participate in this process.  This isn’t a discretionary item.  Participation and adherence to the specified time frames is mandatory.  All the items that get “flowed up” must be addressed promptly and honestly.

Most teams flow down every week or every two weeks, depending on their recurring needs to get information out to folks as well as their ability to respond to questions and concerns from within the organization.

Question:  What communication method has been most effective for your team?

To book Kristin to speak or view her products go to www.ExtraordinaryTeam.com

Whatever issue you are working on, the boss doesn’t have all the answers.  The boss can (and often does) identify the issues, assign priorities, direct tasks, measure progress, etc.  But the boss doesn’t do the work.  You do.  And who knows best how the work should be done?  You do.  So why not get your input into the process?  Working as a team, you will have higher quality and a greater stake in successfully carrying out the decision.

A funny thing happens when the boss suddenly wants input.  The team freaks.  Employees wonder why the boss isn’t telling them what to do – like the boss usually does.  At first, team members either welcome or resist the idea.  Many will watch the boss to see what happens with their ideas.  Will the boss smile?  Grimace?  Favor one person over another?  Over the long term, will the boss accept the team decisions?  The team will watch the boss carefully to see how committed he or she is to the team concept.

Beware of the “rock phenomenon” where the boss asks the team for a “rock” and they bring back a different rock.  So the boss says “wrong rock” and tells the team to search for another rock – with little or no guidance.

To avoid the “rock phenomenon” the boss should take time to explain the reasons for asking for input, any parameters or constraints, as well as how the decision will be made.  Is the boss simply getting team input and then making the final decision?  Or is the team aiming for consensus where the boss is but one voice and the team agrees to live with and support the decision?

The key to a consensus decision is that anyone on the team (including the boss) has an opportunity to voice their opinion.  Keep in mind that if the team cannot come to a consensus, then the decision will fall back to the boss (or a majority vote).  So don’t worry, the boss still has input and if push comes to shove, the final say.  Over time, the team will trust that their ideas are truly valued and are important to achieving a team consensus.

Recognize that it takes a lot of guts for a boss to open up and ask for input.  The boss may not like what’s said and may feel compelled to justify each comment.  And the team may feel uncomfortable being open and honest.  So watch out for the “dashboard dog” effect where everyone on the team just repeats what they think the boss wants to hear.

The best thing a boss can do is sit back and actively listen.  Try not to judge and evaluate what’s been said.  Then add your idea as one among all the others.  Challenge others to discuss the issues openly.  And don’t punish them for speaking up.

Question:  As a boss, do you dictate decisions or actively accept input from your team members?

More on this topic:

Building Team Consensus is Wise Decision

Strong Teamwork Results from Interactive Leadership

Like Minds May Not Always Think Alike, But They Can Learn to Agree

To book Kristin to speak or view her products go to www.ExtraordinaryTeam.com

Many teams often call on a “consultant” to come help them with a particular problem or issue.  A “consultant” can be a hired gun, an external facilitator, an internal facilitator, or subject matter expert.  Whenever you bring someone on board to “help,” the dynamics of the team change — hopefully for the better.  To increase the probability of your success, sit down with the consultant and have great conversation about what’s important to the team.  In consultant parlance, this is called “contracting.”

Alan Weiss, in his book, Getting Started in Consulting, states that the consultant and “client”  (team leader and the sponsor, if available) need to meet to gain conceptual agreement on three basic issues:

1) What are the objectives to be achieved through this project?

2) How will we measure progress and success?

3) What is the value or impact to the organization?

While these three questions may be intuitively obvious, if you don’t go over these basic, fundamental issues, the team can easily get distracted.

I suggest the “consultant” and “client” meet for a casual cup of coffee or lunch to discuss these issues.  It shouldn’t take more than half an hour to cover the three questions and the additional areas that usually come up over the consulting engagement:

Team Membership. Are the right people involved?  Volunteers are best; the process owner is a must.  Ideally, you should involve every key part of the process as well as different levels within the organization.

Duration. How will you know when you are done?  What’s the deliverable at the end of the specific time frame?

Checkpoints. How/when do you want to check in with each other.  Email?  Cell phone?  Blackberry?

Boundaries. Any issues that are “out of bounds” and not an option for the team to consider?

Resources. What specific resources (money, training, specialists, support, equipment, supplies) do you think you’ll need?

Guidelines. Any specific areas to address, processes to be used, people to involve, or whatever you think needs to be considered in order to accomplish the objectives.

Logistics. Security badges, supplies, workspace issues can derail good intentions.  Think through what you’ll need to be successful.

Once you have agreement on the direction, scope, and process the team will be in a much better position to leverage the consultant’s expertise and move forward quickly and successfully.

Two Possible Call Out Boxes:

Taken from Alan Weiss in his book, Getting Started in Consulting: (I have his permission to use this material):

In establishing conceptual agreement about objectives, you are ensuring the following:

1. The client is not expecting anything that the consultant cannot deliver.
2. The client is not expecting anything that is unreasonable under the circumstances and within that culture and environment.
3. There will be no misunderstandings later about why additional work wasn’t performed.
4. The client is maximizing the consultant’s contribution and talents so that the project is maximally effective for the client.

OR

Questions to Develop Outcome-Based Objectives:

• Ideally, what would you like to accomplish?

• What would be the difference in the team/organization if we were successful?

• How would the team’s customer be better served?

• What is the impact you seek?

• What do you expect to be improved?

• How will you be evaluated in terms of the results of this project?

• How will the sponsor/boss recognize the improvement?

• What precise aspects are most troubling to you – what keeps you up at night?

• What are the top three priorities to be accomplished?

Question:  What are your top three priorities when using a consultant?

To book Kristin to speak or view her products go to www.ExtraordinaryTeam.com

I keep thinking about President Obama’s closing remarks last week in his address to Congress.

“I know that we haven’t agreed on every issue thus far, and there are surely times in the future when we will part ways.  But I also know that every American who is sitting here tonight loves this country and wants it to succeed.  That must be the starting point for every debate we have in the coming months, and where we return after those debates are done.  That is the foundation on which the American people expect us to build common ground.“

These are words of a consensus-builder.  A man who has the strength of character to enlist a relatively bi-partisan cabinet.  A man who speaks well around the notion of “collaboration.”

As a collaborative team-builder myself, these words resonate with me and I have great hope for the future – even in this pitiful economy.

Even though Obama is the president, one man may not be able to change a 200 year “democratic” culture – which runs on a two-party platform.  Our democratic system is not about “collaboration” – it’s all about compromise and negotiation.  I’ll give a little to get a little.  That’s why the promise of “no pork” is ridiculous and the stimulus package is rife with pet projects (I am sure they are all worthy!).  It’s the democratic system where the two parties will reach across the aisle…and compromise.

Collaboration is a very different animal.  Neither elephant nor donkey, collaboration starts with an outcome, removes the positions and taps into the collective consciousness to arrive with various possible solutions.  Then takes those possibilities, and in some strange, chaotic discussion full of combinations, permutations, and suggestions, the group arrives at a mutually acceptable solution.  It’s a “win-win”.

Democracy starts with a position and sticks to it…unless someone else is willing to trade their more lukewarm position.

Steven Covey, in his highly celebrated book, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” shares a cultural perspective about what it takes to shift into a collaborative mindset:

First, you have to know what a “Win” is.  Covey calls this integrity.  I call it rising above a position.  You can truly win if you look at the outcome first, and then harness the creativity of the team to identify possible solutions.  It’s more than just the positional solution you brought to the table.  Once you voice your position, it is one among many options to consider.  Once you put it on the table, you let go of the “ownership” which changes the perspective of a “win” from your position being selected to selection an option that will achieve the mutual outcome.

Second, you have to have an “abundance mentality” where you truly believe there are enough wins out there.  In a world of scare resources, elections where somebody wins and the others lose, and years of compromising simply because you believe there are NOT enough wins to go around, this is a tough mental model to break.

Finally, you have to have the maturity to balance the courage to say what needs to be said and being considerate to hear what others have to say.  And we expect our politicians to have the maturity to really listen to each other when the markets are crashing all around us?

President Obama is but one man trying to change over 200 years of culture.  I truly wish him well…but the vision of Sisyphus keeps coming to mind – a hero trying to push a rock uphill.  But we must try, regardless of 200 years of bipartisan politics.

Teams set intermediate goals or “critical milestones” to accomplish the end game.  Sometimes the team “wins” and achieves the goal and sometimes the team doesn’t.  When they aren’t successful, it’s easy for teams to sink into a “loser” funk with a mindset that the game is already over.  But the game isn’t over.  The team just missed a deadline.  Now they need to work even harder to catch up and meet the next critical milestone. 

When you find yourself trying to rally your team after a disappointing set-back:

Acknowledge the Pain.  Yes, you are disappointed, but not beaten.  I have seen too many leaders simply shrug off the significance and implications of a missed deadline.  If no one else feels your pain, no one else on the team will rise to the challenge to overcome an apparent defeat.

Feel Their Pain.  Not only explain how you feel, but put yourself in their shoes.  They are also disappointed and need to be acknowledged for all their hard work up to this point.

Look Ahead.  As a team, collectively vow to renew the efforts to get the team back on track.  Suggest some concrete examples of what the team can do to catch up.  End on a positive note, looking to the future.

Don’t Be Stupid.  Try not to do something that runs counter to the reason why the team missed the milestone.  For example, if a major contributing factor was the lack of resources, don’t fly the corporate jet out to deliver the news.  Be economical and fly commercial.  Remember, you want to motivate, not deflate!

And save the primal screams for the Super Bowl.

Question:  How many times have you lost out because you just gave up after missing a deadline?

Your team has narrowed a brainstorming list down to five important items.  In some cases, an obvious option leaps out and the team comes to a quick decision.  However, most of the time the team is faced with a choice among many options.

If the team members are interested and have the time, they can combine and fashion the items into a better idea.  The team builds a consensus — striving to reach a decision that best reflects the thinking of all team members.  Consensus means more than “I can live with it.”  It means that each team member can live with and support the decision upon enactment.

To build a consensus, explain what consensus means and why it is important for the team to reach that point.  Ensure that all team members understand the issue and the most important items.  To prevent confusion, take the time to define the specific meaning of the words being used. 

Clearly outline any constraints, i.e, time or money.  Remind each member to participate fully in the discussion and that they have the same formal power to support or block any proposals. 

Finally, identify a fallback if consensus can’t be reached within a specified time.  This could be a majority vote or command decision.

Take the most important items from your brainstorming list and ask a few probing questions such as:

• “All of these items are possible.  Do we have to choose only one?”
• “Is there any way we can use the best features of each item?”
• “What would happen if we took added or deleted features of several options.  Would that get us closer to what we want?”
• “Could we try out several options in parallel before we commit to just one?”

Team energy increases as new ideas and possibilities surface.  This trial and error approach appears chaotic; however, the team builds a new, synergistic alternative based on the best of the best.

When it appears the team has coalesced and agreed to a new alternative, take a straw poll — a pulse check to see how close or how far apart the team is from reaching a consensus.  Remind the team that this poll is not a final vote.  It simply tells them how much work needs to be done to build consensus.  Try these sentence starters:

• “It sounds like we are making progress.  Let’s check that out with a quick straw poll to see how close we are to a consensus.  We’ll go right around the table:  Sally?”
• “Let’s see whether everyone either can agree with, or can agree to support, the most popular alternative.  Let’s start with Sally and go around the room.  Sally?”

Record the responses and summarize the results.  If everyone can live with and support the alternative, then you have a consensus.  Chances are that there will be some opposition, so find out what it would take to gain support.  Try these sentence starters:

• “There seems to be a lot of support for this alternative.  What would it take for the rest to support this?”
• “What is getting in the way of some team members to support this alternative?  What could we do to meet their needs?”

Continue to build agreement for the decision until you have a consensus, or time runs out and your team falls back to another decision-making method.  By building a consensus, your team has a greater chance of producing a quality decision, a more cohesive team, and smoother enactment of the decision.

Question:  How long does it take your team to reach a consensus?

Andrew Jackson once said, “Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”  These are wise words to those who are paralyzed by the pursuit of one more piece of information, a change of market conditions, or a sign from the heavens of the right decision.  I refer to this unfortunate condition as “paralysis by analysis.”

It’s easy to confuse “deliberation” with taking action.  After all, the team comes together, spends time discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each option as well as gathering the appropriate data that justifies or defeats an alternative.  When there is no clear-cut “winner,” it’s fairly easy to defer the decision.  “We’ll discuss this next time we meet.”

Comforted by the knowledge that the team discussed the options, we appear to have made progress.  Alas, no decision was made.  No action was taken.  Or was it?

No decision is, in fact, a decision.  The team has made a decision to do nothing; a decision to stay with the status quo.  Just don’t fool yourselves.  The decision is telling your team something.  The team might:

Be Afraid of the Outcome.  The fear of the unknown paralyzes the team from disrupting the current path and taking a different path.  Rather than choosing a road (less traveled or not . . .), we end up standing still in the middle of the road.

Realize No Benefit.  Taking a different path takes energy!  The team must realize a benefit to making the decision, expending the intellectual, emotional, and capital energy.  So we opt to take the path of least resistance.  Go with the flow.

Not Have Explored All the Possibilities.  Presented with various options, many teams are faced with an “either/or” situation.  There is no room for collaboration, an “and/plus” combination.  In team lingo, we call this a “win-win.”  When presented with options, one option will win, other options will lose.

The team doesn’t even start looking for a win-win.  And nobody likes to lose.  So we just defer decisions.

Sometimes teams face tough choices and unclear outcomes.  It’s impossible to know, with 100 percent accuracy, if they are the correct choices.

Just recognize that no decision is still a decision to do nothing differently.

Question:  Are there times when deferring a decision is the best decision for your team?

Has your team discovered dots?  Colored 1-inch-wide removable dots can be used in several ways to encourage team discussion.  Try using dots to:

Prioritize a List.  Give each team member the same number of dots (usually a third of the number of items on the list.  For example, if there are 30 items on the list, give each team member 10 dots).  Allow each team member to place the dots on the items that they think are most important.  Set some guidelines for the maximum number of votes allowed per item to keep one person from placing all their votes on one item and “skewing” the results.  Typically, this process will yield clear “break points” that show the obvious high-priority items, moderate priority — and no interest at all!

Select an Item.  Once you’ve prioritized a list, take the obvious high-priority items and take another vote.  You never, ever want to take the item that got the most votes during the first round.  Chances are that only a few people voted for that item.  By using a second (or even third) round, you narrow down the options and select an item that the majority supports.

Categorize a List.  Use different colored dots to separate the items into categories.  For example, place a yellow dot next to all items related to operations, a blue dot next to all items related to finance and a red dot next to marketing items.

Compare Criteria.  Use two colors to show different criteria to make a team decisions.  For example, in action planning, the team might want to know how important the item is, as well as the team members’ commitment to making sure that the action is completed.  Give each team member two colors (e.g., blue for importance and green for commitment).  This process usually creates interesting discussion when comparing what’s important with that they’re willing to do.

Express Views.  Give team members colored dots to express their views.  For example, give green “go” dots for those items that the team should do and red “stop” dots for those items that it shouldn’t.  Put the green dots on the left side of the list and the red dots on the right side.

Stand back, and you’ll have a great visual of what the team should and shouldn’t do.

Express a Position.  The team might be discussing a time line, theoretical model or other visual representation of an idea.  The team places a dot to signify where they are now, where they should be in the future, etc.  For example, team members share their personal style preferences by placing a dot in the quadrant that fits their style.

Stand back to see the general picture of the teams’ style preferences.

Two things to remember when using dots:

1. Some team members might be colorblind, so watch out for red/green and blue/yellow combinations.
2. The process is more important than the actual number of dots.  Look at where the team placed the dots.

What are the areas of agreement?  What are the areas of disagreement?

Given the ”dotted” information (which is really just a “gut feeling” and not substantiated with data), what does this information tell you?

What does the team need to reach a consensus (where everyone can live with, and support, the decision)?

Question:  Any other ideas for connecting the dots? 

In the April 2008 issue, Meetings & Conventions magazine reported on Personality Hotels’ “Emergency Resources Kit” – given free for planners who book meeting space at certain properties. The article then suggests that “other planners might want to create their own.”

Whether you are a meeting planner, team leader or facilitator, carry your own caboodle of supplies. Here’s my list that I keep stuffed in a briefcase/bag, ready to go for my next meeting:

• Advil, Tylenol or other pain remedies.
• Alcohol swabs
• Bandages (especially finger band aids!)
• Hand sanitizer
• Kleenex tissues
• Low tack masking tape (drafting or painter’s tape)
• Marking pens (Watercolor & Dry Erase)
• Mints, candy, gum, cough drops
• Name tags/name tents
• Index cards
• Paper clips
• Post-it flags
• Post-it notes
• Post-it correction tape
• Power strip and/or extension cord
• Push pins or upholstery “T” pins
• Rubber bands
• Scisssors
• Shout wipes or a Tide pen
• Stapler and staples
• Straight edge ruler
• Tape measure/level
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• 3 Prong adapter

Question: Do you keep a fully stocked kit that will save your caboodle in a pinch?