Archive | December, 2008
Dec 15

New from Teibel: The Organizational Triage Workshop

Trying times, indeed. I’m hearing some of the most negative language regarding financial strength from my clients right now that I’ve heard in the last twenty years of work in the field. Organizations and institutions are nervous — and rightly so. The journey ahead is perilous, but not deadly!

In light of market conditions, I’ve compiled some of my best work, most creative tools, and key learnings in my Organizational Triage Workshop. You can find details on this new session here. I’ve even packaged a special edition of the session for higher education administrators faced with unique challenges, all built from my years of work specifically counseling top-tier universities.

So take a look at the new workshop, and start talking to your teams: learn to weather our economy and work together better than ever!

Dec 14

The Elephant in the Room

Last week, I asked the question: “What’s it going to take to stop avoiding and start dealing with the lack of trust in our organizations?” It’s a big question, and in most companies, it’s the elephant in the room. But there are practical skills we can all develop to stop dancing around the elephant and learn to love change.

For management, it’s about getting to the heart of the matter “Why am I not getting greater productivity from my people?” For staff it’s “What’s it going to take for management to understand the real problems that keep us from getting our jobs done?”

Too often these questions are posed rhetorically and we muddle through process change poised as answers, truly afraid of what we might hear if we addressed them head-on. If we’re truly going to move our business from good to great, or through these difficult financial times, a paradigm shift needs to happen in the way we communicate and listen. True communication is not about slick tools, faster internet access or even clear speaking. It’s about raising consciousness of what we put out and how we listen, being more interested in results, not the reasons for our failure.

We have to take our communication to the next level.

  1. We have to solve team problems by focusing on issues and results rather than personalities and blame. 
  2. We have to motivate our people to do the right things at the right time, not because they have to but because they want to. 
  3. We have to reward team success in spite of  living and working in a culture that focuses on individual accomplishments. 
  4. We have to develop a workforce that takes responsibility for their actions versus looking for reasons things don’t get done. 
  5. We have to create departmental goals that are achievable and are understood by everyone.
  6. We have to develop our workforce to embrace mistakes as an opportunity to learn, versus something to avoid.

Applying these principles builds trust in a business culture of change and uncertainty. Just try taking on one of these strategies in your own work. See if you don’t  discover a renewed connection with individuals, teams and your entire organization in a way that makes your career more purposeful, productive and satisfying.

Dec 11

Change is the New Cultural Mantra

Imagine this scenario. You come to work one day feeling competent and productive and the next, you’re incapable of performing the simplest of tasks. The accounting system has changed, a new management team is in charge or you’re expected to use the latest PDA. When change happens, we lose our sense of what’s expected of us. These disruptions lead to anxiety and frustration, challenging our notion of productivity.

Whether planned or unexpected, all change is a wake-up call. Our first reaction is involuntary, like being wakened abruptly from a dream. Once we have time to think it through, we choose our responses: “Whose brilliant idea was this?” on one side and “It’s about time!” on the other – two completely different reactions for the same event. No wonder our best efforts to manage change fall short.

We’ve been taught to communicate three things to help people in these cases: “Tell ‘em what’s coming, why it’s important, and how they can participate!”. We’re told as long as we do this, people will joyously go along for the ride. And therein lies the problem. People are just going along, ix-nay the joy.

The real problem is a deep skepticism that any “new and improved” process, management restructure or latest technology will help us do our jobs better. We’ve heard these promises before. Management may be communicating the right stuff about what’s coming but they’re ignoring the elephant in the room: What’s it going to take to stop avoiding and start dealing with the lack of trust in our organizations?