Robert Scoble has an absolutely fascinating post on the nature of information sharing in the workplace. The upshot is this: at most companies, the systems we use condition us to become what Robert calls information hoarders — private email systems, private document folders, etc. But in a recent interview with Yammer CEO David Sacks, Robert asked the executive “when companies would be compensating people based on the value they are pouring into the system.”

What a great way to phrase that question!

It helps a bit to know that Yammer is a company that provides what amounts to an internal Twitter — a place for employees to share their status, resources, links, and more, in real time with the rest of the organization. Salesforce has rolled out a similar tool with their Chatter service. Taking a service inside with something like Yammer or Chatter suddenly makes the potential benefit of a more public, status driven workforce make much more sense. From Robert, the upshot is right here:

So, when I go and ask whether we should compensate people based on the information they SHARE with a company, that’s a topic these new CEOs aren’t quite willing to talk openly about.

Why? It freaks the information hoarders out and makes them less likely to change to information sharers. In such a world old systems like Microsoft Sharepoint stay relevant and new systems like Yammer don’t get adopted. I’m quite convinced though that in the future at least some of big-company compensation will come from whether you have good knowledge sharing skills.

Think about the time and energy you spend transitioning when you lose long-term team members. Does your succession plan deal with all the nooks and crannies of intellectual capital your critical employees have collected in their tenure? Do you have a system that capitalizes on that knowledge for the institution at large?

Conditioning employees to practice more diligence in their approach to documenting their work on these company-public systems is one way to ensure fewer information silos, and soften the blow when key team members move on. Robert’s post is absolutely worth reading in full.

Brad Power with the Lean Enterprise Institute offers six terrific tips on bringing teams together to help encourage end-to-end thinking and beat silos. Of note:

Help employees get comfortable thinking in terms of end-to-end activities that together generate value to customers. Encourage cross-departmental activities that solve customer problems, and reward cross-departmental teamwork.

In reviewing the progress of its reengineering initiative, an insurance company shifted from traditional town hall meetings organized by department, to cross-departmental meetings led jointly by the leaders of two departments. The meetings trumpeted successes such as a reduction in customer service inquiries, the teamwork for which cut across a half-dozen departments.

A key to driving toward this sort of integrative approach to delivering customer value is simple, bull-headed persistence. It takes time and attention to steer teams in a new direction, not at all unlike a u-turn in a battleship. But it can be done. In addition to Power’s tips around accountability and authority (both instrumental), consider process performance milestones as key indicators for success early on. For example, it might be difficult to track successful outcomes of your first month of cross-departmental meetings. But the simple fact that you held cross-departmental meetings for a month can be reason to celebrate!

Jaan Sidorov, MD a deceivingly bullish post on millennial physicians over at kevinmd.com:

The Millennial non-attitude about status or rank has implications for the hierarchical command and control that, up until now, has has been overseeing health system. No longer will a VP for Medical Affairs be able to assume young physicians will readily agree to taking “call” in evening outpatient clinics to off-load unnecessary emergency room visits. If a Grand Rounds speaker lacks sufficient eye-candied edutainment in PowerPoint, all the more reason for those young docs to skip out, grab some tofu and surf some YouTube. White coats will be optional and these docs will default to a first-name relationship with their patients.

Why deceivingly bullish? Reading the above passage you might think Sidorov’s position is staunchly boomer, deeply rooted in the old myth that whatever generation comes next can’t possibly be as hard working, determined, focused as those that came before.

To be sure, there’s some of that in his post. So much of the flow of practice in a hospital depends on all parties buying in to the historic framework of how things have always been. Shake that up with med students that don’t buy that line on some level and the status quo breaks down, falls apart, disintegrates. When patient care hinges on a status quo student and staffing process that is so fragile, it’s no wonder the old school medical community is a touch on edge.

All that said, the millennial transformation at work offers several key benefits for organizations always at the ready for change.

They are technical, and they don’t even know it. Millennial employees have an understanding of technology and communication tools which they didn’t have to learn, they simply absorbed. They understand email, twitter, social networking and collaboration online at the genetic level, and have experience first hand how these tools make them more efficient communicators. No, they don’t communicate the way we do, but don’t mistake that for a lack of insight on their part

They are expert collaborators. Fueled by their technical experience, millennials have an innate understanding of what it takes to work together to achieve their objectives. While they might be stymied by an empty cubicle, give them a integration problem and a conference room, and their natural team dynamic takes hold with great positive results.

They have much to teach. If it were 1995, I would be able to make a joke about an 8-year-old setting the clock on the VCR right here. I haven’t seen a VCR in years, but the millennials have the same experience to offer today as that 8-year-old of the 90′s. They’re quick studies, they love to play in the most constructive fashion, they are quick to the point and, most important of all, they really do work to live. There are reminders in the millennial work ethic that can make work better for all of us, if we’re willing to listen.

Listen now…
[audio src="http://www.libsyn.com/media/acconvo/ti_nc_ep13.mp3" format="mp3"]

]]> http://teibelinc.com/podcast/ep-13-the-15-minute-meeting/feed/ 0 http://teibelinc.com/blog/the-burning-platform-for-change/ http://teibelinc.com/blog/the-burning-platform-for-change/#comments Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:39:56 +0000 Pete Wright http://teibelinc.com/?p=427 Every once in a while management wakes up saying “let’s get disciplined”.  This is one of those times. In a strong economy, there’s no compelling reason to embrace the idea of “doing more with less”. The irony is if we were more disciplined in good economic times, downturns like we’re experiencing right now would not be as difficult. But that’s water under the bridge and human nature – a topic for a different time.

The burning platform of “doing more will less” has spread to every industry, from corporate to non-profit, and educational institutions. The challenge is not “How do we get through this?” (which we will) but how can we build organizational structures and practices that retain the disciplines we’re putting in place right now? It’s easy to justify building stronger foundations when a tornado sweeps through.

Sustainability is a reminder to focus on the long term, not just the next financial cycle. It is necessary to start by tightening our belts, reducing budgets or institutionalizing temporary hiring freezes. But if we don’t learn how to retain that discipline when the economy stabilizes or improves, we’ve learned very little – except to run from a tornado when it strikes.

A great book that takes this long-term horizon on sustainability in Higher Education is Boldly Sustainable, by Peter Bardaglio and Andrea Putman. I highly recommend this book, both in the context of environmental sustainability but more importantly, how Higher Education needs to reorganize business structures and practices to produce greater coordination across academic and administrative functions. This is critical for sustainability in the broadest sense of the word.

Coordination can be measured and quantified (who does what, by when and how the work is performed), while collaboration is the spirit these behaviors.  It’s the difference between a vision and a goal.   A vision is where you want to end up while a goal is how you get there.   When someone spouts “let’s collaborate”, trust your instinct and ask them “what do you mean by this?”  You’ll quickly discover there is another layer of meaning that gets to the behaviors you’re trying to influence.

There’s nothing wrong with terms not used in everyday language (otherwise called jargon), except when no one, even the speaker knows what they mean.   Point out these elephants in the room.  It will help everyone get to the intent behind the words spoken.

Most likely you’re looking for champions or enthusiastic support.  Saying to a group “we’re looking for your buy-in” communicates you want to inform, not involve. The way to get enthusiastic support is if you bring them into the circle by asking for help, feedback, ideas and participation.  Yes, some stakeholders may ask difficult questions.  But don’t fool yourself into thinking that by keeping them at arm’s length with periodic updates that you’ve got their support. 

Too often the bar is set too low around what we can ask or expect of others. For a group to be jazzed about an idea, you’ve got to get them involved in the change, not just inform them what’s coming.

As part of a larger strategic effort to improve operational performance across your organization, centralizing business functions can be a very useful change. The rationale behind these projects is that by reducing redundancy, the quality of the work can be improved, processes can be made more efficient and cost savings can be realized.

If only it be this easy. Like many initiatives that include structural and people change, solving one problem creates another. Imagine an army of people sitting in their metaphorical chairs for years at a time, comfortable with what they know and their position in the organization. Centralizing work changes all the rules.

Three guiding principles will help when embarking on centralizing work projects:

1. Getting management on the same page

The best way to create positive momentum on these projects is to have leadership speaking with one voice. Once new roles are defined and the model is tested (ex: a Business Center becomes operational) it is critical for staff to know that management will hold people accountable to their new roles. Without a consistent voice from management and regular reminders of people’s roles, staff will push on the boundaries of their shifting responsibilities, making it much more difficult for everyone to adjust to the new model.

2. Building trust by being inclusive

The process your staff will go through getting accustomed to new roles and responsibilities takes time and requires patience from everyone involved. Management should set up check points where people can weigh in how the new process is working. Asking for feedback and genuinely listening to their ideas and concerns will go a long way to helping build trust. The more people feel they have a voice, the more they will take ownership in the change.

3. Attitude is everything

Two primary groups are affected by this change – those who will be inheriting the work of others and those giving up pieces of their job. Although this can be stressful, at some point people need to make a choice – they’re either part of the solution or part of the problem. This doesn’t mean accepting an unworkable process, rather for all players to ask themselves what they can do to help the new process succeed.

By applying these three principles – Leadership speaking with one voice, management listening to staff ideas and concerns and most importantly everyone asking themselves how they can be part of the solution – this is how you get through initiatives that involve changing roles, responsibilities and reporting lines.

Although denial is a powerful emotion and an effective way of getting through difficult times, maybe “getting though this” is not what we should be striving for. If a crystal ball could somehow show that the next five years don’t look much different from today, would you navigate your business decisions differently right now?

Management struggles with questions like: Is this the time to invest or be conservative? Retrench or expand? Do we shed more workforce or move forward with what we’ve got? It’s even tougher for those who don’t know what management will choose to do next. Am I being leveled with or should I start looking for work elsewhere?

Regardless of our role, we need to find ways to focus on accepting the challenges ahead without becoming pessimistic.

Step One: Stop fixating on the business section of your newspaper (For those who believe “information is power”, continue reading but remember bad news sells much better than good news!)

Step Two: Consider we’re all adjusting to a “New Normal”, which is the idea that things will never go back to the way they were. Navigating the new normal is the equivalent of hitting the reset button on your computer and starting with an entirely new set of expectations, balancing reality with a positive view of the future.

A Necessary Core Belief
The irony of this very difficult economy is that with so many challenges facing us, including debt issues, job losses and people’s concerns at home, many of us will come out stronger. For those that do come out ahead, a common theme you will find is a view of the world centered around optimism. Not false hope but a sense that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Optimism drives ones sense they can make a difference no matter how bad things get.

Consider the following: Management across all industries are beginning to raise their heads above the fox hole and are asking “Who are the people we want to move forward with”? Today, there is as much an opportunity to stand out as a contributor than ever before. The key question in the face of this culture of pessimism (often driven by the news) is: Can you avoid getting sucked into negativity and remain aware of the challenges, while remaining positive?

Yes, being awake to the challenges surrounding us can be emotionally draining and difficult to deal with as one person. In business, we address this by focusing on teamwork, which is much more than a poster on the wall that offers pithy sayings how to get things done. Businesses in this new economy will fail if they don’t learn how to put real teamwork into practice. Think hospital emergency rooms as the model for effective teamwork. Behave with this sense of urgency and you’re more than halfway there.

If you can find ways to bring optimism and genuine teamwork to your organization (or a business you’re looking to join), you become part of the solution. Wait for things to change and hope for the best – you’ll probably find yourself on the sidelines with a reinforced view why things are so bad.

If you’re interested in learning how we can help with building team, check out our services at Teibel Inc. – People Services.

Visit The Teibel Blog to read more on trust, change, and confronting your organizational challenges today!

The difficulty is it requires the following four key behaviors:

• Ability to instruct or teach
• Patience
• Allowing the other person to make mistakes
• Letting go of an insatiable desire for control

Many of us have forgotten what’s it’s like to learn something new. Our own skills and competence came from others allowing us to step into new roles or responsibilities. We learn best by doing, and delegating to others gives them that opportunity to grow.

When delegating, keep in mind these three things:

1. Does the delegatee understand what’s expected of them? Don’t assume. Ask!
2. Are you prepared for the delegatee to make mistakes or come back with questions? If not, don’t delegate the work. You’re only setting them up for failure (in your eyes).
3. Are you willing for this person to do the work using their style and method? How one performs the task is only one way it can be accomplished. Focus more on the outcome you’re looking for, not the style or method someone uses to get there.