The other day I saw an excellent re-vamp of the No Smoking sign… the one that you see in public domains, but this time the red circle with the line through it had the word ‘Excuses’ within the parameters.
Perfect I thought. This needs to be up loud and proud in so many work places; including mine.
As we go through life whether we are at work or play it is so easy to blame others for what we should have got to or should have had some involvement in, rather than simply accept that the fault belongs to us!
In a leadership role such as mine, every stuff up or omission that happens belongs to me in some way, so when a stuff-up happens, I look at what I could have done better to see that it never happens again.
It is said that people need to hear the message three times before it really sinks in. A bit obsessive? No, it’s not! Your team will all have such different levels of absorption and I believe that three times is often not enough. So in many instances I have moved to five. I definitely know that with some team members I have to request information at least five times before I get a regular point of action so how does one change that???
The first thing is to write it down and when the initial deadline is missed address it and request it. When the second one is missed, request completion in an immediate time frame and when the next deadline is missed assess whether maybe this person is simply not capable of the task, is not prioritizing well and maybe needs help with the systemization of their role. Yep I have a few of these people so look at what the problem is and once you have it sorted be aware that you may have to follow up again!
So many of us seek autonomy in the workplace (“let me do this, I can manage it”) but refuse to take the accountability that goes with it.
If you are in charge of an area of a business then sure, you get to make the decisions and bask in the success, but you also need to accept the failings and know that business is about relative costs and expected outcomes.
I find that so many of my operational roles, whilst capable of securing products and services and managing a team, pay little mind to the costs and timelines of doing so. I for one, always have my eye on the costs but more so on sales. Every day I get up and look at how I can generate more income for the business, rather than doing things as I have always done. I look at how I can do things differently. So the one thing I dislike most from the mouth of a team a member when addressing an issue is... but this is what we have always done…. Arghhhhhhh!!! This comment is worse than the ASSUME one (‘oh but I just assumed’). I hate them both!
So the “but this is what we have always done” is one of the worst copouts and will never, in my book, excuse poor performance. Capable team members should be change agents. We should always be reviewing what we did in the past in respect of how we can do better going forward.
Great team leaders review systems and process continually to see we are getting the best outcomes. They never simply run with what we have done previously.
I question everything… much to the ongoing frustration of my team. I never accept anything on face value and believe me, I have uncovered some huge errors and anomalies simply by asking a few questions!
Sure it is a lot easier to go with the flow and most people will so be aware of this passiveness as you are handed your daily dose of information as a leader!
Why am I still addressing issues with heads of departments that, in their minds are the fault of their teams? Why do we all still come at challenges from the back foot not the front? Stop telling me why I can’t do things. I am so not interested. And stop giving me excuses! It’s about listening to what is being said and getting on with solving the problem at hand!
And finally there are the myriad of excuses that I have had around absenteeism or lateness…
But the best had to be on an employee’s first day of work she arrived an hour late in the company car. “Sorry,” she said, “I burnt myself on the hair drier and managed to get the car stuck in a foot of mud overnight so had to be towed out”. And then there was the most resourceful management of a personal challenge that I have seen yet. One of or store managers had requested time off to get her hair coloured, given she'd only been with us for a few days we suggested she look at one of her days off as a more suitable time to attend her appointment. I suppose when re-growth takes over, a woman's gotta do, what a woman’s gotta do. What a surprise it was to get a few calls from potential customers concerned that our manager was serving them with foils in her hair! Yep, she'd managed to get the job done in store, in the back sink no less and when approached, she obviously went in to denial but did add that she had managed to sell a wrap dress to the hairdresser. Yep according to her she'd managed to secure an appointment before work. I’m not so sure. Where there’s smoke there’s fire…
So just as I am contemplating the ‘no excuses’ sign in a prominent place in our workspace perhaps it is something for you to consider as well. It works for many environments, family and teams.
Finally… Happy Mother’s Day. I am off to enjoy the balance of the day with my Mum and sister. I wonder if my alcohol dazed kids are out of bed yet after all, they are in Dunedin and it is graduation!
0 comments:
Post a Comment