Sure, the most common comment I hear when I ask groups about what they’re biggest complaint at work is, you guessed it, too many meetings. Imagine what work would be like though without meetings, everything done only via email, Sharepoint, messaging and phone. How would a team of people reach consensus on the the best approach to delivering a project? How would an organization thrash out a new strategy or direction? How long would it take your customers to jump ship to another supplier who cared enough to take the time to come and talk to them?

We learn more through face to face meetings by listening to what people say, how they say it, and their body language than is possible by any other means. Research has shown that only 10% of the message is the actual words used. The rest is split between body language and tone of voice.  So turned around, 90% of communication is non-verbal.

Technology has brought us the ability to share information quickly and effectively anywhere in the world, but to communicate, to really communicate, the best way is still to talk to people face to face, see what they’re saying, and listen to whole message.

Empowerment of the team to make decisions about how the work that needs to be done, should be done is generally accepted as a cornerstone of most current management theories.  Agile project techniques move the responsibility for managing and delivering to the team; Continuous improvement initiatives require systems that allow workers to directly contribute to better ways of working.  The theorists have it mostly right, trust the people who do the work to come up with the best way to achieve results.  Does this mean that you one day announce that the the developers, designers, service delivery teams, etc. are now responsible for planning, executing, and reporting on the work they do?  Of course not.  There has to be a plan, a roadmap on how to move an organization from one mode of working to another.  This however seems to be a missing element with most theories on how to meet the challenges of the new business environment.  They all propose how it should work, but not how to actually get there!

So how do get from point A, to point B?  First, change must supported from the top, but, and it’s big but, it must be driven from the bottom.  The larger the organization, the more complex the move will be, but complexity can be managed.  Taking a lesson from IT projects, start small.  Small projects are more likely to succeed, large projects are more likely to fail.  Choose a part of the organization that already has a team that is performing well.  Work with them to create a roadmap to greater empowerment.  If the team is involved in developing the roadmap, and if they buy in to the vision and future desired state, they will be more likely to find ways of overcoming obstacles.  You may be asking why start with a team that is already performing well?  The answer is based on the idea that if you are going to change how an organization operates, it’s better to start with a success.  Working with a team that is performing well is going to be easier than moving a dysfunctional team to more autonomy.   Building on success is always easier than building on challenges.

One of the greatest challenges will be keeping the executives on side and keeping the momentum on this project.  Celebrate successes; Show where teams are delivering greater value; Create and report on Key Performance Indicators like staff retention, morale, customer satisfaction, market share, new customer acquisition, etc..  This is a long term project.  Depending on the size of the organization, it could take years of dedicated work to fully change direction.  Create a powerful vision, live the vision and you will succeed.  And remember……

“Nothing succeeds like success”

What is it with professional courtesy in New Zealand.  The contract role required (so it was stated) a person who could, among other things, communicate well with senior stakeholders.  If the recruiting company was paying attention to what they were looking for, they would realise that the people they needed to look at for the contract would most likely want to talk to them, not “communicate” by email.   There is absolutely no way that you can evaluate a persons potential fit for a role from written correspondence alone.  I have received this treatment one too many times now, so off went a, yes you guessed it, an email describing my extreme dissatisfaction with their lack of professional courtesy and suggesting that they should review some basics on communications in the future when dealing with senior level professionals.  This may have an effect, but judging from past experience, not likely.  Same thing last week when a call is received from another agency, this time promising to get back to absolutely for sure by Friday (last week).  Monday 18:00, still no phone call.

If you are reading this and you are looking to place quality people in senior roles, please go back to a piece of technology that has been with us for over 130 years, pick up the phone and call, or at the very least, have the courtesy to return my calls.  I promise if you call me, I will call you back, guaranteed.

There has been much written on the subject of management and leadership, but as with any area that has been studied to death, some pretty basic principles can get lost in the latest theories.  I was reminded of one recently that I truly believe makes a difference in how you feel at work, cheerleading.  I go to a fitness facility on the North Shore in Auckland called the Millennium Institute of Health and Fitness.  It is one of only two centres in NZ where the countries best athletes train (I’m NOT one of them).  They have a wonderful facility and staff that really want to help people achieve their goals.  One person in particular is an absolute bundle of energy and enthusiasm.  Constantly encouraging people, enthusing ”well done”, or “great job” when you are working out, and a smile that lights up the room.  The point is, the cheerleading works.  You may be exhausted after getting off the bike, or X-trainer, or whatever, but when you get a comment like “great job” or “well done”, you can’t help but feel better, particularly as it is meant in all honesty.  That, I think is the key.  No matter what you say to people, you have to absolutely mean it, believe it in your head and heart, and not just be saying it to try and achieve some particular result.  This is harder than you might imagine if you’re not used to doing it.

Many of us are taught that we should act in a professional, reserved maneer in the workplace, as is proper!  To that I say, fuddle duddle.  We’re human beings, we have emotions, and we can’t turn them on and off at will.  The more we repress who we really are, the worse our levels of stress can be with all the associated issues that can cause.

But back to the point.  If you are in a leadership position at work, regardless of your title, you have a responsibility to motivate, encourage, and praise the people you’re leading.  Take an interest in what people are doing, get to know them, be a cheerleader, particularly when the workloads get heavy, it goes a long way to helping people cope with their jobs, and it will make you feel better as a manager too!

If you build it, they will come

philosophy of course development (albeit coupled with shameless marketing via the blog of course).

Whatever you are into this year, smile, focus the big picture, trust your colleagues, and of course, try not to take yourself too seriously

Take a Chance

People were wandering without much of a plan

They’d made it to Christmas, that much was true

But what would come later, they hadn’t a clue

They thought and they thought, but no answers came

So they sat and pondered how to get on with the game

They called the prime minister but John had no news,

So they called Winston Peters but he was out on the ………

So they called to McApples and what did they hear

But an answer so easy they put away their fear

Create a new project and come up with a plan

That was the answer sung across the land

So New Zealand slept soundly with only good dreams

Of bach’s and barbecues, and holiday scenes

For McApples had helped them once again in their need

With practical ideas for every Kiwi

Happy Holidays from McApples

Empowering you to deliver in 2010

So what do you do when you have a great idea, and upon analysis it shows to be not the greatest idea?  Do you keep going anyway, or, in the words of Kenny Rogers, “do you know when to fold ‘em”?  If you do fold up shop, does this make you a failure, or does this show the side of you that is able to make the critical judgements based on accurate information and act on those judgements, despite the personal investment you may have?  I believe that the ability to clearly understand what you are doing and admit, that although the idea may have looked good at first blush, if it does not add up under solid analysis you only have a two real courses of action.  One is to either find out if what you want to do can be revised to make it more sound, or two, simply walk away, and concentrate your energy on other endeavours.

I am struggling with this dilemma at the moment, I’ll let you know how it turns out.

So, we have a bunch of business leaders who perceive that the recession is over and we are back to a period of growth, and all of a sudden, the recession is over and we are seeing signs of growth.  Have our perceptions changed reality?

I’ve been invited to, and attended a number of talks on how to survive the recession, how to grow grow your business in a recession and how to make the most out of the recession.  I have listened with fascination as as we are told:

• To results, change your beliefs
• You need to understand what your customers want
• You need to create barriers to entry for your competitors
• Divest your business of under performing assets, non-profitable clients
• Simplify your business
• Train, transfer, or terminate staff
• Look to innovate
• Build your brand
• Create a powerful vision

It has been a wonderful experience in perception.  The perception is that businesses have NOT been focusing on the above and they must now do so.  Does this mean that prior to the recession, businesses did not train staff, did not innovate, created complex systems and processes, didn’t worry about branding?  Of course they did.  The reality is that the above list is really what good business practice is all about.  There is nothing new there, there is no earth shattering revelations, just a good common sense approach to business.  It’s time that we all believe in what we do, that we perceive ourselves as successful,  after all,  my perception is my reality, isn’t yours?

I started thinking about time and how we are driven by it a few weeks ago.  I decided to go back to getting a good workout on a regular basis.  I joined the Millenium Institute on the North Shore and their induction program has me meeting with professional trainers regularly to set up a program, monitor how I’m doing, talk about and discuss nutrition, all fantastic stuff.   Early on in the process, I was asked how I was doing with the program.  Puffing and panting, I replied that it was challenging and I was enjoying it but is was a bit long as it take me two hours in total by the time I get there, get changed, workout, shower and get out.  As I thought about it later, I was disturbed by my response.  Too long, for health?  The next time I went, I was again asked how it was going, and my response was a a bit different.  Again, puffing and panting, I said great and that I had decided to make it the priority in my day and work around the time it takes me to work out.  So work/life balance sorted out, but still obsessed with time

This time obsession bothers me.  I hate being late, I fret about it.  I was on my way to Hamilton on Wednesday to meet with a potential new partner for the My Safe Ride Home program.  I thought I had lots of time but traffic was heavy in Auckland, and it was taking much longer than I thought to get to Hamilton.  At 20 minutes before the meeting I was still 80 km’s away so I called and said I would be late and asked if that was OK and could we delay the meeting.  The response was, “no problem, we’ll see you when you get here”.  They seemed to be a little surprised that I had even called to tell them I was going to be late.  Thinking about this later on, it occurred to me that it may be a kiwi attitude towards time that I am not getting (I’m a naturalized kiwi of Canadian origin), if you’re going to be late, it’s OK, and you really needn’t call and tell us.  British friends had commented on this a few weeks before when we called them to tell them we were running late for dinner at their house.  They were grateful for the call but did comment that they were surprised we called as normally in NZ, people don’t bother, they just show up late!

I wonder if I will ever be that relaxed about time………?