Posts Tagged ‘Leadership’

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There is no ‘I’ in team but there is in community

This summer the way people work has been in the media spotlight. Look at the England football squad. Many people saw the paralell to their own lives and took the view that if we went to work and under performed on a regular basis we would expect to be disciplined by way of warning or performance review. If we didn’t fulfill our objectives we would be trained and if it was evident we would never be able to fullfill the job requirements and there was someone better who could, we would be sacked and replaced.

Would we ever expect our manager to be sacked because we weren’t performing?

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Being a member of the England football squad is like being part of a project team. It’s not your day job and you have two bosses. You are bringing together a group of talented individuals that are going to work together towards a common goal… like winning the World Cup (we wish). The components that have to come together to succeed are complicated. It is not as straight forward as an employee having the fear of losing their job, or even that different people are motivated by different things… money, recognition and sense of achievement. The key to successfully managing a team of this nature is more about building a community than traditional managerial motivators.

Community Management what does that mean?

It has more to do with understanding the bigger picture, seeing the vision and getting people to buy into their part in that vision. This is not in the traditional corporate mission, vision, values context but in a more pragmatic, holistic way that exposes the fact that you do not have control over all the decisions you would like to make and because of that you put more accountability and ownership on those indiviuals who have the skills you require to deliver the end goal.

When Fabio’s management style was being scrutinised by the media, my contribution was “I wonder what would happen if Fabio asked the players “who is up for it today?” “where would you like to play?” and the ownership was on the players themselves to say for the good of our end goal this is what should happen! This may sound like nonsense but when you strip all the crap away these are guys that love nothing better than to kick a ball around a field and win – sometimes we add so much more to these situations than there should be and the simplicity is lost.

Why have a Manager then?

Someone has to pick the members of the community and getting that right is essential. Here there needs to be the courage and strength to pick the stars but also pick the players with potential who are hungry to show what they can do. Then there is the huge task of managing and motivating the individuals. Teams who do not work together on a daily basis have different needs to those that do and the motivation to succeed is different. This is not about money, it is more about how the world see you and may be even an opportunity for you to give something back, develop in a different way. There has to be much more focus on what an individual will get out of this so that the team bond can be formed and developed.

Football like work is a big part of our lives, real change here could inspire us all

Addiction to Change

Along with the rest of the country I too am caught in the grip of the election media frenzy. From morning till night we are presented with manifesto promises spiced up with reports of the latest timely scandal. It’s a lot to take in and in the chaos of the hype I remember little of the detail, if asked for the predominate theme of this election I would immediately reply ‘change’.

I know the opposition is there to oppose but this heady focus on the need to change has made me question, do we want to change for change’s sake?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not promoting the Conservative’s manifesto, In fact the jury is still out on where I will put my cross on election day, my interest is a simple curiosity into what I describe as an ‘addiction to change’.

What is Driving Change?

I believe in the power of change, I embrace it, promote it and help businesses achieve it but it is prudent to remember that not all change will equal success and not all change should get the green light.

Change is just another part of life we need it to sustain, improve, invent and evolve, but it isn’t always necessary to introduce revolutionary change, is this just a case of wanting to put our stamp on something?

From what I have seen the conservatives change-centric manifesto is not inspiring the nation, change for change’s sake doesn’t win friends and influence people.

Let me break away from politics and take you back to 1985 to remind you of the infamous Coca-Cola recipe change, the backlash of which prompted a speedy retreat to the original recipe now aptly named Coca-Cola Classic. When you make changes you need to think carefully about what you are really trying to achieve, its not a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, the pro’s need to out weight the con’s.

Choose Wisely

When faced with managing change I have learnt to focus my efforts wisely, my experience has taught me that it becomes increasingly difficult to gain employee, consumer or shareholder buy-in when you are promoting or promising too much change.

I’m not suggesting that we should limit the amount of change, just manage the promise and delivery of it. Trust and buy-in are self perpetuating and both will come as long as you deliver.

On the 6th May I will not be casting my vote on the promise of revolutionary change; I will weigh-up the pros and cons’s and try to work out who can deliver the overall benefit… choose wisely.

Posted by Yasmin in Change Management, Transformational Change on April 23rd, 2010 | 1 Comment

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When does tough talking become bullying?

So this week we debated at length if Gordon Brown was a tough talker or a bully, where is the line and how do you know if you have over stepped it?

For me this was a tough question as I am a well known tough talker and many times I have had to consider if I crossed the line. So have I?

Undoubtedly throughout my career yes several times. Does that make me a bully? No.

Why?

At Cheeky Monkey we are driven by our client’s company objectives. What they want to achieve is very personal to us because we know we can have a direct impact on that with the work that we do on their behalf.

We are passionate and uncompromising in delivering a Human Approach to Innovation and Change:

  • We say what no-one wants to say and everyone wants to hear
  • We think, say and do the unthinkable for the management team

And as a result of this we deliver business benefits that go way beyond the project headlines.

It is the management of change by being focused and passionate about the PRIZE, delivering objectives, improving profitability and winning!

It is never personal and never about personality. It is also never about the protection of authority or status.

I have never been interested in whether the situation looked good for me. If it delivered and the team were seen to be successful as a result of our actions it’s a job well done.

What can you do to make sure you are not crossing the line but are in fact tough enough?

  • 1. Your team need to know why they are doing what you have asked them to do and where it fits into the bigger picture
  • 2. They want to be treated as adults, so when they challenge what is being done and why, listen and be honest with your response
  • 3. Make performance appraisals relevant and more frequent. Personal objectives need to be stretching but achievable and show progression and success
  • 4. Reward people in a way that makes a difference to them; be able to answer the question “what’s in it for me?”

Unhappy workers can’t work, that is a fact. But what is making them unhappy your style of the fact they can’t deliver. Some people are just not up to the job and then it is a HR issue.

The ability to manage your emotions is of course critical. Frustration is the precursor to anger add stress to the equation and BOOM!! The forces of hell will be unleashed and Alistair Darling can tell you how that feels.

‘LEAN’ on the Consumer

Lean, that is for manufacturing isn’t it? Why should non manufacturing businesses consider this concept and what does it have to do with HR?

Lean thinking is not new. Lean manufacturing principles are the foundation of most production facilities around the world but this thinking is effective in any function and any industry.

Lean production methods were pioneered by Toyota in Japan and include the use of tools such as; the seven wastes, 5S, Kanban, TPM, Rapid Changeovers and 6 Sigma.

The key tool though is the value mapping process and the ability to identify waste and attack that waste systematically. It is this element of Lean thinking that is being applied in service organisations both in the public and private sector and is extending to functions outside of manufacturing.

Why?

Understanding consumer values, their decision making process and how they spend their disposable income is going to become the foundation for business strategy and management policy in 2010.

Add to that the fact that in a standardised world where things are increasingly similar the world over, people are the difference and employee engagement is going to make the difference.

Lean working is about understanding and meeting the needs of the consumers more effectively. For most organisations it will be about meeting those needs in a better, faster and right first time way – eliminating waste, reducing costs, enhancing value.

The theory is simple:

  • Define value from the perspective of the consumer
  • Map the flow of activities that create that value
  • Design the most efficient way of achieving it

In the next 6 stages the framework for delivering a Lean Programme are identified and the implication on people exposed.

Stage 1 – Vision

The starting point is to be able to visualise and identify value from the perspective of the consumer.

Do you really understand what activities really add value for your customers?

Will Lean help to deliver the organisations strategic business objectives?

Do the Leaders and Managers understand the cultural and organisational change gap?

Adoption of Lean thinking is a cultural and organisational change project and as such requires top level buy in, and understanding of how much commitment you are willing to make and the benefits that you want to see delivered.

Stage 2 – Communication, communication and communication.

Lean affects the organisational structure in very different ways.

In stage 1 we have taken the visionary leaders of the organisation and clarified the reason for delivering Lean. Once this is done and communicated the process switches to being a bottom up driven approach.

Why?

The best way to eliminate waste is to be close to where it is created. Of course this raises a number of issues:

  • Are the doers in the organisation capable of working in process teams rather than functional teams?
  • Are the Managers able to facilitate and support the process without influencing?
  • Are you putting employees in a position where they may “eliminate” their own role and reason for being?

The impact on the people in the organisation is significant and the message communicated at this stage is critical.

A big question at this point is; does your organisation know more about its customers than its employees?

Are you able to have an adult two way relationship between leaders and managers and managers and workers?

Engagement and involvement are critical in managing change in the work environment. Many of the barriers to the success of change projects are people related. This is compounded when implementing Lean, where the involvement and engagement of the workforce is essential.

Aligning the adoption of Lean with an Employee Engagement programme can be a winning combination. Communicating both together allows for positive reflection on a change that is not being done to the workforce but is being delivered by the workforce.

There is increasing evidence that individual’s skills are being under utilised at work, which is a significant source of disengagement for the individual concerned and it also signifies significant waste.

Carrying out a people and talent audit will provide a foundation stone for Lean and ensure that the cultural and organisational change is clearly understood, helping the journey to be sustainable.

Stage 3 – Deliver a current state value map

To move forward you must know where you are coming from.

Can you define your end to end value chain?

As previously mentioned this needs to be done by creating process teams. In some organisations these will be cross functional and in others cross functional and inter-company.

Many organisations will have gone through years of Value Adding, so it is natural at this point for there to be a level of cynicism about a new focus on the elimination of waste.

It can be helpful at this point to bring in some external co-ordination to limit the potential for smoothing of the existing process born by a fear of becoming victims of the process.

Stage 4 – Disruption!

The fun bit! An unreasonable challenge on what is done and why. The dependency is being far enough down the Employee Engagement Process that there is a real desire and passion to find the better, faster, right first time route to what the consumer wants.

How?

Follow the Google theory; “give the proper tools to a group of people who want to make a difference and they will”.

The purpose here is to invoke positive emotions from people taking personal responsibility, giving them freedom to make decisions and organise their work.

The changes in the social structure and impact of the economic downturn have left many people wanting more than a pay packet. More people are taking personal responsibility for themselves and others in their everyday lives and are less willing to abandon their desire for self determination when they enter work – engaging this side of the workforce is key to successful Lean implementation. There are consequences though…

Managers used to having responsibility and control over a clear function may struggle with the behavioural change associated with this type of transformation. Supporting them with coaching and mentoring will ensure that conflict is managed positively and will ultimately deliver a management group who can facilitate change and eliminate waste effectively.

Stage 5 – The Transformation Programme

The results of the disruption process will require packaging into manageable projects that will link together as part of the Lean Programme. The ideal situation is to have the Lean Programme sponsored at Board level, with the Board becoming a Steering Group for the overall timeline and delivery of benefits.

Each project will then have a Manager level sponsor and a Project Manager responsible for delivery of the Lean initiative through the process team.

It is very likely that as a result of disruption the value chain identified will cut across the traditional functional structure. This will result in the need for restructuring of functional responsibility focusing on major business process activity.

Stage 6 – Sustainability

It seems sometimes that the desire, excitement and commitment to business transformation only exists when the programme is in full flight. It is common now in many organisations for new transformation programmes to start up as one is finishing off and that energy is some how transferred to the new initiative with the belief that this programme has delivered…

BIG MISTAKE!

Creating sustainable change takes continued effort and improvement. Organisations who feel the job is done at the end of the programme have usually not aligned goals and strategic benefits correctly and more importantly are not measuring success.

Performance monitoring at several levels; results based, process based, team and individual is critical in not only quantifying the benefits of Lean working but ensuring that hot spots are identified and the philosophy of continuous improvement is maintained.

Lean is not a one hit wonder. It is a business process change that if done correctly will change the organisational design, focus, culture, behaviour and way of working for the organisation.

There are a number of HR specific considerations to ensure sustainability of Lean:

  • Performance related appraisal scheme
  • Commitment to challenging poor behaviour
  • Designing rewards that encourage the type of behaviour and action required to meet business aims

Values driven engagement:

  • Improved team working
  • Mutual support
  • Greater personal responsibility
  • Autonomy
  • More focus on collaboration and influencing

The 21st Century Workplace is going to need to focus on; flexibility, change and continuous improvement. There will be more emphasis on attitudes, behaviours and outcomes. This will be measurable and correlated with performance. Lean provides an umbrella to do all of that and generate some tangible financial benefits by focusing on what your consumer wants to see and finding the simplest way of delivering it.

Lean, just for manufacturing? Not in our experience.

Process, Rules, Responsibility and Accountability

It’s Sunday 23rd January and I am flying over the Indian Ocean on my way to Jakarta. I have a parachute on my back and will jettison in on a team of people we trained to use PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) 12 months ago. They are struggling. It is no surprise. 12 months ago they worked with no process, rules, responsibility or accountability. We gave them everything they wanted. The thing is process and rules need to be followed, responsibility needs to be taken and accountability needs to be felt. They are doing none of those things.

WHY? When they know it will make a difference?

As I read the Times, one after the other these stories added to the argument well underway in my head.

First the crimes of neglect. The parents of two brothers whose toxic upbringing, led to them torturing two innocent children. “31 missed opportunities to take action that would have prevented the crime”.

We live in an imperfect society where we know that people can ignore their responsibility and are not always accountable for their actions. To protect the innocent people who get caught in that imperfection there is a process and rules, a safety net.

How could this safety net have missed so many opportunities to make a difference?

Part of the training we deliver is “don’t be sheep”. If after following the process and rules you can see that something is wrong take accountability for ensuring that the right decision is made, don’t just tick boxes and then sit back and ignore responsibility by thinking your job is done.

Courageous Frances Inglis, jailed for 9 years for the mercy killing of her son. The process and rules allow for the starvation of her son, “If a vet let a dog die like this, he would be reported to the RSPCA”, but not by lethal injection which is of course what we do to put an animal out of its misery.

The process and rules followed but to what end? I have no doubt the Frances was willing to end her own life to stop the suffering of her son, being imprisoned does nothing to protect anyone, not her or society. So by following the rules and process here what difference have we made?

The mother of “Britain’s sickest child” jailed for 3 years after faking his illness. This boy had been seen by doctors more than 325 times and had undergone 9 operations. She managed to do this by bullying hospital staff and playing them off against each other.

The story focuses on the cruelty of the mother and I am not for one minute disputing that but come on, 325 times in front of a doctor and 9 actual operations, she is not the only person under the microscope here surely?

Don’t be sheep

My final story “courage and comradeship keys to survival in an inhospitable land” working in Sangin, Helmand. The armed forces the pinnacle of a world that relies on people following process and rules, taking responsibility and being accountable. People who understand the value of these things and the difference they make but who have the intelligence and courage to do what is necessary when it is necessary.

These are people who make a difference everyday

So as I close the paper and look at my parachute I thank my luck stars that a life will not depend on me finding out why this team are not following the PLM process and rules and are shirking both responsibility and accountability, but I will act like it does because I know it will make a difference.

Freedom of Speech, Technology and Understanding

google

One of the big news stories of the week (and a nice distraction from the weather) was Google versus China. Acts like this just make us remember that freedom of speech and information still doesn’t exist for all people (and businesses make moral compromises under the guise that some progress is better than none, but that is for another blog)

Freedom of speech and information still doesn’t exist for all people

I am always getting into trouble for something that I have said or questions that I ask. I have an unquenchable thirst for understanding and I prefer to get that by talking to people first, reading second.

My first experience of this being an issue was when I was travelling Vietnam many years ago. I hate war but was drawn into what had happened there by what I saw in the museums, I guess on first reflection I thought it was “the other side of the story” and it was, but it was also censored, very blatantly censored and this made me want to know more.

I spoke to people that had lived through the war and to a certain degree were still living that regime. I had so many questions but I was told that the people who were talking to me would be punished if I persisted with my questioning…

…Punished? For talking to me (scruffy backpacker) about a war that has been so well documented and analysed over many years by many people – why?

How lucky were we in the “free world” to be able to express an opinion and write and talk about what we see happening around us. We take this for granted, how can it be any other way?

Does this mean we believe everything we hear, see and read?

I read an article written by Christiane Amanpour in which she talks about her 20 years on the road as a journalist. She makes a really interesting point about the fact that technology is bringing us more information but we are getting less and less understanding.

It is so easy now just to flick through the headlines, especially online. Who reads a paper from cover to cover? In our time starved day do we keep up to date by scanning what we see and taking it all at face value?

What makes you delve deeper, go beyond a headline?

Even if you do read the detail, how often do you follow up? News is now so much about the new headline, we have “Breaking News” everyday. It is actually really hard to follow some stories through and without doing that how much can we really understand?

If we don’t understand or challenge what we hear, see and read it might as well be censored, we are still being manipulated aren’t we?

I have seen this creep into the workplace over the last few years too. When I started out the emphasis was on “Executive Summary” that was all your boss wanted to see. Your project may have lasted 6 months and generated a shed load of data but you had to sum that up in one meaningful page.

This lead to reports being given in the form of presentations, work would be pre-circulated but the chances were your boss would be reading it while you were presenting.

The advent of email has resulted in constant updates of information being “shared” in a fast and furious way. Most of us speed read or don’t read them at all.

Texting and Twitter have to be the icing on the cake. It is really hard to put something of meaning and intelligence over in 140 characters which is why Twitter is full of self indulgent banter, fun but doesn’t help our understanding.

All these things have their place but my concern is they seem to have replaced our desire for detail.

The devil is always in the detail

When we go into different businesses the first thing we do is listen. We soak up what people have to tell us because we have to understand before we can help.

We have the freedom to do that, learn from what has gone before and it means that our future has a higher chance of success.

China still has some of the most patriotic citizens in the world. Hopefully this stand by Google will see China taking another brave step in trusting in their own and loosening the grip.

For the rest of us, let’s get into the detail, go over 140 characters and understand something that will allow you to challenge in pursuit of your own better future.

Posted by Nina in Communication on January 14th, 2010 | No Comments

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Reach For The Stars

Richard Branson never fails to inspire and yesterday was no exception as he unveiled his new and improved passenger space plane ‘WhiteKnightTwo’.

On this occasion Richard is quite literally ‘reaching for the stars’, but it is fair to say that this has always been his business and life philosophy. So what makes him so different?

It’s Not Rocket Science

The difference between Richard and most other people is that he reaches beyond the stars. If pushing the boundaries leads to success or failure, he takes a ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ approach.

I know we don’t all have the resources and freedom to aspire to the extreme projects of the Virgin empire, but it is important to remember that all of us have the power to challenge ourselves to achieve higher and higher levels of success.

Set Some Goals

Setting goals is important! We all need goals in life, both business and personal, they help us to focus on what we want to achieve and motivate us to do what it takes to succeed. It sounds simple but it is surprising how many of us are drifting.

It’s a great feeling to reach a goal and it is truly something to be celebrated, once you have felt that feeling of elation it’s addictive. what’s left to do? Make new goals!

Don’t Get Stuck in Your Comfort Zone

Nobody wants to fail but setting goals that you know you can consistently achieve will not buy you a ride on ‘WhiteKnightTwo’ get out of your comfort zone and lead the way to something new.

Posted by Yasmin in Leadership, Motivation on December 9th, 2009 | No Comments

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When Did Projects Become Business As Usual?

I have been practicing change management and delivering projects for the last 17 years. All those years ago I knew this was my destiny because Project Management meant you did things a different way. I had never been able to settle in a “functional role” and god knows I tried them all.

Projects were (and in my book still are) a vehicle for change. An opportunity to step outside of business as usual, break down barriers and find the fastest most effective way of delivering the desired change. Then carefully, integrate that back into the business as a new way of working, nurturing it like a sapling that needs to take root.

The philosophy was a real hit. Now most companies have some kind of Project Management function and there are so many Project Managers.

BUT HAVEN’T WE MISSED THE POINT HERE?

They have become part of the establishment, surely the antidote to what they are there to do?

Truly successful projects are still in the minority and change on the whole is still managed badly.

WHY DO COMPANIES WANT (OR PUT UP WITH) THIS DILUTION?

Have we got so used to projects not quite making the deadline or failing to keep to budget that we have lowered our expectations?

OR ARE LEADERS CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT THEY ARE COMFORTABLE WITH?

When I was an employed Project Manager I was a total pain in the arse for all my bosses because I challenged everything. Not to be obstructive but because I always believed there was a better way, I believed it was my job to lead change. This did not always sit well with my bosses who, some saw the benefit and promoted the success, others distanced themselves waiting for me to hang myself.

CHANGE CREATES HEAT AND LIGHT

If you have an internal change team then the management team need to be enlightened, the mavericks, the ones who don’t care who is going to be upset, they see a vision and know they can get there.

The best creations, most innovative ideas, advances in ways of working and process need heat and light. Make a difference, create a lightening bolt today!

Motivating a Team Rocked by Redundancy

Nina had the pleasure of writing the GM Chamber of Commerce Friday guest blog.

She said:

“There’s no doubt the recession is forcing companies to think differently. The playing field has changed and the entrepreneurs amongst us are considering new markets, new processes, new ways of working and new terms. Everything is up for grabs again. Positive or negative, it’s an adrenalin rush and people are thinking about basic business practice again.”

Read the rest of what Nina had to say on the GM Chamber Blog .

Posted by Yasmin in News on November 20th, 2009 | No Comments

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Change is Coming

President Obama, Gordon brown, David Cameron, they have all told us that ‘change is coming’.

It’s been a year since the collapse of Lehman Brothers rocked the world’s financial system. A global recession followed, brought about by poor risk management, power, greed and an unprecedented lack of accountability. The required balance between risk and reward somehow went under the radar.

I am a customer, you are a customer, your favourite shops and local businesses are customers, and together we are paying the price for this imbalance between power and accountability. As we tread the murky waters of this recession trying to keep our heads above the water, ‘change is coming’ feels like a cheap tag line, of course it is, you have no choice.

What I want to know is…

What Will Change?

On Saturday finance ministers from around the world met in Scotland for the G20 meeting, the focus, economic growth.

Speaking of the financial sector, Gordon Brown said:

“It cannot be acceptable that the benefits of success in this sector are reaped by the few but the costs of its failure are borne by all of us”.

He went on to call for a new ‘social contract’ with the world’s banks, a route to preventing future bailouts and making them more responsible to society. It sounded sensible to me, a way to move forward when they pull the plug on the money printing press, but by all accounts it was met with a lukewarm response. Despite our vulnerability many governments are looking for a way to bail out of the bail out, but as national debt is rising by £6,000 per second, for now they have pledged to continue the emergency support.

In fairness, there has been change. Last week the Bank of England’s wish to break up some of the world’s biggest financial firms was granted as the government announced their plans to break up Northern Rock, RBS and Lloyds in an effort to increase competition and limit our risk from failure. If the plan is to eliminate monopolies and limit risk, why just these banks? Surely HSBC has the same problems, as do many other banks around the globe whose governments are reluctant to follow suit.

What Needs to Change?

As everyday consumers you and I are a small link in the financial chain, previously unaware of the impact that that financial sector could have on our daily lives. We were detached from the hustle and bustle of the London stock exchange and Wall Street, unaware that our homes, pensions, savings and investments were being used as a stake in a game of roulette.

We have spent a year reading about what went wrong, and thankfully we are starting to read about what needs to change. From everything that I have read there are four main areas that need focus:

  • An clear understanding of the role of the financial sector in society and our economy
  • The failures of previous regulation
  • The management of risk

And, most importantly…

  • A global commitment to work together

“The Government’s commitment to regulatory reform is real and no one should be in doubt that change is coming. But nor should anyone in the sector think that government alone will be able to drive the change needed – the time for owners, governors, and managers of firms to show leadership has well and truly arrived.” – Paul Myners, Financial Services Secretary

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