High-Impact Consulting

Wowie Zowie! Welcome 2011!  I am so glad to see this year arrive.  Not that it’s been a horrible year; let’s just say it’s been a difficult year for our country, for leadership, and for teams.  So much is changing…at a tremendous pace.  Social media, limited face-to-face interactions, minimal demands for live interaction.  I have to admit, it’s a bit of a struggle for me to manage these changes. 

Talking to a friend who is of the Baby Boomer generation, and a manager in a blue-collar industry (road construction and maintenance) – who supervises many Gen Y and Gen Nexters…he’s one of the last people I would expect to be welcoming of business texting.  To my surprise, he said he “LOVES IT!”   When I asked why, he said it’s perfect for what he needs to provide for them…simple, clear direction, in real time.  That was a blast of cold water in the face…and one that I needed.

Of course!  If you’re supervising the younger generation, you’ve got to meet them where they are.  And, for the most part, they are in the techno world.  Immediate needs. Immediate info. Immediate gratification.

Time to pony up. 

Time to get with the program and quit resisting the wave of tech changes and its impact on business in the second decade of the 21st century.

Can I do it?  Can you?……

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I love to use case scenarios for illustration of organizational management, leadership and work flow issues, so here’s one for your consideration.

This was a problem-solving opportunity between Department A and Department B in a service delivery organization.  [NOTE: I had access only to Department B's activity.]

HISTORY:  Department A’s Manager called Department B’s manager to a meeting earlier that day to discuss low client satisfaction scores due to long wait times in Department A.   Both departments are combined for client satisfaction survey purposes. Both departments are interdependent in work flow. 

The outcome of the meeting between the two Managers was a request from Department A’s Manager that work flow be shifted to Department B earlier in the process.       

NEXT ACTIVITY;  Department B’s Manager called an impromptu staff ‘huddle’  with her team to discuss how to respond to Department A’s request.  Department B made the following assumptions: 

• Department A knew that the total client wait time would remain unchanged regardless of where the wait would actually occur.
• Departent A did not care that the client experience would not be improved.
• Department A thought moving the client out of their department earlier would eliminate comments on the satisfaction surveys about long wait times in their department (Department A).   

Department B staff concluded that Department A should re-design their work flow to improve efficiencies; specifically, to prioritize clients related to the service for which they were scheduled.  They also recommended that Department A manage the client’s expectations and improve communication of the work flow process/typical total wait times to the client.   

The ‘huddle’ ended with the determination that Department B’s Manager would follow up with Department A’s Manager to convey her staff’s recommendations. 

MY THOUGHTS:  Upon reflection, several things struck me:

1. What was probably needed was a study, or at least observation, of the entire client process from entry to service delivery before recommendations were made.
2. Wouldn’t it be nice if Department A & B would conduct such a study together?
3. Who is the most likely person or persons to expand the thinking beyond departments and look at the system/flow of work design?    
4. Who advocates for the client experience as a whole?
5. Where could these departments find that similar challenges in the same industry or even within their own organization had been tackled and improved, in order to tap into best practices?
6. How do organizations learn and share organizational knowledge/wisdom?  How do industries best learn and share industy-specific knowledge/wisdom in order to benefit the customer and improve performance, even in basic, ‘in-the-trenches’ processes such as these?

Interesting questions for pondering…what do you think?……………

Business consultants tackle these issues all the time; sometimes on a smaller scale, and many times on a larger scale. 

In a capitalistic environment the goal of process improvement and work-flow re-design has to be to maximize efficiencies in order to deliver quality customer service/goods in order to maximize income and become the best in the field. 

It has been my experience that there are many very good people in all organizations.  There are not very many good organizations with good organizational processes in place, sustained over time.  

Progress is typically not a linear process.  Instead it looks more like 2 steps forward, 1 step back.  Maybe even 2 steps forward, 1 step back, and 1 step sideways.  As long as the general direction is forward, there is hope.  However, if the general direction shifts and becomes 1 step forward, 2 steps back, then, of course, we’re fighting a losing battle. 

Changes in leadership, in key positions, in external industry challenges; dumbing down of the general staff - these all can cause organizations to shift from the 2 step shuffle to the 1 step shuffle…o their detriment.

It takes wise, courageous leaders AND followers to fight the good fight. 

Keep shufflin’ on!

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Interesting thing about leadership in organizations.  As a leader, your job is not only to lead your own department/division to excellence, but also to willingly accept that you are a member of the leadership group.  As such, it is assumed you will join in putting pressure on other people within your sphere of influence to raise their standards and raise their expectations.

So how does that sit with you?  Did you recognize you have leadership obligations that extend beyond your team? 

It’s a big responsibility.  Organizational excellence.  Leadership.  Inspiring others to want to struggle to achieve greatness.

Does your passion extend to others beyond your team?

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Posting in news feed today says CEOs are ‘hunkering down’, waiting to see what President Obama will do next. 

Complaining they can’t predict Obama’s actions and how his new regulations and taxes might hit their companies,  CEOs are on auto-pilot.  This is exactly what happens in organizations.   Those whose follwership you need to be successful become frozen and unable to act when your decisions are ambivalent, unpredictable and frequently reversed. 

Lesson for leaders:  take the time needed to analyze and strategize, then develop your plan and get on with it; EXECUTE! 

Be consistent in your actions and those who agree with your path will remain loyal.  Those who don’t will most likely find their way on another path.  Either by your decision or theirs.

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