Building super teams

 


February 19th, 2012

3 tips for recognising clear messages, conflicting messages and confusing messages

Clear communication plays a key role in creating healthy cultures.

Virginia Satir, a pioneering family therapist, found that the quality of the communication directly affected the quality of life in families, organisations and societies.

She identified that people may give each other three different kinds of messages. These were ‘clear messages’, ‘conflicting messages’ and ‘confusing messages’. Each type of message had consequences.

Let’s explore how you can recognise when people communicate in these different ways.

1) Clear messages.

Good communicators give crystal-clear messages and people know where they stand. A leader or an organisation may say, for example:

“People are expected to take responsibility and perform good work. Those who do so will find there are positive consequences. Those who don’t will find there are negative consequences.”

Clear messages can be either encouraging or tough, but people know the ‘rules of the game’. Let’s explore one example.

Twenty years ago I worked as the youth development officer for a football club. Everybody in the club was aware of ‘the way we do things around here’.

The Dos were: Do be positive; do encourage your team mates; do try your best; do be on time for training; do be respectful to referees; do keep yourself fit and healthy; do strive to keep improving.

The Don’ts were: Don’t be negative; don’t be late; don’t argue with referees; don’t do things that harm your fitness or health.

The players appreciated the framework and felt able to express themselves within the guidelines. Any player who transgressed – such as arguing with referees – was immediately dropped.

Clear messages are acted upon in both words and actions. Johnson & Johnson, for example, had a written credo that said its first duty was to the patients who bought its products.

When Tylenol, one of its medicines, was injected with cyanide by a blackmailer, J & J immediately withdrew every batch from the shelves. The company followed its credo in times of adversity and acted decisively. There was no messing around.

Clear messages play a key part in building healthy relationships.

People then operate from a level of ‘certainty’. They understand that if somebody says they will do something, for example, that deed will actually get done. People may or may not always agree with the message – but at least they know the consequences.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme.

First, write the names of people, teams or organisations that give positive clear messages. (Obviously fascists give clear messages, but these are not geared to helping everybody to grow.)

Second, describe what you see as the consequences of giving these positive clear messages.

2) Conflicting messages.

Sick cultures often involve lots of conflicting messages. A person, an organisation or a society may say, for example:

“People are expected to take responsibility and perform good work. Those who do so will not necessarily be rewarded. Those who don’t take responsibility will find there is no negative reaction and they may in fact be rewarded.”

Conflicting messages lead to confusion, pain and anger. Here are some examples.

A newly installed government says it aims to be ethical. Soon after coming into office, however, one of the key ministers – or staff members – behaves unethically. The government allows the person to remain in their role.

An engineering company says it believes in total quality control. One of the engineers ‘blows the whistle’ on a key problem that could endanger the lives of customers. The company chooses to ‘walk past the quality problem’, punishes the whistle-blower and presses on with production.

A parent urges their 20-year-old drug addict son to take responsibility for their life. At the same time, however, the parent continues to supply them with money which the son spends on drugs.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme.

First, write the names of people, teams or organisations that give conflicting messages.

Second, describe what you see as the consequences of giving these contradictory messages.

3) Confusing messages.

Poor communicators often give confusing messages. A person, an organisation or a society may say, for example:

“People are asked to take responsibility and perform good work. We are not quite sure what this looks like in action, nor can we outline what will be the consequences. If people do not perform good work, we will try to explore the reasons why this is so.”

People do not know where they stand and spend time trying to untangle what has been said. Here are some examples of this kind of communication.

A government says: “We are totally committed to reducing carbon emissions. What people must understand, however, is that this is a complicated process. We must begin by getting consensus on the procedure for making it happen.

“There is no point in acting on our own, so we are embarking on a process of research and consultation that will, hopefully, lead to voluntary agreements. As a government, however, we are committed to reducing carbon emissions.”

A company says: “We want to encourage people to work well in teams. When grading people at the end of each year, however, we will only look at their individual contributions, not how they have helped others in the team to succeed.

“We will also force leaders to ‘distribute’ their team members along a ‘bell-curve’. There must be 20% top performers, 60% average performers and 20% poor performers.

"We know this is not actually the case in super teams, but we will still ask leaders to distribute people along the curve. At the same time, we believe in teamwork.”

Confusing messages force people:

a) To spend time trying to understand what has been said.

b) To then act on these guidelines and keep checking to see whether the situation have changed.

It’s much simpler to give and receive clear messages.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme.

First, write the names of people, teams or organisations that give confusing messages.

Second, describe what you see as the consequences of giving these confusing messages.

Let’s explore an exercise on this theme. Start by a specific situation in your life or work where you want to give a clear message. Then do several things.

First, describe the specific clear message you want to give. If appropriate, write the actual words you want to use.

Second, describe the potential pluses of giving the clear message. Describe also the potential minuses and how you can manage these.

Third, describe your specific action plan for giving the clear message.

Clear communication can take time, energy and, in some cases, courage. Poor communication takes its own toll. It often results in confusion, pain and worry.

Giving clear messages is one of the keys to creating a healthy family, team or society.

Posted in Strengths, Super teams, The Strengths Blog | No Comments »

February 18th, 2012

3 tips for helping a person to achieve an A grade

Benjamin Zander is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also a popular performer on the business speaking circuit.

During his lectures he draws parallels between his role as a conductor and the leader’s role in business. You can find out more about his work at:

http://www.benjaminzander.com/

One concept he describes is the idea of getting an A grade. Imagine you are a leader. You can use this approach when working with people in a team. Let’s explore how it works in practice.

1) You can agree with the person on the A grade.

Benjamin tutors hundreds of students who travel from around the world to pursue their musical studies in America. They are often financially supported by families who have saved to provide the necessary funding.

Naturally enough, the students feel nervous on their first day in college. Anxious not to disappoint their parents, they are worried about passing their final exams.

Benjamin greets the assembled students by saying something like the following.

Let me put your minds at rest. You already have an A grade. But this is dependent on several things.

First, write me a letter dated May next year – the end of your time in college – titled ‘My A Grade’. Imagine you are writing the letter after completing the course. Start with the words:

‘The reason I deserve an A grade is because I have done the following things over the last year: ____.’

Describe the specific things you will have done to deserve the A Grade.

Second, you and I will meet to discuss your proposed achievements and whether these deserve an A. If not, we will agree on what you must do to get your desired grade.

Third, it is then up to you to reach the agreed grade.

The A Grade approach is used by some companies in their performance management systems. The team member and manager agree upfront on the grade the person wants to achieve over the year.

They clarify the required outcomes and, providing the person reaches these goals, they get the agreed grade. People know where they stand and find this to be a fair approach to performance management.

Imagine you are a manager who took this approach and, for example, the team member wanted to achieve the equivalent of an A. You would meet together and agree on what they must deliver to achieve such a grade.

The person would then complete the following exercise and send it to you to be signed off. If they delivered the goods, they would get an A grade.

2) You can review the person’s progress towards achieving the A grade.

The music student – or team member – throws themselves into working towards achieving their goals. How to help them to keep on track? One approach is to have regular tutorial – or meetings – where the person evaluates their own progress.

Imagine you are a leader. The team member can meet with you to report on the following themes.

3) You can clarify whether the person has achieved the A grade.

Achieving the agreed goals can be stretching but rewarding, especially if the initial contracting has been done properly. This is vital if people are to fulfil their potential.

Darren, the Youth Academy Director of a Premiership football club, continually challenged his young players to achieve an A grade. Sitting down with each one at the start of the season, he invited them to set their personal goals.

Terry, a star forward, believed that scoring 20 goals would warrant the top prize, but Dave thought otherwise. He said:

You are one of the most influential players in the team and that brings responsibilities.

Citing the old story about what Phil Jackson, the basketball coach, said to his star player Michael Jordan, he said:

It is not enough for you to play well. Great players help others to achieve success. Frequently you criticise other players and have a bad influence on the team.

You will only get an A – and your contract renewed – if you help other players to reach their goals. Is that something you would like to achieve?

Terry agreed and, after one further stiff ultimatum from Darren, hit his goals target and became a better team member.

After graduating from the Academy, however, he fell back into old habits. Drifting from club to club, he finally got his career back on track in his mid-twenties after seeking help from his old mentor.

Terry again responded well when Darren challenged him to set stretching goals. This time it was more along the lines of:

How do you want to be remembered? As Premiership player or as the captain of a non-league team?

Applying the ‘A’ Grade approach is not a soft option. Employed properly, it can help a person to take big strides towards fulfilling their potential.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Describe the specific things you can do:

* To agree with a person on what constitutes an A grade.

* To review their progress towards achieving an A grade.

* To clarify whether they have achieve achieved an A grade.

You can then do your best to enable the person to achieve peak performance. Try completing the following sentences.

Posted in Super teams, The Strengths Blog | No Comments »

February 15th, 2012

3 tips for recognising the 3 kinds of organisations in today’s world

There are three kinds of organisations operating in today's world.

Some are making the new rules for work. They may be in new media, technology or doing pioneering work in another field.

Some organisations are trying to squeeze what they can from the old rules. They may be in finance, retail or other process-driven businesses.

Some are trying to follow both the old and new rules. They may be running the majority of their organisation in an established way – but also aiming to be inventive in certain areas.

Let’s look at these three kinds of organisations.

1) Some organisations are making the new rules.

Some are doing pacesetting work. They are going into new lands and making new rules. Their people are energetic, self-motivated and working hard towards a specific goal.

Their spirit is entrepreneurial. They emanate a sense of purpose – to build a new venture, launch a fresh product or win a pot of gold. Some have a sense of hubris; they believe their know it all.

Many are hungry to learn from any field, however, in order to gain the slightest advantage. Virtually all are goal-centred. They focus on:

a) Their purpose.

b) Their principles.

c) Their people and helping them to achieve peak performance.

“The biggest challenge is getting the right people,” said one leader. “Being in a fast-moving industry, we want people who can take responsibility, make decisions and enjoy working in a team. They must also be street-wise. They must do their best for customers, but not sell the farm.

“We don’t offer the best wages, but everybody is a shareholder. Selling the business will mean everybody makes money. But for some it will be £25k, rather than a million.

"We are honest about that with people when they join. The upside is they will have been part of a successful company that already has a huge reputation. People will move-on to other exciting jobs in the industry.”

Can you think of an organisation that is making the rules? How are they putting this into practice? What kinds of people thrive in this organisation? What are the pluses and minuses of working in such a place? Try completing the following sentences.

 

2) Some organisations are trying to squeeze what they can from the old rules. 

Some are doing everything possible to make the old system work, but with varying results.

Some are succeeding. They are recording profits but, at the same time, may be upsetting their customers or staff.

The spirit is ‘engineering’. They believe in their system and urge their people to make it work better. Many banks, insurance companies, retailers and even some software firms are taking this approach.

Some organisations are failing. They are overloading their staff with targets, internally focused activities and painting by numbers procedures. There is little joy in such places. People turn-up for work and go through the motions. There is little vision higher up the chain.

Senior managers produce many initiatives, but few communicate a compelling company story. Such senior managers are in ‘Stalin’s country’ where occasionally one or two get taken out and shot. They may have failed to deliver; other times it can be because new leaders shoot a few people on whim.

Can you think of an organisation that is trying to squeeze the most from the old rules? How are they putting this into practice? What kinds of people thrive – or survive – in this organisation? What are the pluses and minuses of working in such a place? Try completing the following sentences.

3) Some organisations are trying to follow both the old and new rules.

Some are trying to get the best of both worlds. Building on the principles that work, they want to maintain their core offering. At the same time, however, they see the world is changing.

This poses a fundamental challenge: How to keep the best of the past and yet also shape a successful future?

Some organisations are taking the following steps.

* They are maintaining and improving their core business.

* They are developing future business by building successful prototypes.

* They are keeping these two activities separate. This allows both types of businesses to practice the principles in their own ways to deliver success.

This final point is crucial. Good organisations follow their time-honoured principles. But the ways these core principles are practiced must continue to evolve. Customer service in the 21st century, for example, calls for different approaches than in the 1980s.

Some organisations fail to understand such implications. So they hire enthusiastic people to build new types of businesses. But then they ask them to follow ancient internal procedures.

Good organisations give people the accountability, autonomy and authority required to deliver successful prototypes. Such new ventures then develop the future income streams.

Only a few organisations manage this balancing act. They maintain their core offerings, whilst also developing successful new businesses.

Can you think of an organisation that is managing to follow both the old and new rules? How are they putting this into practice?

What kinds of people thrive in this organisation? What are the pluses and minuses of working in such a place? Try completing the following sentences.

There are three kinds of organisation operating in today’s world. It is useful to know which kind of organisation you prefer. Each type does, of course, contain both pluses and minuses.

Bearing these factors in mind, you can consciously accept the whole package. You can then perform fine work and deliver success.

Posted in Super teams, The Strengths Blog | No Comments »

February 13th, 2012

3 tips for turning around customer complaints

“I love tackling customer complaints,” said Karen, the customer service director of a retail company. “That sounds crazy, but doing a great piece of service recovery can transform somebody into a customer for life.”

Imagine you have been asked to improve customer service in your organisation. You will probably do three things.

First, you will probably start by improving the 4 Ps in the total service package that is offered to the customer. This means constantly improving the Product, People Skills, Procedures and Packaging.

Second, you will improve the customer’s journey. This will also mean improving the key ‘moments of truth’ involved in the customer doing business with your organisation.

Third, you may also want to educate the staff to use the 3 As approach to turning around customer complaints. They can apologise, accept and act. Let’s explore how this works in practice.

1) Apologise.

“The first step is simply to say: ‘Sorry’,” maintained Karen.

Frequently the customer has tried to complain after a bad experience, but they have been met by indifference or denial. Some companies exhaust the customer by shifting them from department to department until they get tired. Alternatively, the person at the call centre says: “You can speak to my manager, but they will give you the same answer.”

Karen explained: “We ask our staff to let the customer speak. They are to listen and offer a genuine apology. Frequently the customer becomes calmer. Moving onto the next stage, we try to understand their story.”

2) Accept.

Customers who have bad experiences sometimes feel crazy. Trying to tell their story, they are told things like:

“Nobody else has complained … That has not happened before … Don’t raise your voice … If you get angry, I am going to end this call … If I did what you ask, then I would have to do it for every customer … It is not possible for me to direct your call to another department, you must ring them directly and start again at the back of the queue.”

Karen explained the approach she had outlined to her staff:

“Listen to the customer’s story. Accept their view about the experience. There are serial complainers, but most people simply want good service. Gather information about what happened and get concrete examples. Continue to listen, because they may still be upset.

"Once you have got the full story, in your own mind clarify three things. First, the things you can and can't do. Second, the things you are prepared and are not prepared to do. Third, Bearing these things in mind, think about how to, as far as possible, get a 'win-win'.

"Wherever possible, reassure the customer and promise to get back within a certain time frame. Give them your direct number so that they can contact you. Thank them for getting in touch with you. Then move onto the next stage.”

3) Act.

Great service-givers respond quickly and do what is necessary: a) To right the wrong; b) To satisfy the customer; c )To sometimes go that extra mile to turn the complainer into a customer for life. Great service-givers respond quickly and do what is necessary:

“Act to solve the problem and work to get a ‘Win-Win’,” maintained Karen. “But then comes the crucial part. Act to make sure that similar problems never happen again.

“In the old days many of us attended courses that introduced terms such as the customer’s journey and the moments of truth – the crucial times when customers form opinions about our company. We must keep revisiting these basics – designing our systems from the customer’s point of view.

“Winning back customers is exhilarating, but we should satisfy them in the first place. Nowadays our company make it easy for people to complain, because it is better to have a talking customer than a walking customer. Listening to their story helps us to improve our business.”

How can you educate people to be good at service recovery? One approach is to take them through the 3 As. You can bring these to life by doing exercises and role-plays. So you may wish to take the following steps.

First, invite people to think of a specific situation where they will need to do some customer recovery.

Second, invite them to describe the specific things they can do to apologise, accept and act.

Third, invite them to do realistic role-plays where they translate these principles into practice.

Try completing the following exercise. Making these things happen can turn people into customers for life.

Posted in Super teams, The Strengths Blog | No Comments »

February 12th, 2012

3 tips for never walking past a quality problem

A Managing Director taught me the meaning of ‘never walk past a quality problem’. Sitting in the reception area of his company’s offices, I saw him park his car and begin walking toward the main entrance.

Suddenly he dived into the hedge and emerged with an empty Coke can. It was 7.30 in the morning and the can had obviously been thrown from the nearby main street during the night.

“I refuse to walk past a quality problem, otherwise I have said it is okay,” explained the MD. “If we don’t keep our hedges and car parks clean, visitors will think we don’t pay attention to our products. I can guarantee that, if it wasn’t me, the first staff member to arrive would pick up the Coke can.”

Let’s explore how you may want to follow this principle in your own way.

1) You can clarify the quality standards.

Imagine you are leading a team and want to set high quality standards. Certainly you must act as a good model, because people will learn from what you do, not what you say. But how can you then get people to deliver the required standards?

One approach is to ‘tell it from the top’, instructing people to behave in certain ways. That may be necessary at first, but can lead to a culture where people refuse to think for themselves.

Another approach is: a) To set the tone from the top; b) To then involve people in defining the required quality standards; c) To provide the support they need to deliver these standards.

How to make this happen? After setting the tone, gather the team and invite them to clarify the Dos and Don’ts regarding all aspects of their quality standards. This can cover, for example, their products, their external and internal customer service and their professional behaviour. So you may want to invite people to complete the following exercises.

Clarify and agree on the standards. Discuss the ideas, but don’t be afraid to say that some things are mandatory. It is also good to clarify the reasons for delivering this quality.

Some people get this far, but then fail to think through the consequences. This is where objections can appear. It is best to get these out into the open, otherwise they will appear in people’s daily work. Invite people to clarify the solutions to any potential challenges. Make sure people get the required backing. Then commit to delivering the goods.

Imagine you are leading a team. You will obviously invite people to clarify and commit to the standards in your own way. But, if you wish, try the exercise on this theme.

2) You can reward the quality you want repeated.

Every Wednesday the MD I mentioned sent out an email called Weekly Wins. In addition to business successes across the company, this highlighted ways that people had demonstrated the quality standards.

“It’s easy to report acts of heroism,” he said. “Like many companies, we have employees who drive through a blizzard from London to Glasgow to deliver an important package. Certainly it’s vital to tell these stories, but it’s crucial to highlight the daily acts of people doing things in the right way.

“So we publicised the efforts of the employees in the boiler room, as well as those on the bridge. This reinforced the quality standards we wanted people to demonstrate each day.”

How can you do this in your own way? Try completing the following sentence.

3) You can never walk past a quality problem.

Imagine the scene. Its 9.30 on a Monday morning and one team member arrives half-an-hour late for a 9.00 meeting at the office.

“What a terrible day,” they announce to the rest of the staff. “The trains are late, the traffic is terrible and later I am due to meet the client from hell. What a way to begin a Monday.”

What to do about this entrance? You can ignore the person, confront them or adopt some other approach? I witnessed such an incident when the leader asked such a team member to leave the room, saying:

“I wonder if you can replay that situation. Everybody has found it hard to get into work today, but we want to get on with the job. I would like you to go out, then come in again.

“This time, think about the impression you are giving to people in the office. I don’t want you to come in with a forced smile, but I do want you to think about the tone you are setting on a Monday morning. Right, do you want to try it? It’s up to you.”

That approach sounds heavy, but it actually worked. The team member smiled wryly, accepted the message and said ‘Sorry’. They left the room and came in again 30 seconds later with a totally different attitude.

The leader was not looking for clones, far from it, but he did want people who behaved professionally. Allowing the situation to have gone unchallenged would have said: ‘It is okay to start the week by infecting other people.’ Team members must be able to express their feelings, but they must also understand the consequences.

You will have your own way of never walking past a quality problem. This can be relatively easy when it applies to physical products or customer service. But it can be harder regarding human behaviour.

People must get the message that certain actions are encouraged, however, whilst others are unacceptable. Corporate misdemeanours can often be traced back to ignoring people who behaved badly.

‘Reward the behaviour you want repeated,’ is crucial when developing a desired culture. But it is vital to draw the line at unacceptable behaviour. This can also be a superb way of reinforcing the required quality standards. Try completing the following sentence.

Posted in Super teams, The Strengths Blog | No Comments »

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