Making Winning Easier

Chatting with a friend whose children had played water polo in high school, the conversation moved to coaches. We have both watched matches where the coach has shouted abuse at the players all match long. This seems to be very common in at least boy’s water polo. Surprisingly the teams often still do pretty well. And the boys are prepared to suck it up and accept it for the honour of playing for the team.

Both of my friend’s children are really strong players so they played first team pretty much throughout high school. The teams they played for were in the top rankings of SA schools’ teams. The difference is in how they get there and how they experience the sport. And in those years the girls’ team took home more big trophies than the boys’ team did.

My friend’s son is also an observer and a thinker. In previous years he’d watched his older sister and her team mates have a ball in and out of the pool – work hard and play hard. He saw how they knew each other, respected each other and played as a team. Their coach created an environment in which they could learn, grow, have fun and win.

He contrasted this with how his team were treated - shouted and sworn at, insulted and degraded, and he decided it was no longer worth it. He demoted himself to the second team and played his last school season for the sheer fun of it.

His sister on the other hand played for both school and province through to the end of matric. And then went on to play at university and to contribute as a coach at a local high school.

In our working world leader-managers create the environment and culture – from the top downwards. Many companies don’t really appreciate their staff. They consider them a rather costly and difficult resource. Communication isn’t great and systems and processes not all that enabling. But the work mostly does get done. So one might ask why things should be any different.

If the leader-managers create an environment of trust and respect, with great communication, a sense of belonging and systems that enable, then the work gets done better and easier. People respond to the environment with energy, show initiative, reduce wastage, care for customers and take responsibility for doing their job the very best that they can.

And more of the great players stay to be part of the team.

And the team has what it needs to win the bigger trophies.

No power, yay!

When our lives are upset by big changes we need time to vent, to rail against the unfairness of it. And then we need to move forward.

Loadshedding is one of those big changes that have turned our lives a bit upside down.

We’ve done plenty of moaning about Eskom and the Government that got us into this situation. Yes they stuffed up big time. And yes they haven’t really owned up to that. Things will eventually change because new power stations are coming on line as well as alternate contributors to the grid. All the complaining has possibly contributed to getting Eskom and the Government to take the situation seriously and make some changes. Now it is time to move forward.

Continuing to complain isn’t going to change the situation. Unless you are taking yourself off the grid completely you will be living with load shedding for another couple of years. So let’s stop wasting our energy on the venting phase and get onto moving forward.

There are three main steps for moving forward from any big change:

·         See the humour in it

·         Find the benefits

·         Make adjustments to align to the new reality

With respect to load shedding we have been seeing the humour for awhile. South Africans are generally very quick with that. I’m sure you’ve seen the one, "What did South Africa use before candles? Electricity."

And some companies are finding a way to make it work for them. "Blackouts? We'll introduce you to switched on candidates," apparently appears on a billboard for a recruitment agency.

Last weekend we had two nights in a row with no power from 6pm to 10.30pm. A friend messaged me on Whats App saying she quite enjoyed it as it “forced” her to relax. I asked on my personal FB page what advantages others perceive in being load shed, and someone commented on how beautiful the silence is without electrical background hum.

So with a view to moving ourselves forward what benefits can you find in being load shed? Get imaginative! Who can come up with the longest list?

What’s Behind The Numbers?

Today is my wedding anniversary. We will have been married for nine years. Last night as we spoke about it I thought, that number nine really doesn’t tell the full story. It doesn’t even reflect the length of our relationship - we have lived together for nearly fourteen years. It says nothing about the quality of those years nor the quality of the relationship. It says nothing about the challenges overcome, the learning and the growth.

Then my mind jumped to how often numbers are quoted in reports or interviews without any context– “the top 10 ….”  “the 56th …”  “it cost R420 000”. If it previously cost R400 000 then R420 000 may still be a good price. If it usually
costs R300 000 then what’s going on?

In business numbers are used all the time. There are the quantitative ones like widgets manufactured, customers served, turnover achieved. And there are the rating ones that attempt to be qualitative - Jake performed at a level of 8 (out of 10).  They have little meaning without context. Do they indicate improvement or regression? Were conditions highly conducive or were they achieved despite huge difficulties?

Whichever type of numbers they are they all come about because of the endeavour of the human beings working in that business. Many of these numbers are used to manage those same people, to attempt to make them “work better”. Boards rate the CEO on the profit numbers. Staff are rated on their Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). Does this work? Does it bring about optimum results?
If I return to the example of something costing R420 000. If it normally costs R600 000 then coming in R180 000 less could be a great achievement brought about through innovation and efficiencies, or it could mean lots of cut corners that will have big implications later.

If I measure someone on the number of customers they serve I maybe encouraging them to rush through each transaction so as to achieve higher volumes. An executive measured on short term profit may skimp on maintenance.

Even something as positive sounding as measuring someone based on positive compliments can have undesired consequences. There are times when the right thing is to explain to a client why something shouldn’t or can’t be done. Think legal, accounting, IT, medical. The staff member may avoid doing this in favour of keeping the client happy.

And then there is the attempt to rate qualities such as “listens to ensure understanding” and “empowers others”. Finding a number to express a quality says so little about it.

If an employee does a great job and the numbers that are being watched correctly do reflect this, will they feel really appreciated and will they have a great sense of achievement? Will they be given the opportunity to tell the inspiring stories of how they achieved those numbers?

I am not sure that numbers are the best way to manage people. They have a place but I think we need to find better ways. Ways that engage people at work so that they bring the best of themselves to their job each day. In the meantime think carefully before you set a measure, give all numbers context and ask questions to find the stories behind the numbers.

Focusing where it matters

During our May packing up exercise I made a trip to Westpack to buy extra boxes. These are stored up on a mezzanine level so I had to look for a shop assistant to get them down. The first lady I asked smiled and said “not a problem I will be with you in a moment”. Whilst I waited she spotted another assistant and called to her, she then turned to me to explain that this person would now be helping me. The new lady walked energetically towards me with a smile on her face as she greeted me and asked what I needed. She found everything, arranged a trolley and steered it over to a till for me. It was such a pleasure to deal with both these people and has ensured that Westpack becomes a store of choice for me. I doubt it was accidental that they were both friendly and willing to help. I expect that the store manager is working towards a culture of customer service with a smile. Probably not everyone will have got it as well as these two ladies have, but they alone are making a difference.

One evening we tried out a new Japanese restaurant in Rosebank. My friend had been there during the week and enjoyed the “two for one” sushi special. It turned out that this wasn’t available on a Saturday evening so we were teasing the waitress that this was no good. Whilst we were still deciding on our orders she reappeared with a plate of croquettes, compliments of the manager, to make up for missing the special!

At a GIBS forum on customer centricity the presenter made the point that it is almost the only way left for businesses to differentiate themselves. I agree that it makes an enormous difference and in this age of ‘high tech’, ‘high touch’ becomes even more important. As humans we are craving more connection, to be recognised as an individual, not just a number, and to be shown some caring. But there is an even more important step for companies before focusing on customer centricity, and that is employee centricity.

The differentiator of excellent service is delivered by people, by employees. Whether they interact face to face with the customer or whether they perform background functions, they all contribute to the customer enjoying a good experience. If the employee doesn’t feel appreciated, doesn’t identify with a purpose and doesn’t have a sense of control, they will struggle to deliver that special customer experience. Zappos.com has a culture of happiness and a tagline of “powered by service”. Founder Tony Hsieh says “In nine-years we have gone from zero to $1 billion in gross merchandise sales. And the No. 1 driver of that growth has been repeat customers and word-of-mouth ... I think that happier employees lead to happier customers, and happier customers lead to better business overall.”

Which South African companies do you think are getting this? What can you do to help yours to get it?

To Solve or not to Solve?

The other day my daughter described something in her life that sounded like a problem. When she finished I remained quiet, processing what she’d said. She then went on to say, “You don’t need to solve it, I just needed to say it.” I was quite relieved! I had been thinking, “I don’t know what to suggest. What should I say?” 

Her talking through the issue, and me hearing her, was far more important than her getting a solution at that point in time. For many of us that is a strange way of thinking. We are accustomed to going straight into solution mode.

Very often better solutions would be found if we first allowed more time for people to express their needs and feelings. We could be more helpful by asking some questions which focussed their thoughts. And, in giving them the time to think out loud, they may find their own solution, or just the acceptance of what is.  This applies both at home and at work.

During a workshop I was facilitating for managers we practised Fierce Conversations. These are structured conversations that allow us to confront tough issues with courage, compassion and skill.

In this ten step method we name the issue in step one but we only talk about any sort of solution in step nine!

The delegates really struggled with this. They kept jumping to the solution before clarifying how they felt about it, or what was at stake, or eliciting the other person’s viewpoint. They also wanted to present the other person with the solution instead of allowing them to make suggestions.

If the problem is ‘solved’ in this manner the opportunity to be aware of alternative perspectives is missed. The other person hasn’t developed any of their own problem solving skills. And very often they are unwilling to change their behaviour to adopt your chosen solution. 

I myself am a solution oriented person. I have had to work very hard at listening, asking appropriate questions and allowing others to find answers for themselves. However the results when I get it right are so exciting. The other person feels so much better about their own abilities, they often come up with amazing ideas and they are far more likely to go ahead and implement those ideas with enthusiasm.

There are of course times when you are in fact responsible for finding a solution, especially in a work environment. Even then the results maybe better if you involve a group of people in the discussion to find a solution. Letting go of the need to always have the solutions can be a big relief.

A possible new approach is:

Does this situation require a solution?

NO - Then I can simply listen with empathy.

OR YES - Then is it really necessary for me to solve it all by myself

   YES - Solve it!

   NO - What questions can I ask? (which will help the other person, or a group of us, to come up with some ideas to explore)