The Fix is in, right?
Corporate culture always offers room for improvement, so there is never a right or wrong time to evaluate and make changes. Predictably, we tend to think about making changes after an adverse event. Those changes take the form of initiatives that start as “great ideas.”
I was recently privy to a debrief conversation that was a retrospective on errors that management had made in rolling out some changes. In listening to the recounting, I could see how the initial idea was sound (maybe even great!) but the implementation worsened the situation for many involved. Great ideas can easily become counterproductive if poorly implemented.
Great Idea #1: Adopt best practice behaviours (bi-weekly one-on-one performance check-ins)
Many organizations are moving from rigid performance management structures to more informal interactions. In our focus organization, all people managers committed to meet with there direct reports on a bi-weekly basis to check in on progress. These meetings would allow both parties to ask questions, share insights and provide updates on progress efficiently, thus enabling commitment to goals while allowing for adaptation to changes in the environment.
The major challenge was that the meeting happened sporadically and not on a regular schedule. Everyone understands that people get busy and that the “casual update meeting” will fall off the table pretty quickly when there are not-so-casual meetings customers or bosses or Board Directors. This stuff happens!
It is hard to get a sense of whether these meetings are even worthwhile if they never happen. Without them, performance was adequate. So does that mean, what is the point in having them (because our performance is adequate without them)? OR We should really try these out (because our performance is adequate and could be improved)? Like failing to lose weight on a diet that you cheated on, it’s impossible to tell without giving it a good run. The implementation challenge is getting busy people to coordinate 20+ meetings a year to “update” each other. Any well-functioning organization could face the same problem.
Great Idea #2: Use technology tools (chat, webcams, etc.)
With a distributed and remote workforce, they deployed collaboration technologies. With these tools, team members could easily reach out to one another and you could even seen who was “available” based on the green bubble displayed by their name.
There is an interesting interplay between “showing you are available” and “showing that you are at your desk and working.” A casual note stating concern for “being away from your compute so long,” can turn our virtual workspace from feeling “connected” to feeling “monitored.” The difference between those two perceptions drives a staggering difference in culture.
So…
The great idea (or commonsensical idea) is only part of the equation. If you are going to try something, try it and make sure people actually try it. Also, remember that every improvement “stick” has a right end (e.g. connected) and a wrong end (e.g. monitored). Proper set-up and above-board implementation can keep people grasping the former and not gaining reason to gravitate to the latter.
