One of my clients told me this week “I pay those people too much to have to give them directions!”
He was caught in viewing the world through the lens of his personal career experience. As a result he’s spent months being frustrated that his team doesn’t prepare for meetings or even do the projects he assigns them in the way he expects.
At last he’s hearing me when I explain they’ve had completely different experiences and models in their work. He’s learning that there’s a higher payoff to actually giving his team an outline of the methods he’d like them to use, than waiting and berating them for not being mind readers.
Ask yourself:
“What process ‘should’ be being used, that no one is understanding?”
Now that you’ve said it, get off your high horse and call a meeting.
It’s time to inspire everyone to do the best work they can. Lay out the process you’d like people to use. Let them know that in 30 days you’ll all sit down together and revisit and refine it so everyone is vested in the success.
This process will ensure you all stay on the same page and your team can deliver to your collective expectations.
© 2008 Linda Feinholz
If you’re like most of my clients, you’ve been working to smooth out the kinks in your business. You’ve put your time into systems for streamlining activities and installed processes that make the work flow efficient.
While I was on vacation, I was bobbing along on an inner tube on the resort’s ‘lazy river’. The sun, the flow of the water, the conversation of people around me all had me unwinding and relaxing. And for a kicker, I got to enjoy the periodic 4-foot waves that tore around the curves of the river when the staff turned on the wave machine.
Just like some of the surprises that crop up in business. Fun, interesting, a brief challenge.
After those waves, I noticed all the different ways people were using that river system. The basic experience was the same for everyone: a 15-minute loop around at a constant speed, inner tubes to rest on. What changed were the variables: how people used the water, the river, the flow, the tubes themselves.
I started thinking about the way our businesses can be humming along so steadily that we forget to notice the changes we could make to enliven our workday daylight hours, and even to create High Payoff results for ourselves.
Here are some options taken from the Lazy River: Continue Reading
When our clients get frustrated with technology they have few options. Like the rest of us, we may curse our email or voice mail or PDAs or computers, but we’re generally stuck with them.
That’s not the reality when it comes to ‘solution’ providers. Aggravate a prospective client and they won’t bother to return your calls when it’s time to sign the contract. Make it complicated for a client to work with you, and they’ll decide that next phase of work “isn’t that important right now.”
So take a frank look at the way you have complicated either your communications with your client or the work itself. Ask yourself:
“What activities am I using that could be simplified?”
Right them all down. Then prioritize them from “simplest to fix” to “most complicated to redesign”.
Once you’ve completed your list, create an action plan to solve the activity at the top of your list this very week. Your clients will love you for it!
Let me know the results you create!
