Organizations lose tremendous productivity - and employee engagement - when breakdowns in the system go unnamed and unsolved. But there are some simple strategies that can equip and empower you to solve the thing once and for all. Here is a step by step plan.
Organizations lose tremendous productivity - and employee engagement - when breakdowns in the system go unnamed and unsolved. But there are some simple strategies that can equip and empower you to solve the thing once and for all. Here is a step by step plan.
Modern Mentor is hosted by Rachel Cooke. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
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Hey, it’s Rachel Cooke, your Modern Mentor. I’m the founder of Lead Above Noise—a firm specializing in activating workplaces – helping leaders create the conditions that unleash bigger results while engaging our teams.
You know, one of the biggest secrets of activation is that the devil is in the details. Often the tiniest ones. Like I’ll bring leaders into a program and out of the gate, they’re ready to examine the big stuff – do we need to rethink how we’re structured or how we pay or what wellness benefits we’re offering?
And I always tell them…maybe. But not yet. Because so often what holds our teams back is way more foundational – and frankly simple – than that. Often the best thing we can do to activate our workplace is to find an organizational problem that’s been around forever, that slows us or creates friction in our day. And just solve it.
I don’t mean the things that happen by accident once in a blue moon. But the stuff that just stays broken. Always and forever, bringing frustration to all those in its wake.
Today let’s talk about how you can do just that. Whether Sales keeps making promises your client delivery team can’t meet, or the Receiving department puts away inventory that’s impossible to find, or the medical supply carts at the nursing station are never organized in a reliable way…let’s talk about how to solve it once and for all. Whether you’re a leader or just a concerned (and maybe a little frustrated) citizen of the workplace.
1. Confirm that your problem is actually a problem.
Fun fact about me. I’m a totally different person when we’re running on standard versus daylight savings time. And you really only wanna know the version that lives in daylight savings.
That extra hour of sunlight is a gift from the heavens.
For my whole life, we’ve been moving the clocks back and forth. But when I first heard this would be the year in which we moved to daylight savings and stayed there forever I was over the moon.
Until I learned it hadn’t been approved after all.
And then my head nearly exploded. I mean, why would this be an issue? Obviously everyone is happier with the extra hour of sunlight at the day’s end.
Only when I started venting to friends did I realize apparently not everyone loves daylight savings. Outdoor morning runners, parents whose kids walk to the bus stop super early – turns out there’s another point of view. Who knew?
A ridiculous story? Maybe. But the point is this. Before you launch a campaign to solve a problem, do a little fact-checking. Make sure it’s actually a problem, rather than just your personal preference.
2. Understand the cause
When something happens once in a while, it can usually be traced back to an error, a system breakdown. But when something is just painful on repeat, it’s important to understand the reason behind it.
One client of mine is a sales leader. He’s really big on data – loves loves loves stats and numbers. And he relies on a Sales Enablement team to produce the data he needs. But he absolutely hates the way they provide the reporting. He feels like it’s messy, hard to navigate, has too much of some things and not enough of others. He’s asked several times for changes that never happen.
He was recently complaining to me about it and I asked why the data is presented this way. He actually had no idea.
So he finally talked to the head of the Enablement team. He showed up with questions – rather than demands and accusations – and found he had a lot to learn. Turned out the data is pulled from multiple systems, and gathering it into a single report is a lot of work. The changes on his wish list would take hours of additional work.
Now having this insight didn’t, obviously, solve his problem. But it enabled him to tap into some empathy and patience.
Which is an excellent start.
Think now about your eternal pain point. What seems like a break in the foundation of your organization that you need to better understand?
3. State the impact
The secret to getting a problem truly solved is helping decision makers understand the real impact – beyond your own personal annoyance.
My sales client, for example, had to find a way to express to the head of enablement that he didn’t just want data for the sake of data.
He explained that certain metrics helped him track the performance of different account executives, empowering him to coach them more effectively to drive more sales.
Other data points helped him understand customer behavior, and with more detailed numbers he could choose which products to prioritize for which customers.
In short, his ask wasn’t about his personal preference, but company profitability and customer delight. Which are the same goals the enablement team is chasing.
When we can articulate a need for a solution that is meaningful for everyone, we trigger more willingness to help.
So what’s the workplace breakdown that’s under your skin? Whatever it is, look beyond your own personal frustration. And capture the essence of how this behavior is problematic beyond your own experience.
4. Propose a compromise
So at this point, you have a clearer understanding of why something is happening, and the other party has the same clarity around why it’s creating a problem.
Now it’s time to compromise.
In this case, my client took his list of asks and prioritized it based on need. At the top were the data points that would deliver the greatest value to him, and at the bottom were those that were helpful but less critical.
In return, the Sales Enablement leader laid out all the possible changes he could make, ranking them from simplest to most difficult.
The two leaders came together and found 3 spots where the need was high and level of complexity pretty low. They started there.
Now maybe in your case, you’re not a leader. You may not feel as empowered to own a solution.
But you can begin by talking to others – affirming their support, and getting them onboard. When you can all align around a problem, its impact, and a possible compromised solution? There’s little you can’t change.
Join me next week for another great episode. Until then, visit my website at leadabovenoise.com if your workplace could use an activation boost – a talk, a workshop, a pulse check – you choose. You can follow Modern Mentor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Find and follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks so much for listening and have a successful week.
Modern Mentor is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast. It's audio-engineered by Dan Feirabend. Our Director of Podcasts is Brannan Goetschius. Our Podcast and Advertising Operations Specialist is Morgan Christianson. Our Digital Operations Specialist is Holly Hutchings. Our Marketing and Publicity Assistant is Davina Tomlin, and Kamryn Lacy is our marketing contractor.