We've Always Done It This Way

Each year, some organization or another issues a list of words or phrases that are "in" for the New Year and words or phrases that are "out".   I think "we've always done it this way" is one phrase that should be out--this year and forever!  In fact, I would strike it from the English language if I had the power.

This phrase and all the others like it are morale downers and innovation killers.  This phrase is usually spoken by someone who has been around  the organization for a while who loves to share how in the deep, dark past of the organization's history, the idea you just put on the table was tried and why it was a dismal failure--so, let’s just doing what we've been doing is their response.

If we always do things the same way we've always done them, why do we hire smart, innovative people? Don't we bring in new people to learn from their experiences?  If not, why hire from the outside of the organization?  Certainly, if there is a good business reason why a new idea isn’t a good idea, don’t do it but odds are, there is something good in the new idea that deserves some thought or action—not just “but, we’ve always done it this way!”

This resistance to change is often portrayed in the following employee relations challenge that we too often witness:  A new manager comes into the department and tries to implement new processes.  There is immediate backlash and employees start complaining that what they are being asked to do is “not in my job description.”  (Just another way of saying “that won’t work.”)  Or if the new manager comes from outside the organization and is asked to be shown how something is done, the reaction can be “why should I have to teach him/her something?”  Once again, the implication is it’s not in my job description and I’m not going to try anything new. 

We have talked a lot in this blog about how difficult change is for many people so it comes as no surprise that when a new idea is floated, the knee jerk reaction from those resistant to change is to tell you why your idea won't work. Wouldn't it be better to say, “Great idea.  Let's try it for a month and see how it works." 

Let me know how you handle resistance to new ideas in your organization and if you agree with me that "we have always done it like this" should disappear from our vocabulary! 

Spring Forward—Season of Renewal

After the winter we’ve had in the Washington, DC area, we’re all wondering if we will ever see anything but cold, snowy days!  After several years of mild winters, we’ve had a winter for the record books.  During the months of this long winter, a frequent topic of conversation started with “will spring ever come?”

Spring is a time of renewal. Even with snow on the ground, it is exciting to see buds on the trees and the hearty crocuses pushing up through the frozen ground!  What a good time to reflect on what really is important.  We are all so busy trying to keep ahead of the projects on our plates so why not take a minute or an hour or a day or a weekend to relax and enjoy your favorite relaxing activity?

I am fortunate to have season tickets to the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC and our tickets are for Thursday nights. This month, I wasn’t able to go on Thursday so I switched my tickets to a Saturday matinee.  What a difference!  I was so much more relaxed and could actually enjoy the play without wondering what time it would be over (as you know, Shakespeare didn’t write short plays!), what time would I get home and how early my first meeting was on Friday morning!   

 Henry IV (part 1) was amazing!  Stacy Keach as Falstaff is a “must see”!  I so enjoyed the play and the relaxed atmosphere around me in the theatre. There is something very different about the Saturday crowd.  I imagine many people did as we did and enjoyed brunch at a great restaurant before heading over to the theatre.  I wasn’t tired and wasn’t looking at my watch during the performance to see when it might be over—I was able to enjoy the play on a very different level and, most importantly, I felt renewed by the experience.

And then there’s spring cleaning. I have no idea where this idea came from but I can guess it goes along with the idea of renewal.  After being cooped up with windows and doors shut tight during the winter, there is something to be said for opening up and breathing in clean, fresh air in spring.  How about in organizations? Spring is a great time to take a good look at how and why we do things.  What a great opportunity to meet with staff and talk about what’s working and what we might change.  And, spring is a good time to do something outdoors to celebrate getting through winter.  How can you re-energize your staff?  Maybe a picnic or a soft ball challenge in a local park to get everyone out of the office and enjoying a spring afternoon? Maybe a community event, such as donating staff time to clean up a local park or participate in a build day for your local Habitat for Humanity.

How will you celebrate spring this year?  Whatever you do, take time to enjoy warmer weather and this wonderful season of renewal!

Video Chat

The following question was posed to me by a reporter:  “If an employer has a geographically disbursed team can they conduct performance appraisals or disciplinary conversations over a video chat and record the conversation for documentation purposes?”   

 

Video chat is an excellent tool to reach a geographically disbursed team.  However, I found the notion of recording the conversation for documentation purposes both interesting yet somewhat troubling from an employee relations perspective.  Most employers would not consider recording (either audio taping or a video taping) a face-to-face discussion as a way of creating a record of the meeting.  What makes a video chat any different? 

Putting any legal considerations aside – I’ll leave that to the attorneys – I think asking an employee if they will consent to the recording would immediately make the employee uneasy and defensive.  If the nature of the conversation is to discuss strategies for improving employee performance (or conduct), then the goal of the meeting should be to have a positive and productive dialogue.  As an HR leader, I would be concerned about starting a discussion on what could be perceived as a negative note, namely that you want the conversation to be recorded and asking the employee for his/her consent.  My fear – it could cause the employee to shut down, become defensive, and not be a willing participant in the dialogue.  If the intent were really to provide feedback and have a two-way discussion about strategies for improvement, I don’t see this approach being effective.

Further, by recording the conversation, the employer could increase its risk if in fact the recording were used as evidence in a legal challenge (Court case, EEOC complaint, etc).  Consider the manager who may not be as skilled at having these critical conversations, loses his/her composure, and makes statements that would have better remained unsaid.  Now an electronic record of a discussion gone awry exists to the detriment of the employer. 

Managers should always maintain documentation of meetings with employees.  Keep in mind every meeting is not going to be a video chat.  Notes should be made of the key points and issues that were discussed and next steps agreed upon.  If some team members are geographically disbursed and others are in the same location as the manager and different approaches for creating documentation are used (video recordings for those in other locations and written records for those in the same location), this two-tier method could be perceived as unfair, causing another type of employee relations concern.  The Big Book of HR, Guidelines for Documenting Workplace Issues (written documentation) and a Sample Disciplinary Notice.  There are also chapters on Critical Conversations and Performance Management, with appendices devoted to documentation of performance issues.

When considering the use of video chats, especially to create a record, ask yourself if this aligns with your organizational culture.  My concern is that by creating recordings of video chats, you are sending a message that it’s okay for anyone to record things that go on in the workplace.  Is this the type of culture an employer wants to create? 

So, are there situations where situations where a face-to-face conversation (even if it’s just over video chat) is better than a phone conversation?

As I said earlier, video chat is an excellent tool to reach a geographically disbursed team.  With tools like Skype and Face Time, the technology has become much more affordable and I would encourage employers to use it frequently if it is feasible.  It helps to make the discussion more personal.   Using video chats for all performance appraisal discussions is an excellent example.  A discussion about disciplinary issues is also another opportunity to use video chat.  However, be wary of recording them especially if you have not sought legal counsel.

Strengthen the Core

In yoga practice, we are always encouraged to work our core--those muscles in our midsection. This gives us strength and enhances our ability to balance and be flexible, all necessary ingredients for a successful practice. When you start practicing yoga, you start slow and perfect basic poses so you can build strength, hold the pose longer, and eventually progress to more advanced, complex, and demanding poses.

We build our careers this same way. We start out learning the basics, practice and gain experience. We build confidence, strength, and experience, and learn more. We become subject matter experts. I've often counseled emerging HR consultants who want guidance on starting and growing their practices. I ask them, "What do you know? What do you do well? What are areas of the profession where you have practical experience and are comfortable and confident?" This is your core. This is where you should focus your practice. Moving too far afield, you risk diminishing your credibility. Becoming the Jack or Jill of all trades is risky.

Businesses are also built the same way, focusing on core strengths and values. Profitable businesses recognize that they need not diversify to the extent that they stray from their cores.

What is your business core? Whether you work as an independent consultant or a business leader within an organization, ask the following questions:

1.     What are the boundaries—natural economic boundaries defined by customer/client needs--of the business in which I participate? What products, services, customers, channels, and competitors do those boundaries encompass?

2.     What are the core skills, competencies, and assets needed to compete effectively within the competitive arena? Does the organization (or do I) possess them?

3.     How is our (my) core business defined by my customers/clients, products/services, technologies, and channels through which I can earn a return today and compete effectively with my current resources, skills, knowledge, and experience?

4.     What is the key differentiating factor that makes us (me) unique to core customers/clients?

5.     What are the adjacent areas around my core, and are the definitions of my business, industry, or profession likely to shift, changing the competitive and customer/client landscape?

Growing a business, large or small, requires a solid foundation. You need to build a culture, and to do so requires an understanding of your core values--what you want the business to stand for. You also need to build a basis for profitability--your core resources, assets, knowledge base, and experience--in order to thrive.

April Fool's Day

Apparently, the idea of playing practical jokes or hoaxes on others on April 1^st has been around for a long time and is celebrated in many countries including the US.  If you can imagine, the BBC once put out a story which included pictures, to say that there had been a particularly good spaghetti harvest in Switzerland that year. The pictures showed people harvesting spaghetti that was hanging from trees.  Many people called in to ask how they could get their own tree!  Another famous hoax was when Taco Bell announced it had bought the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia which would, from then on be called the Taco Liberty Bell!!  Then there was another in the UK that announced that Big Ben was going digital!   Who believes this stuff?  Apparently, a lot of people do!

I think that April Fool’s Day is a good day to remind us to not take ourselves and our work so seriously that we can’t laugh or at least smile!  We are constantly reminded of how difficult life is and there is certainly a lot to worry about these days but couldn’t we take just a minute from our serious work and our sad world to chuckle at a harmless joke or prank?

A recent article in the Washington Post titled, “You’re Probably Too Busy to Read This” talked about how being busy has become a badge of honor. People compete over being busy. “Keeping up with the Jonseses used to be about money, cars, and homes. Now, if you’re not as busy as the Jonseses, you’d better get cracking.”

We all believed that with advances in technology that we would have more free time-- time to think, relax, and have some fun. What happened to us?  This article says a couple of things factor into it—life got more expensive and work got less mechanical and more creative but work has also become less secure which compels us to work longer and harder.  And, the worst part of this to me is that we’ve come to believe that taking time for ourselves is a weakness.

Flight Attendants on planes tell us to put the oxygen mask on yourself before you help someone else. I think this is great advice for us all. We have to take care of ourselves before we can be the leaders we want to be.  We have to take time to rest and recharge from our busy lives. We need to occasionally take time away from work to think.  We need to spend time with our families and our friends to stop doing and just be.

Last weekend, a group of us went to see an improve group perform and we enjoyed laughing at the funny scenes they created out of absolutely nothing.  This reminded me of how freeing it is to laugh and how good it feels, even after the laughter is over, to have taken time out of our busy, hectic lives to enjoy ourselves.

So, have some fun on April Fool’s Day. Enjoy a laugh or two and maybe even go home early and spend some time with your family or friends and laugh!  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking being busy is a badge of honor!

Our challenge to you is to lighten up and see what happens in your life and your workplace!  Have fun!