Is your company or team making steady and continuous improvements? Or do you feel like you are throwing darts that keep missing the target?
When you’ve spent serious money on strategies and plans to raise team or company performance and these initiatives don’t stick, it’s time to look in the mirror.
You aren’t alone.
The reported failure of large-scale change programs is approximately 70% (McKinsey and Company). It can be that you or an advisor have selected a program that does not address well the needs of the plant, function, or business. But more often than not, the failure lies with the people – not the program.
If your enterprise isn’t making daily strides, check your personal daily management habits. Because more often than not, this is what is holding things back.
Where are you when you review the following 5 points?
The 5-Point List of Daily Good Management Habits
1. Are you teaching people how to solve problems?
If you are telling others what to do, rather than teaching them how to think so that they can perform on their own, then you are wasting everyone’s time, energy, and money. Do you find yourself consistently providing answers for others, rather than helping them to work out the critical thinking necessary to develop excellent decision-making and autonomy? Shift your mindset and your behavior to empower your team to grow and perform at higher levels for you.
2. Are you creating a physically and emotionally safe environment for people to dialogue with one another?
Let’s face it – it’s probably not your product that is the slowdown problem. It’s the way your people work together. Rate healthy communication and conflict management in your enterprise on a scale of 1-5. Let’s say that 1 indicates silos, a reticence to work things out, chronic unresolved conflict resulting in poor performance. And 5 indicates the high ability to work things out, solve problems together, and a great team and company spirit. Where are you? Less than a 5 means you have a problem area that will slow down your performance targets.
3. Are you celebrating mistakes as points of learning?
If your company culture punishes mistakes, you are stifling creative thinking and innovative results. Learn to differentiate between repetitive blunders that cost the enterprise time and money, and new mistakes made on the trail to your new or improved product or service. Celebrate the latter, recognizing that without striking out to try new things, you will always get the same results you have gotten.
4. Are you focusing on results?
Make sure your action plans, meetings, and regular follow-up reports on these are examining results, pinpointing areas of low performance, and course-correcting. Too often, the status quo within a company creates complacency and a lack of follow-through. Make sure that decisions are made on next steps, and an accountability mechanism is put in place so that momentum is not lost.
5. Are you giving regular feedback and coaching to others?
You’ve placed great confidence in your team, and in the spirit of empowerment, you have allowed them to get out there and make change. But how in touch with them are you as they do this? Don’t mistake abdication for empowerment. Regular coaching and feedback are necessary to nurture your people. Focus on the charge you have given them, supporting them with what they need in order to succeed. Remember to include what they feel is important to their personal and professional development. And don’t avoid the tough stuff. People, first. Results follow.
Are you doing all these things well, but still not getting the results you seek?
Your program’s action plan may be costing you big money. More on this next week.
Patti Cotton reenergizes talented leaders and their teams to achieve fulfillment and extraordinary results. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.
