The article last week was about doing a quick audit of a work place, a group or even your own work, to see what is going on–especially if things have been going wrong.
A reader, Rae T. , sent a comment saying he was going to conduct a quick audit to see why things were in a perpetual state of “SNAFU” at his work. He wrote me a series of emails about it and gave me permission to write an overview here. (With some details changed to avoid identifying anything about the work place.)
Rae said he didn’t discover anything completely brand new, but it reinforced some things he had been told about and was concerned about. He also noticed a couple of things that surprised and disappointed him.
As a result, he is in the process of conducting a more detailed work audit in which he is looking at the behavior and performance of each employee as well as their roles in the group with which he works. An important issue is this: He made a promise to himself and to his own boss that he would do something about his findings. THAT is the crucial part!
Here are the key issues Rae T. noted in his quick audit:
1. Conversations took up large amounts of time. Rae wants employees to enjoy work and to interact with each other during the day. But he noticed that employees would go to someone’s desk to ask a small work question, then segue to a personal conversation, then general talk, then gripes about work, then more talk. An employee who says she has too much to do to get it done on time, spent a total of almost two hours in such conversations, spread out over the day in segments of twenty minutes or longer. (The talking may be an avoidance issue, but it doesn’t help to get the work done and is noticed by other employees.) That matter is being resolved now.
2. Interruptions not only slowed work down, the way they were handled kept work from being completed. Rae noticed that most of the interruptions (phone calls, emails, having someone come over to ask a question, etc.) seemed to frustrate employees. He made this observation, which I thought was very interesting:
“The problem wasn’t only that somone was frustrated at being interrupted, it was how they handled the interruptions. Instead of taking a few notes to work on later and getting back to the work in front of them, they tended to start working right then on everything brought to their attention, even non-emergency things. So, they had a whole bunch of half-finished things going all the time, which was demoralizing to them I could tell. “
Rae added this: “I noticed this interruption problem off and on through the day I was auditing. The next day, when I was doing my own work, I realized I was doing it too. I had fifteen things going and didn’t finish any of them. Several of those things could have waited and I don’t know why I took time away from other things to work on them.”
3. Some people made work less effective for others because of their behavior. Rae said none of the behavioral situations he noticed were surprises and he is determined to do something about them. They range from someone with a sour approach to most coworkers and supervisors, to someone who routinely irritates people with his overall demeanor.
4. There was a recurring complaint about one aspect of work. During the day, Rae heard some of the same comments made by everyone about a specific work problem. Rae said he had complained about the same thing before he became a supervisor. He tends to think it’s a problem that is so ingrained it can’t be fixed–but he’s going to work with other people to find a solution or at least an improvement.
Look closely: Those four issues are probably common to your work place as well. I suggested to Rae that he look even more closely, if there have been serious problems lately, to identify what else might be causing them, rather than assuming he had found the root cause. It’s like the visual you sometimes see of a high-powered microscope starting on the surface and getting down to the molecular level!
However, Rae’s quick audit provided him with the impetus to check the work even more closely–and he is involved with that now. He has his own work to do and can’t devote hours a day to auditing. However, he plans to spend about thirty minutes every day, observing, looking at productivity and effectiveness, interviewing employees and others and thinking. All of those are great ways for him to immerse himself in the work for which he is ultimately responsible. He also is going to help employees audit their own work and encourage them to identify things they can improve on their own.
I hope you will take the time to survey your work place and find out what’s going on around there. It’s a fascinating and worthwhile activity!
March 29th, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work, Supervision and Management |
4 comments
What is going on around here???
In your work place do you often hear that good work can’t be done or done on time because everyone is too busy? Do you notice recurring problems related to quality or quantity of work or the interactions between employees? Does everything seem to be a disorganized mess and it’s not because of creative productivity it’s because things are a disorganized mess? Do you often think that few things get done efficiently and effectively–they only get done painfully and with one crisis after another? Conduct a work audit and find out what is going on.
You can apply this same concept to your own work when you feel you are bogged down, when there have been complaints or hints about a need for a improvement or when you just want to reevaluate your efforts and results. You can also use the concept when you want to have something specific to take to your supervisor if you feel there are problems outside your control.
Steps for a quick work audit
- Resist the thought that you know the problems already. If you do know what the problems are, you should be doing something specific about them. However, whether you think you know what ails your work place or not, audit anyway to get a better look. One key benefit is that your conversations about it afterwards will let employees know you are aware of their work and their roles in the work place. If you are looking at your own work, you can discuss it with your supervisor or manager to show that you are taking responsibility for your work and results.
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Identify the core job description or work requirement. What is the essential work that must be done? If the essential mission isn’t happening in the right way, there is a breakdown or failure somewhere or with someone, no matter how sincerely people are trying or how well other things are being done.
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Make a list of the people and processes that have the key roles in getting work done. Focus on your own group but also consider where there might be weak or strong connections between your group and other areas. You may need to work with supervisors, managers or fellow employees in those areas to find solutions to problems. (Or you may need to find ways to work around those people, if they are determined to create problems.)
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Review, survey and evaluate, using quick methods that give you snapshot of work.
Re-read emails or memos about work issues.
Talk to a few key internal or external clients or customers to get their perspectives.
Make a list of the problems, concerns and complaints you have heard from individuals in the group.
Look at work statistics or work products and see if there are deficiencies.
Go into work areas to see what is happening.
Now and then stop to listen and closely observe.
Those actions will not give you the thorough assessment you might want to do later, but they can quickly help you understand:
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The overall activity level of the work place and each individual employee.
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What the work environment looks like, sounds like and feels like.
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What is being done right now instead of work and how much time is being spent on that activity.
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What work methods you are seeing that may keep work from being done effectively and efficiently.
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The apparent attitudes of all levels about their work–employees, supervisors, managers, and others, based on what they say and do.
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The status of the complete picture of good work: performance that is high in quality and quantity and behavior that is effective and appropriate.
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Who is steadily working and who is not.
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Who is assisting and who is distracting.
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The end result of it all for clients, customers, users and others in the work chain. (In a short time you may get a very clear picture of why there have been complaints or grumbling!)
The bottom line: Improved effectiveness and efficiency and an improved work place starts with getting a picture of where things stand right now. Conduct a brief work audit to begin to find out. Take a few hours and briefly audit work–your own or the work of those for whom you are responsible. Then, get with each person for whom you are responsible and direct the immediate changes that are needed. Next, set a schedule for long-term improvement. It is possible to achieve that, so keep your focus and give others a focus as well.
March 22nd, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Personal and Professional Development, Service to Customers, Clients and Coworkers, Supervision and Management |
6 comments
One of the career development websites says this about mentors:
What separates a mentor from the average network contact is long-term commitment and a deep-seated investment in your future.
Further along in the article it says:
…your relationship with a mentor likely involves long lunches and time spent in the mentor’s office.
Those statements are both true, based on the historic and contemporary views of mentorship. However, those statements also point out the potentially negative aspects of mentoring. They also bring into question the accuracy of statements made by many supervisors and managers that they are mentors to those who report to them at work. More likely they are providing mentoring behavior: Encouraging, advising, correcting, discussing, suggesting. Many are not even doing that much.
Mentes (Mentor) was a good friend of Odysseus (Ulysses) in Homer’s epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey. Ironically, most of the good advice given to Ulysses’s son was given by Athena who took the form of Mentes. Nevertheless, the term mentor has long been used to mean an advisor or wise counsellor. InThe Odyssey, Telemachus (the son of Ulysses and Penelope) says to Athena/Mentor,
…you’ve been speaking as a friend,
thinking as a father would for his own son—
and what you’ve said I never will forget.
Do you really want to be a mentor? A busy professional person told me not long ago that over the last few years several people have asked him to be a mentor to them and he has said no…to their shocked surprise. He told me he would always be available for a short phone call or an emailed question, but he said: “What they wanted was a true mentor–someone who would invest time and energy in their careers. I don’t have enough time for my own work and frankly, I don’t want someone calling or visiting me just to talk or expecting me to meet with them regularly.”
You may feel the same way. Before you agree to be a mentor, find out the expectations of the mentee. Make sure you really care about his or her career as if he or she is a personally selected protege who you want to shepherd to success.
Are you really the mentor you say you are? Some might say it is only a semantic issue to question whether someone is actually mentoring others or not, but I think it is important to be correct about it. Time, energy and potential success would indicate a supervisor cannot truly mentor every employee. On the other hand, it would not be a good thing for a supervisor to spend large amounts of time mentoring one employee but not others. Instead, an effective supervisor will engage in mentoring behaviors with all employees.
In addition, mentoring behavior is more than cheer-leading, commending, answering questions or just being friendly or encouraging. Athena, as Mentor, told Telemachus, “You must not keep on acting like a child—you’re too old for that now…You are fine and strong, I see. You should be brave, so people born in future years will say good things of you.”
You may need to balance your supportive mentoring conversations with some tough caring:
- Honesty about how the employee is coming across to others.
- Correction when the employee has shown poor judgment.
- Guidance, when the employee is starting down the wrong path in behavior or performance.
- Questions and listening, when the employee is trying to decide.
- Specific advice on occasion, not just vague generalities.
The bottom line: As with many phrases we toss around without thinking, the term mentor is often misused and misunderstood. Make sure you know what you are talking about when you say you are a mentor or you will be a mentor. Maybe what you really want to do is just fulfill your role as a supervisor, team leader or coach–or be a valuable colleague, coworker or friend.
March 14th, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Personal and Professional Development, Supervision and Management |
6 comments
Supervisor Paul Sanderson sent out three corrective emails in a week, to all sixteen employees on his shift. He sent one to everyone because he saw two employees leaving trash in the break room. The second was sent because he noticed one employee not following procedures on a task. The third email was sent because Paul found a door unlocked and he didn’t know who did it.
- Employees who had been performing and behaving correctly felt as though they were being chided unfairly. They knew who the real culprits were and they knew Paul knew. They wondered why Paul didn’t just gutsy up and deal with the problem.
- The employees who had not been doing the right thing assumed they weren’t the only ones cutting corners, since everyone got an email.
- The employee who left the door unlocked figured he got by with it this time.
Scatter gun correction is nearly always ineffective and creates frustration and hostility. Even if you hit the target with one or two employees you can alienate others. The biggest concern is that it makes you seem unable to investigate a problem or afraid to deal with it directly.
Take the time to analyze a situation, find out who is involved and what can be done about it, and do effective supervisory work to correct or redirect the appropriate employee and solve the problem. If you think everyone needs to be reminded, at least also speak to the person who specifically was in error this time. Don’t depend upon him or her getting the hint in your scatter gun correction.
The next time you are considering a scatter gun comment at a staff meeting or briefing, or you’re thinking about a scatter gun corrective email, ask yourself these questions:
- Do I know a specific person who is making this mistake or doing this thing? If so, talk to that person face to face.
- Is there a better way to deal with this than in writing? Often a private word with an employee will accomplish much more. It will also allow you to build a more personal relationship.
- Am I considering the scatter gun email to avoid the discomfort of talking to someone directly? Being a supervisor can be uncomfortable, but that is your issue–and one that will improve with experience. Don’t make employees pay the price for your lack of comfort by sending them all a corrective email or giving them a corrective lecture, or even a corrective reminder, about something they haven’t done.
An active supervisor who observes the work environment, the work product and employees, will see things that should be commended and things that need to be corrected. The employee who is doing good work should be thanked personally. The employee who needs to change performance or behavior should be corrected personally.
Don’t scatter your efforts. Focus on the correct person and demonstrate knowledge about what is going on at work, as well as on demonstrating fairness and self-confidence.
March 9th, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Challenging and Problematic People, Supervision and Management |
7 comments
On December 21, 2008 I found a blog post with the heading, “I Have Cancer.” It was a stark statement and yet the author, David Wayne, “The Jolly Blogger”, wrote with hope and courage. David is the pastor of Grace Point Presbyterian Church in Severn, Maryland, and seems to be a deeply spiritual and intellectual man. He’s also a loving parent and husband, as his posts over his last year have shown.
I recommend his most recent post, My Wife. I read it with misty eyes and a wish that somehow, some way, things will get better for Pastor Wayne. However, it isn’t a sad post. In fact, David (as I think of him, even though I don’t know him) has never written anything purposely sad, even though he has chronicled his medical issues. He has also continued to write about other topics and I have found all of his thoughts interesting.
Take the time to read the most recent post of The Jolly Blogger–you’ll see that term explained on his site. Use his thoughts to inspire you to show love more, every chance you get!
Here is the link to the post. Let me know what you think of it.
March 4th, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work |
11 comments
