Principle 2: Focus on Achieving Goals (Item 7)
Clear direction allows organizational alignment and a focus on achievement
of goals.
Alternatively: Mutually agreed plans translate organizational direction
into action.
Your people must be `enabled', ie provided with the skills,
knowledge, power, authority, resources and ability to implement the
plans.
Companies often do all this up to this point. They do their strategy,
set their targets, make plans to reach the targets. But then they fail
to allocate resources (people, time or funds) to the plans; nor do they
provide their people with the skills, knowledge, power or authority
to carry out the plans.
It is unreasonable to expect people to try to implement plans without
being allowed the time, funds or equipment to do so. Nor can they succeed
without
- the skills needed
- knowing what is going on and where the project fits with other projects
- the power and authority to carry out the plans
If it is important enough to do, then you must make time to do it and
enable your people to do it.
Many companies forget this part. No wonder plans fail.
Executives of companies often talk about `involving' employees in decision-making
so they `own' the decisions and will therefore not oppose them. The
common terminology for this is "getting ownership". We think
that this is cynical and demeaning. And it misses the point.
Involving employees in decisions that affect them is necessary but
it is not sufficient. You must go much further.
You need to do it for the very good reason that you need people to
find any flaws in your proposal. The people who developed the proposal,
may overlook major flaws in their enthusiasm or through lack of knowledge.
Other people, if you can persuade them to trust you, may find the flaws.
Ask everyone who will be involved - especially end-user staff and customers
- "I want you to find every reason that this idea will not work".
Then systematically plug each of these flaws.
Time constraints mean you cannot get to everyone - but try to. Set
up a process that will systematically get as many people as possible
to comment. Not just "Looks good, boss" comments. You want
"Why it won't work" comments - things you can use. You can
bet that the person you leave out (employee, contractor or customer)
could close the hole that will later sink you.
Exposing ideas to this criticism takes considerable courage and most
bosses do not do it. As a result, most good ideas fail.
Having "plans that work and that people can see themselves doing"
is the objective, involvement is a necessary strategy. Many companies
get it mixed up, give only lip service to the involvement and end up
well short of the mark.
Peter Scholtes presents a three-part model for `Successful Work'. We
have been describing all three of those parts.
Successful work needs:
- A clear intention or purpose — Principle 2 `Focus on Achieving
Results'
- An affirmation to teamwork through a commitment to values and integrity
described — Principle 1 `Role Models'
- `skillful means' by being `enabled' to do the job
You must have all three parts to be successful.
 We look at `skilled means' again in Principle 4 `To Improve
the Outcome, Improve the System' and in Principle 7 `Enthusiastic
People'.
Most companies only tell employees what to do – very few listen.
Bosses often dismiss employees' suggestions with "what would they
know". Bosses should make certain that their employees have the
skills, knowledge, power, authority and ability to comment meaningfully
on plans. Most often it will be your employees who will do the work
to implement these strategies aimed at achieving your Goals and objectives.
You cannot afford to miss their input.
|