It’s hard to make change happen. Organizations big and small, public and private, are trying to navigate the complexity and challenge of the world today. Yet how do you make that shift from talking about change to actually making something tangible and productive happen?
Over 25 years ago, I was a senior policy advisor in the Ontario public service working on child care and welfare reform. That’s when I first noticed how relatively easy it was to get people into a room to meet, discuss ideas, come up with strategies and make some decisions. But getting policies, regulations, opinions, culture and legislation to change was a completely different story! Good intentions and clarity easily dissipated and were forgotten once everyone got back to their desks and existing priorities and problems consumed their focus and time.
Fast forward to today. The challenge of turning ideas into action still hits roadblocks, u-turns and organizational gridlock. “I’m tired of going to meetings where it’s all talk and no action!’ is a common concern I hear.
If you want to more deeply engage your team to do meaningful and productive work, and get some tangible outcomes from your change efforts, here are 3 potential traps to avoid!
Trap 1. Meetings That Bore ‘em
Precious time, energy, and attention gets sucked into the black hole that is the dreaded “meeting.” The lack of productivity and results people experience in a workplace rife with meetings is evidenced by the well-worn and often used phrase, “I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m stuck in meetings all day.” According to some estimates, senior managers attend almost 23 hours of meetings a week!
Solution: Commit
We feel “stuck” in meetings when, given the demands of our work, we need to feel inspired, clear and engaged. It takes a certain amount of planning, intention and awareness to create and deliver an effective and productive meeting.
Make a decision BEFORE the meeting – do you even need to have it? Who really needs to be there? What are you asking people to commit to doing from their participation in it? At the end of the meeting, what is your ideal result? Lack of effective meeting outcomes is often the result of not being clear what you’re committed to creating from the meeting.
Trap #2: Messages That are Muddy
Too often the passion and clarity you get when you’re creating big plans together doesn’t translate out to the broader organization. There’s something powerful you have experientially that can anchor you together when you’re developing a strategic vision. But too quickly the context of what’s important and why certain directions have been chosen are important for engaging people in making change happen. Key messages from important decision processes get watered down or lost in translation all together. The message shifts from the big picture down to the operational and tactical details very quickly.
Solution: Communicate
Don’t just rely on the key messages to “cascade out” through the organization through Town Halls, your senior leaders and managers. Communication is a process, not simply an action you can tick off a box on a checklist. It needs to be built-in to the fabric of your culture.
This is where graphic recordings can really help to clarify and align your message as they are a summary of those critical elements of the discussion. They can be used to continue the dialogue and serve as a road map with others as you work to implement your plans.
Trap #3: Not Measuring What Matters
Lewis Carroll said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Organizations are good about measuring things like budget spending, revenue, and head counts. But many of the traditional ways we measure results are based on lagging indicators. These indicators give you data that comes as a result of actions that have already taken place. Much like closing the barn door after the horse has already left, you’re stuck trying to take corrective action that is too little, too late.
Solution: Count What Counts
Results are the outcome of actions taken. With engagement statistics showing that only 29% of employees are engaged at work, the choices that individual contributors make, or don’t make, are crucial to monitor as they impact your organization’s success. Determine what specific behaviour shifts would support your strategic priorities, and figure out a way to track and measure that. I use a specific methodology with my clients that supports sustainable real-time behaviour shifts and allows for delivery of dynamic and relevant insights to inform the organization going forward.
Developing leading indicators tells you where you need to focus time and attention in order to support your strategic priorities. They help your organization to be resilient and able to course correct, which is an inevitable part of leading any successful change initiative.
