In a recent conversation with one of my clients, he revealed that a significant percentage of his customers were taking up lots of his time because they distrusted the new billing system he had just installed. This caught him totally by surprise because he had carefully weighed the benefits and risks before making the decision. He knew that both he and his customers would benefit from the change. Does this mean he made a bad decision? Did he neglect the risks?
What prevents you from being amazing or achieving great things? Go ahead, make a list. Your answers to this question aren’t just idle explanations, they are the cause. They are beliefs. And these beliefs are actually preventing you from being amazing and achieving great things. Whether personal or professional, whether you realize it or not, these beliefs are limiting your success. They are holding you back. Now that you have a list,
Are you ignoring some of your most important assets? Do you have a few great sales people? Do you have products or projects that roll out predictably and repeatedly while others suffer from schedule, cost, or quality problems? Do you have groups that consistently and happily out-perform your other groups? Do you have employees who quietly exceed nearly every expectation? Do you have customers who advocate on your behalf? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions,
She insisted on coming to our house, a long and confusing drive judging by her two calls for directions and a late arrival. The first question I asked made it clear she was going to be of little use. We made the best of the situation, learned a few things, and got the name of a better source so we could try again. The topic: insurance. The problem: she represented “personal lines” and, as the owner of a small business, I needed information on both “personal” and “commercial lines.” The cost: an hour and a quarter for my husband and me, half a day for her, not counting scheduling time, frustration, gas, etc. This is a classic, and not uncommon, example of a misalignment between customer needs and the organizational model and process meant to satisfy those needs. Here are some questions I’d like to ask:
Rewarding performance doesn’t work. Employees are not rats in a cage pushing a lever for a pellet. Rewards promised, whether bonuses, raises, or carrots, have a short-lived, minimal, and, sometimes negative, impact on productivity. People work hardest when they care about the results, when the activity fits their natural inclinations, when they are challenged, when they are learning, and when they have made a personal commitment. In other words, people work hardest when their motivation springs from within.
Could your meetings be shorter and more powerful? I guarantee it. I have no doubt that 25 – 50% of the time you spend in meetings could be avoided or used to accomplish far more. Unfortunately, few organizations recognize the incredible potential to save time and money while improving productivity and morale by improving meetings. Try totaling the dollars devoted to this month’s meetings. Figure out what percentage of your people are effectively employed just to attend meetings. Imagine your productivity on a day uninterrupted by meetings. The value of better meetings in half the time is enormous! Ironically, those that do recognize the potential for improvement often react by scheduling a series of meetings! They get a bunch of interested people together to develop new rules that they think will solve the problem. Once they’ve all agreed, everyone else is invited to more meetings to learn the new rules. Too bad those rules are just bandaids and do nothing to eliminate the cause of the problem. You can’t solve a problem without eliminating the cause. If you can’t identify the cause of ineffective meetings, give me a call. I’d be happy to save you oodles of time, money, and frustration in the short term, and much more time, money, and frustration once your meetings are short, powerful, and known for getting better results in half the time! Call 800-527-0087 or email info@uncommonclarity.com today!
Do these questions sound familiar? Did you finish X? Where do things stand with Y? Are we on schedule? Are you on budget? How long do you think that will take? Do you need help? What are we going to do about Z? These are pretty typical questions managers and project managers ask their team members. Unfortunately, these are dangerous questions.
You can: Love the activity Love the result Love neither Some people love cooking, running, or making customers happy. Motivation is not a problem when you love the activity. Others love eating the things they cook, the way they feel after running, or the business that comes from happy customers. Motivation is not a problem when you love the result. Trouble arrives when you love neither the activity, nor the result. In that case, there are three choices:
Ignore the endless volumes on how to motivate yourself and employees. Watch this 3-minute video instead!