The PMA Blog

Raise your hand if this scenario sounds familiar: you’re 55 minutes into your one-hour team meeting to introduce a new change, you wanted your team to weigh in, and now you’re heading down a rabbit hole that you don’t think you can get out of.  You know that one of two scenarios are inevitable: you risk running over and making people late for their next appointments, or someone is bound to leave feeling thoroughly unsatisfied. As managers, how do we get in front of this phenomenon while still giving people a voice?

Think back to the last time you suggested a new idea to someone else. It could have been as simple as a new recipe for dinner at home, or as involved as suggesting a new way to solve a complex problem at work. How was that information received? Did people go along with your suggestion, or were you met with resistance that surprised you?

In our Change Leadership and Change Readiness workshops, we often begin by polling the room and asking who thinks that they respond well to change. Here is what normally happens: a handful of hands go up immediately (maybe 1/3 of the room), some people admit that they’re not too fond of change, and most people will say that it depends.  People are open to change when it directly benefits them, or better yet, when it was their suggestion.  So what is a leader to do when a change coming from the organizational leadership is met with resistance? 

Focus on Results, Not Tasks

In order to change results, you have to focus on the right things. Thinking about your day as a bunch of to-do's will get you nowhere fast. Instead, drive your day by the objectives. What are the results you are trying to accomplish and is there a direct correlation to the way you are spending your time? If your tasks don't roll up to a specific objective, seriously question their value.  And if they do, prioritize and work the most important one first.  

I keep this quote on my office wall.

"When learning about life and people, make no more assumptions than are absolutely necessary.  Ask and observe."  William of Ockham, 1324

 Over the years it reminded me time and time again, that no matter how prepared I can be to teach a specific topic, the most important component of that training is unknown until the class begins:  the audience.  

It's too easy to forget this when trainers and facilitators have been teaching a topic for a long time or leaders have become expert in their presentation material.  Once we forget this simple rule, the lecture begins.  Or, we roll out the same tired questions, expecting the same answers and we are fully prepared to respond to them, even before the question is complete.  It is the stuff of deteriorating results in the classroom, and it can be deadly for our most seasoned trainers (myself included). 

So, here are three tactics for keeping it fresh and different every time, based on who's in the room.

In last year's Forbes article, "How To Get Even More From Your Technology:  Turn It Off", Kevin Ready makes the case that in order to overcome the evils of our technology, we should walk away or turn it off.  

He's not wrong about the evils, and occasionally walking away or turning it off creates a much needed techno-break. However, I believe there's a far more valuable answer:  Get control of your technology!

Don't let it overwhelm and distract you.  With a few rules for wrestling it under control and modifying your behavior, your tools can be useful and productive, not your enemy.

At Priority Management Associates, we teach people to take the following approach:

Assess it - Learn it - Control it - Work it

Listening to customers and delivering truly “mind-blowing” service can be a very effective way to engage your team .  The following anecdote has been relayed countless times as a story of great customer service, but the untold story is the one of how a phenomenal team mobilized to make it happen.