Embracing new ways of working in the workplace during a Pandemic- Part 1
This is the first blog post of a 3-part series that looks into how to kick start recoverability during the current pandemic.
New and unprecedented steps have forced businesses to act during the covid19 pandemic. I have witnessed, the true sense of the “need for urgency” (a military term) to expedite technological progress to embrace innovation to achieve greater productivity. Including, reinventing and streamlining old processes/ boundaries and silos, rethinking old ways of working, moving to a flatter non-hierarchical organisational design structure to address better general decision making, which illustrates the bold mindset and actions business leaders have had to make recently- a real positive fundamental shift, but alas only when the hand is forced.
As a lean six sigma practitioner, having lead scrum/ lean-agile governance-based projects for clients’ in change and transformation programmes, I want to show how business leaders can embrace basic tools and techniques NOW, to accelerate and improve their business ways of working. Don’t get me wrong, the aim here is not to blow your mind on how to calculate critical path analysis, standard deviation or construct normal distribution curves! Far from it…
All I ask is to have an open mind, about how you could utilise some simple field-tested techniques I have often used with client teams to create focus, instil efficiency and effectiveness, where staff personnel are being asked to do more (due to FTE cost cuts), with fewer resources, quickly and with no mistakes (preferably).
How to accelerate the decision-making process ¹:
Let’s consider the following scenarios:
Do you recall the countless number of times you have been sent calendar meeting invites, with no agenda and asked to spend hours in a meeting on something you don’t know about from the outset? You cannot prepare, nor do you know the who, what, where, when, why, how and how much! If “Yes”, read on…
When something is being discussed during a meeting, people need to know if they agree or not. Too often it leads to unnecessary debate, going off on a tangent, wasted time, irrelevant talk, etc... for those pressured for time. Further compounded by the fact that during the video conference meeting (as home working is becoming the norm during Covid19), the sound doesn't work, let's say (humour me). Sounds fairly familiar? Yes? … keep reading…
A meeting is convened, where something has gone wrong to find out why there is a problem or disaster, but never a meeting if staff or teams have done well- maybe, maybe not? We often like to check-in, find out what’s happened and why and when under time pressure, want to cut to the chase?
Apologies, I’m just generalising here to paint a picture of what often happens in the workplace, so don’t take offence. I appreciate all employees are time-pressured and don’t necessarily have the time, the know-how and technique to layout an organised agenda, prepare the format/ ground rules for running a meeting, or even set about how to review what has or not happened- rightly or wrongly.
So, what’s the solution to above scenarios, you ask yourselves… well see below some of the tools and techniques that can be implemented straightway- yes really… to help all employees accelerate the decision-making process in their workplace.
IPO
Use of a simple IPO (in your meeting requests)- no it’s not an initial public offering (IPO), but rather it stands for Input, Process and Output. I’m not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but it works for me having used this approach for 10+ years, see example below:
Takeaways on using an IPO:
Where possible indicate the time taken in each IPO block, e.g., say in a 30-minute meeting, we cover 10 minutes on the input, 15 minutes on the process and 5 on the output.
If pre-reading is required, say so in advance, so people know below the IPO agenda. Embed objects into the columns/ boxes, say emails, word documents, excel file, etc...
Fist to Five
This involves people showing their hand in either of the combinations illustrated below during a meeting to signify either their agreement or disagreement to a course of action or discussion.
Please note, when using 2 fingers in a show of hands, that you try to be polite!
Takeaways on Fist to Five:
This is a visual technique to rapidly test and build consensus when a group needs to make a decision or a course of action. It avoids extended discussions, where members give their opinions, but also where they are not clear on whether they agree with the proposal or not fully;
If members show less than 3 fingers, they should be allowed to state their view or concerns; and
This technique promotes flexible thinking on views and ideas; it enables and drives change by empowering people and permits active participation; it also helps to build relationships by expressing views and beliefs, being honest whilst encouraging others to do the same.
After Action Review (AAR)
A favourite of mine used to practice reflection and review to ensure the learning from both the positive and negative situation are used to learn upon.
Takeaways on AAR:
Use after a significant event, intervention or at a critical milestone, to understand the “ground truth”- what really happened;
Can be used in IPO’s (input block) during team catch-ups;
It’s not about blaming or using this to point finger at… leave the egos at the door and respect one another.;
It captures outputs visibly to agree on actions, owners and how things need to conducted differently next time; and
AAR’s encourages continuous improvement and people development, if not used correctly in the correct spirit and manner intended, it could be seen as a witch hunt by people, so use it to learn and improve future work. So please make it clear.
Instigate execution excellence ¹:
Micromanagement and tightening once vice-like grips to establish control is not the answer to drive closed-loop accountability. Offering rewards and incentives, might not happen… and employees/ leaders know that, especially during the current pandemic.
Teams members need to be clear about what needs to be done and by whom, when and why, by adopting a RACI approach.
RACI
I recall mentioning a RACI to a former client of mine who was horrified by the suggestion who stated it takes too long to create. My response to their observation was that it doesn’t have to be and a better way of working would be to use a simple matrix approach. This is especially true when staff do not have time to read lengthy (process) documents, the process will change or is in a state of flux dependent on certain events/ outcomes. Moreover, creating and routinely maintaining flow diagrams/ charts can be time-consuming at the best of times too.
Where there is a need for urgency, business leaders want to see something that is short, sharp and snappy in terms of what needs to be done and by whom, when and why.
To clarify for those who have not come across a RACI, it stands for:
Responsible: The person who does the work to achieve the task. They have the responsibility for getting the work done or decision made. As a rule, this is one person, e.g., might be a finance analyst, ERP developer or technical architect;
Accountable: The person who is accountable for the correct and thorough completion of the task. This must be one person and is often the project executive or project sponsor. This is the role that responsible is accountable to and approves their work;
Consulted: The people who provide information for the project and with whom there is two-way communication. This is usually several people, often subject matter experts and even departments or functions; and
Informed: The people/ departments kept informed of progress and with whom there is perhaps one-way communication. These are people that are affected by the outcome of the tasks, that need to be kept up-to-date.
Takeaways on RACI:
Consider using the RACI as the output to an IPO agenda, per explained above;
Keep the RACI brief and agree on the high-level steps with stakeholders, where possible;
Ensure the RACI matrix is version controlled, until such a time it needs to be properly formalised based on your company’s policies and procedures prescribed format; and
Get creative and add other columns to suit your needs by including other variations, such as RASCI: where 'S' is for 'Support'; RACIO: 'O' for 'Out of the Loop' or 'Omitted'; RACI-VS: with the 'V' meaning 'Verify' and 'S' for 'Signatory'. Customisation is your choice to make.
To summarise, these are just a very few very simple tools and techniques that I have detailed out above. There are of course other tools and techniques that can be utilised ³, but for now, it is better to use the KIS approach (keep it simple).
On that note, I leave you with a quote from The Great Mahatma Gandhi who once said:
“Be the change you want to see… to make a real difference around you.” ²
So, Business leaders… why not give this a try? … there is nothing to lose… but only to gain.
In my second blog post, I will examine the next four main areas aimed at looking at organisational change design/ structure.
Dee Singh Kothari is a senior partner in Kothari Partners
¹ Ideas expressed in this article are solely of the authors. The author nor Kothari Partner’s accept any liability for the incorrect application of these ideas either used by companies, employees or other individuals alike.
² Quotes from The Great Mahatma Gandhi- (1869- 1948)- abbreviated by the author to confer the original meaning.
³ At Kothari Partners, we have worked with various UK and overseas listed and PE-backed clients across various industries to consider how their business and finance services can bring them both cost reductions and performance improvement.
Our approach is to help our clients understand their current situation, identify the value and decide on the scope, vision and set of strategies for what they could achieve for their business. We help plan their implementation and support them and deliver the solution/ change needed, so it is properly and permanently embedded in their organisation.
We aim to help past and future clients by delivering high-quality work to their organisation, generate real efficiencies and free up time to support better business decisions.
For a confidential discussion please free to contact us, via our corporate website: https://dipakagkothari.wixsite.com/website