6/21/2008
CHANGE
Without a doubt, Barrack Obama’s promise of change has caught the attention of the American public.
As a young plant manager, I was infatuated with change. I guess my thinking at that time was that new was always better than old. As experience matured me and as I got older, I began to see that my desire for newness did not always equate with better.
While I’ll leave the comments on Senator Obama’s battle cry to the political pundits, here’s a list of questions to ask when someone suggests change in the workplace:
- Exactly what needs to change and why?
- How much will it cost?
- Will the benefit outweigh the cost?
- What will we sacrifice or lose in order to effect the change?
- How long will the process take?
- Who will be responsible for implementing the change?
- Have benchmarks for progress been established?
- Can we do it in a way that minimizes confusion to our staff?
6/10/2008
ACCOUNTABILITY
If accountability has anything to do with efficiency and performance, why do managers avoid the issue? Here’s my bet as to the top three reasons:
- A dislike of confrontation;
- A fear of making a negative situation more negative;
- A desire to be politically correct by chalking off failures to obscure social issues.
In my experience, these are nothing more than excuses. Employees know better and have a little respect for a boss who buries his or her head in the sand.
If your approach to accountability is missing the mark, consider the following:
- Clearly define the overall objective, the individual goals and the timing making sure they are doable;
- Advertise the overall objective, the individual goals and the timing so each person is clear on what is expected;
- Give your people the tools needed to do the job;
- Measure progress against goals or benchmark at regular intervals;
- Issue progress reports to each person involved in the process;
- Acknowledge those who achieve positive results;
- Counsel those who fall short.