Daily 5 Minutes

Your People are Your Daily

February 10, 2011 by Rosa Say

They aren’t “a project.”

I must start this posting by saying that I greatly admire the gentleman I’m going to quote shortly. I’ve read all his books, and have implemented several of the suggestions he makes within his expertise of GTD productivity, blogging about them extensively in past years. However this beginning to his recent newsletter sent up such a red flag with me:

I decided to make it a project (and priority) over the last few months to sit down with each and every employee in my company. I heard feedback (positive, plus improvement opportunities) and a ton of creative ideas (amazing what others see who are positioned in a different way in front of the fire hose!) I am now culling all of that intel. and looking at a stack of creative ideas. Interestingly enough, dedicating so much time to that process threw the rest of my personal workflow way out of my comfort zone of being in control. But what a great opportunity to creatively see how we can grow and adapt as a global company.

I challenge you this month to consider doing something that will take you out of being in control—even just a little bit. As long as you know how to regain composure and balance, and that you will get there, soon enough, you’ll be fine. There may be an unseen opportunity waiting for you to grab.
~ David Allen

The red flag is CEO detachment. Makes me think back to the first time I saw Undercover Boss (I never made it to a second episode).

If you believe in the overall philosophy of Managing with Aloha, and you decide to adopt it, this good intention of sitting down with each and every employee in your company cannot be ‘a project.’ It has to be your everyday m.o. I don’t care how big your company is.

David Allen needs the Daily Five Minutes.

I am sure Allen does have all kinds of conversations with people on his staff, and on a daily basis. However his project approach described here is a recipe for disaster at worst, and workplace mediocrity at best. Unless he is an exceptional delegator, the likes of which I’ve never seen, and able to delegate to a truly stellar network of Alaka‘i Managers, I simply cannot imagine how Allen can possibly follow-up on what he’s described as “a ton of creative ideas” — not to the extent where each person he spoke with feels valued versus filtered.

His aside is what he is consistently missing within the better context of their operational presence: “amazing what others see who are positioned in a different way in front of the fire hose!” Umm, yeah, you think?

Talking to your people, — Your. People. — cannot be an occasional project. To say this in the words that Allen himself taught me, conversations with your people are “Next Actions” for a whole slew of projects, probably every single project you can possibly think of. Conversations with staff have to be an integral part of your everyday life as a manager, for then valuing their ‘intel’ is part of your everyday life too. Following up gets less stressful, for it also becomes a smaller, more nimble bit of something daily or weekly. Like all the rest of it, delegation gets easier, and more timely. There’s less clutter: I’ll bet a lot of what Allen heard was stage play for that rare opportunity people got with the big boss.

In his newsletter, Allen goes on to feature what he’s ended with in this quote, the urging to get out of one’s auto-pilot, and “Stretch, disrupt, regroup, stabilize” your personal system. I agree with that part, but if you seek to be an Alaka‘i Manager I must insist on this: Talk to your people daily to Care for your people daily, even if your Daily Five Minutes translates to seeing each of your 800 employees once every 3-4 years. You will be setting up a great habit, and a highly visual one, where keeping your people as Job One inspires them to help you keep your common causes as their Job One.

No Archive Aloha of related reading will be listed with this post. I’ve embedded several links already in a sincere hope you will check them out, and they will encourage you. If you feel you are usually more of a project with your boss, share this link with them, and then work on being a gracious receiver the next time they approach you.

Managers: Have you ended all Workplace Censorship?

February 7, 2011 by Rosa Say

My post, encouraging managers to Promote a Culture of Asking in the workplace, brought this back to mind too, another posting I’d originally written for Lifehack.org back in 2007 about six ways we managers end censorship.

Censorship? Is there really such a thing in our brave new world of blogging, tablogs, podcasting, smartphone apps and fearless social media? How about at work, and in your workplace?

While ‘censorship’ may not be the word we specifically hear, if there are feelings that our freedom of speech and expression are in any way suppressed or squelched it pretty amounts to the same thing. So might this be time to revisit this?

Your people will roll their eyes and snicker, if you ask them to speak up more without assuring the health of these basics. Worse, they’ll keep quiet. If you want optimal communication within your workplace, conditions for it must be optimal too. So, back for a repeat performance, with a few new links connected to our recent discussions…

Great Managers End Censorship

In this, the alive and well revolution of blogging and print-on-demand publishing, censorship is something we think of as very dark ages; surely it doesn’t happen anymore!

That may be true in the freedoms of your personal, unshackled life, but how about at work?

The freedom of self-expression is one we say we cherish most of all, for we are sensitive, intelligent, and thoughtful human beings. We know stuff. We represent. We define. We influence. We stand up to be heard, and we should, for we have important opinions which should count. People need to hear us, and we need to hear them, so that the blending of our voices can clarify intentions, and thus smooth out all the rough edges of our challenging world.

Alaka‘i managers are fully aware that each of the people they manage embody a voice which needs to be heard in the world’s neighborhood we call At Work. Full, open expression enables the ‘everything else’ of essential communication, and it’s no different on the job if the work which is done is to count for something great too.

Having this awareness, Alaka‘i managers ensure that they end any hint of censorship, and that when people have something to say they feel they have every freedom to say it. Censorship at work takes the form of self-censorship. For some reason, people feel inhibited and they don’t speak up.

This is a picture of what you, as a great manager, must create in your purposeful ban of perceived censorship:

1. Your ‘Open Door’ policy is alive and well. Your workplace is abuzz with all-engaging conversations about everything and anything, and people feel confident that as their manager, you can handle it. There are no limits. Some conversations may be challenging, but they are always entered into with optimism and not with fear or dread.

2. ‘Channels of communication’ simply do not exist in terms of organizational hierarchies; instead, they are defined by working relationships, decision-reaching partnerships, and fluid project team dynamics. People talk to who they need to talk to so their work is best achieved, and they don’t look for an interpreter to accompany them. Everyone values messages where the messenger is the source.

3. Fear of repercussion has been banished, replaced by coaching. The Head Coach in healthy communication practices is you, the Alaka‘i manager, with the understanding that mistakes will be made, screw-ups will happen and unfortunate things will be said, but they all can be corrected with practice in a safe environment. Everyone at every level needs practice. No practice, no mastery.

4. ‘A good time to tell you’ is every time and any time. You’re approachable. Great managers communicate with everyone in the workplace with remarkable consistency, even when they’re in a bad mood. The temperament of your responsiveness is predictable for people, and ‘predictable’ means pleasantly handled in a level-headed way, no matter when.

5. Constant conversation is part of the culture. People exercise their voice by means of a workplace expectation like The Daily 5 Minutes. Innovative engagement happens because people converse constantly, and not just when something comes up which needs to be fixed. Conversation is to create synergy, not merely to solve problems in a civilized way.

6. “Put it in writing” isn’t said anymore, except for within the context of a multi-detailed, still-complex project. The spoken word is good enough, for one’s word is one’s honor, and follow-up happens. Email confirmation clutter decreases, idea mind-maps systematically replace progress reports, and your HR department stops asking you for your documentation.

Alaka‘i managers understand that having a workplace like this is something they must purposefully and diligently create: It doesn’t just happen by itself, no matter how good the atmosphere seems. They manage catalytic workplace practices that are valued as company best practices; the ideas may not be original, but they have teeth to them, and they aren’t academic or business-speak, they are real. This is the work of great management; it’s your work.

To start, I give my Daily 5 Minutes Resources to you freely: Adopt the D5M and reap the benefits. Release the voices of those you manage from their self-censored silence, then listen well for the contributions they are sure to start offering you.

Conversation “is a pain”

January 21, 2011 by Rosa Say

Had a really good conversation with a manager today. I say “really good” because he was up front, to the point, truthful and honest, and didn’t let my being ‘the managing with aloha coach’ get in the way even though we’d just met; no warm up was needed. He wanted help, and his sincerity made me want to give it to him in spades if I could. [He’s generously given me his permission to post this, knowing he’s not alone in feeling this way.]

If you were as completely transparent as he was, would any of this sound familiar to you? I’m paraphrasing, going from memory, but this is the gist of what he initially said, and the first part of our talk story about it:

Rosa, I’ve read your book and your blog, and I know you’re big on conversation, talking story, and your Daily Five Minutes, and I agree with it all in theory, I really do, but damn, it’s still so hard for me to initiate those conversations. When I do manage it, I’m so relieved that it’s over, and I’m already dreading the next one.

Why do you dread it? Was it really so bad?

No, that’s not it. Sure, I can be a better manager, and improve on things, but I’ve basically got a good relationship with everyone on my team. Stuff comes up that’s both good and bad, and I think we handle it pretty well once we’re actually in the conversation. It’s the knowing that I should be doing it more than I do, and that I don’t. It’s a pain. I just want a team who will work hard, get the job done, and not have to talk about it. When they need to talk to me, they can, and they know that.

Are you completely confident about that? Will they always come to you, no matter what it’s about, and no matter when? And that work that’s involved with “getting the job done:” if it starts to go sideways or something goes wrong, are you the first person they’d tell if you didn’t know, or didn’t see it coming?

Well, not always, so yeah, that’s what I mean. That’s why I know I should do your Daily Five Minutes, and have more group talk story times, but I’ve got so many other things to do. And why does it have to be me? Aren’t they supposed to act like adults, do the right thing, and not expect me to create these practices to hold their hand?

Short answer? ‘Cause that’s just not the way it works. You’ve got to learn to enjoy those conversations and start to look forward to them, because you can’t avoid them and still be a good manager. And just the fact that we’re having this conversation at all tells me that being a good manager is what you want.

You know me better, and I did give him a longer answer. I asked him a bunch more questions too, so we could drill down to some coaching which would be of best help in his situation. He told me more about the personality of his team, and in doing so it slowly dawned on him that they probably wanted to speak up more, or would if they felt the time was right. We also talked about some specifics in his work which may actually go away, and get done by his crew for him, exactly because he IS beginning to reap the power of the Daily Five Minutes.

If you had the ability to step outside your body, and actually watch your workday, I’d bet that this is what you’d discover: You need each other. You get way more work done as a result of conversations than you do when you have the so-called ‘luxury’ of not having them, and work nose to the grindstone in solitary silence — and this is doubly true when you’re a manager. You expedite work, and can often finish your part of it within that conversation. The people around you and involved in work with you, are the defining variables which most need your attention if great work is to be achieved by either of you.

When you’re an Alaka‘i manager, conversation is your worthwhile work.

I’m not going to gloss over it: Yes, sometimes conversation is a royal pain in the neck for managers. Even the greatest managers on earth find themselves in really tough conversations at times, for it comes with the territory. But when they end up in a good place in dealing with that situation, well, management doesn’t get any sweeter, and more rewarding than that.

Bottom line is this: The more conversations you have at work with your team, the easier they all get, but you have to go through those uncomfortable and inconvenient starts. The pleasant ones get better than pleasant and become insightful, and the ugly ones become crucibles for the change you probably both need to have happen. Work doesn’t just “get done” because BOTH of you aren’t settling for that kind of mediocrity: Work EVOLVES.

And the Daily Five Minutes? Does it really have to happen that often? I say yes. We’ll talk about that in another post, soon. For now, remember this:

The “daily” is for you, and not with the same person – unless you decide you need a soon-as-possible repeat.
All conversation, and all group meetings and talk story opportunities become less of “a pain” the more often you do them. You get better at them, and so do they, no matter the topic. You get better together, tag teaming your conversations, because you are building a language of intention with each other. As a fringe benefit, those conversations actually get shorter.

About this:

And why does it have to be me? Aren’t they supposed to act like adults, do the right thing, and not expect me to create these practices to hold their hand?

Part of my answer is that I feel they’re supposed to act like exceptional adults too, and I don’t want any manager to lessen their high expectations. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. However, when you start a newly conversational management style (or heck, whenever you start to supervise and manage any team, and with skills beyond conversation), you have to take the high road and go first. You’re the manager, and you have to set a good example, especially with kākou communications. If nothing else, you have to create your opportunities to listen to them.

But I promise you, if you keep it up, they’ll start going first because you’ve made it to that sweet spot. You’ve been giving them your attention, and believe me, they know it. They appreciate it, even though they don’t come right out and say so. Now, they want to give you the gift of their attention back.

They also want to talk about their ideas, ideas which are now germinating like crazy because you’ve provided such fertile soil and good growing conditions for them. You’re now having conversations you never imagined you’d have, and you can no longer remember the last time it was such “a pain.”

And isn’t that better than settling for, “We all act like adults, and my team has pretty good initiative.” I think so.

Let’s talk story: What can you add to this? If conversation has been “a pain” for you, what did you do to turn the corner, and make it better and less painful?

Here are two more practical suggestions from me (practices which can complement The Daily Five Minutes), but do answer the questions I’ve posed: I would love to hear from more of you.

Be the Best Communicator
Add Conversation to your Strong Week Plan
And for extra credit :) Turn up the Volume and Manage Loudly

So you want a MWA jumpstart. Do the Daily Five Minutes.

January 18, 2011 by Rosa Say

I need to be crystal clear about something:
If you’re not giving your staff the gift of the Daily Five Minutes ®
you’re not Managing with Aloha „¢

Never fails. January has become the month where people get much braver about telling me things like, “Now I’m ready. This will be my year for a no holds barred Managing with Aloha makeover on my management style.”

I guess it’s the whole new year’s resolution thing. Even people who say “I don’t do them” (meaning resolutions) are making fresh commitments, or trying a new self-coaching. Or like me, they call them better habits.

Once that statement is out of the way, that they’re ready for MWA (and will someone please explain to me how you can not be ready for Aloha?) they’ll usually follow up with the same question: “So how would you recommend I start?”

If I was insistent on the core coaching of MWA, namely, “manage true to your values, and the values of your team; let those values be your road map,” that’s what I’d say, but I don’t. I agree that value-mapping can take more prep time and seem overwhelming. So my answer has always been,

Start doing the Daily Five Minutes.
Do it today if you can, and no later than tomorrow.
Then do another one the day after that, and another the day after that.
Give someone your Daily Five Minutes every day for the rest of your life.

That will always be my answer, because that’s what works best.
That’s what gets you your quickest results, and that’s what helps you stick with it, so you go the distance.

When people fail with Managing with Aloha (I don’t like to say that, but it’s the truth; you can fail at MWA. Luckily, no failure is a forever failure) I’ll always discover they skipped the Daily Five Minutes, and had chickened out with it. They were trying to learn MWA intellectually, and it wasn’t enough. It was mental gymnastics without an actual workout. Managing without mentoring people does not work.

If you do the D5M as your jumpstart, all the values-based management stuff you learn in the rest of Managing with Aloha will fall into place, because you’ll have conversations in which you can use what you’ve learned. Instantly, and in small manageable bites. Tasty, timely, relevant and personal.

Practice makes possible.

5-minute conversations, just 1 every day.
Very little time, very little risk.

It’s really as simple as that.

Conversations where you’ll both be talking about values whether or not you actually realize it.
Conversations where you’ll be valuing others, for the D5M is a gift you give.

In fact, you don’t even have to read my book yet. Read this and get started. Just like Chris did, and just like Rich does.

« Previous Page