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Published at: 01/08/11 08:00:00
The business plan has been written, the new budget approved, the latest round of re-organisation has been completed so what’s next? Will anything really change? Are people now going to do things differently or are the new plans simply going to be filed away to gather dust as people try to pretend they don’t exist so that life can go on much as it did before?
With fewer people, those that are left are just going to have to do more. But weren’t they really busy anyway? So what’s not going to get done to make room for the extra work load or has someone invented the 25 hour day when we weren’t looking? Is what’s being left out the unimportant stuff or are some of the really important things being missed?
The truth is that the constant ‘do more with less’ attitude is wearing people down. So they return to their comfort zone, keep their heads down and try and do more of the things they enjoy and find reasons not to do the rest. Not quite what we were hoping for is it?
Who’s going to choose what is really important and what isn’t? Who’s going to find the ways to make the jobs we hate doing more palatable? Who’s going to identify where the new initiatives are coming from? Not me I hear you say “I’m far too busy and anyway that’s someone else’s job isn’t it!”
But whose job is it? The best strategy or business plan in the world is worthless unless it is implemented. But the people who need to implement it are just the ones who see it as another top down edict that they would rather not have had. So how do we engage them to find a way to implement it that works for them?
The first part of the solution is to empower them and let them see that they are part of the decision making process and not just the implementer of other people’s ideas. The strategy is decided but how it’s going to be implemented is not. “Not Invented Here” is a curse and the way to lift it is to encourage them to “invent”. Get them to ‘invent’ the best way to implement the plan along with all the others who are in the same boat.
But how do we get them all involved without adding another layer to their already overburdened workload?
The answer is to make use of small increments of people’s downtime, over a cup of coffee, on the train home, waiting for someone to arrive for a meeting, we all have them. That way it doesn’t become a full time job for anyone or add significantly to anyone’s already overstretched workload by eating up large chunks of their time. But if we are going to use small increments of time then we need a process that is fast and easy to use.
Web 2.0 technologies like those we have developed for our Wiki-Labs enables everyone to quickly pitch in and provide insights, create ideas and make suggestions on how to make things happen. Combine that with expert facilitation to engage people and steer the conversations to a positive outcome and you have a formula that really works.
Getting plans implemented is the really important stuff so next time you have a cup of coffee get in touch and we’ll show you a new way to do it. There must be something unimportant you can ditch to see us!
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