All posts by Nicole North

Be a Better Leader with the Thomas-Kilmann Instrument

The Thomas-Kilmann Instrument (TKI) is an assessment that can identify the best way to manage conflict for you. Do you tend to be more accommodating or confrontational? The TKI will help you determine your default style so that you can learn how to adjust your style when necessary.

What is the Thomas-Kilmann Instrument?

The Thomas-Kilmann Instrument is a survey originally developed in 1975 by Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann based on research conducted at Michigan University. to measure how people react to conflict. The instrument has been validated with thousands of data points. It measures the extent to which people are willing to cooperate or compete in resolving conflicts, their willingness to help others work on the problem, the extent to which they are satisfied with the outcome of the discussion, and finally, how much of an effort they are willing to make to reach an agreement.

How to use the TKI

The TKI is a diagnostic tool that provides you with an accurate view into your conflict resolution style and ultimately can lend insights to your leadership style. You can then use the results to identify areas for improvement and ways to increase your leadership skills. The TKI is a leadership, decision-making, and negotiation tool that uses two dimensions that help describe conflict resolution preferences or situational decisions. The matrix’s two axes are Assertiveness and Cooperativeness. Assertiveness is defined as “The degree to which a person makes clear what they want in a situation,” while cooperativeness is defined as “The degree to which a person responds appropriately to the wants of others.” Obviously, it is important for leaders to have both skills, but it’s hard to be an effective leader when they are lacking in either category.

The instrument measures our affinity for one of the 5 conflict-handling modes: Competing, Collaborating, Compromising, Avoiding and, Accommodating.

Remember we all use all 5 styles. The real question is, do we have a bias, affinity, or preference towards one or more styles that may not make us the LIMITLESS LEADER we all want to be.

Competing (The Fighter)

The Fighter is both highly assertive and highly uncooperative. This style leverages a power position in order to achieve its goals. In this mode, we advocate for their own concerns (and our own concerns only). This often comes at the other person’s expense. This style is particularly skilled at using any and all power mechanisms that could be appropriate to win their position. The Fighter might be characterized by actions like setting and enforcing personal boundaries, standing up for your rights, or simply winning for the sake of winning.

Collaborating (The Facilitator)

The Facilitator is both assertive and cooperative. That sounds impossible. This style often takes on the role of a facilitator or guide. They advocate for the solution that not only satisfies the concerns of both but also seeks the solution that represents the greater good. In practice, collaborating might use empathy, creativity, innovation, and complex problem-solving skills to seek to understand the big strategic objective.

Compromising (The PeaceKeeper)

Compromising sits comfortably in the middle of assertiveness and cooperativeness. This style seeks to uncover fast solutions that both parties can be *somewhat* satisfied with.
This style is likely to give up more of their personal position than the competing style but gives up less than the accommodating style. It handles issues at the moment versus Avoiding but doesn’t seek the altruistic “greater good” that the Collaboration style does. Compromising
often manifests itself as going 50:50, splitting down the middle, leveraging or giving up social capital, or seeking the fastest-possible resolution.

Avoiding (The Evader)

The Evader is simultaneously unassertive and uncooperative – because they avoid the issue like the plague (too soon?). When avoiding, one typically seeks to imminently seek to resolve either parties’ concerns. The Evader might diplomatically avoid the problem, delay the conversation until a later time, or simply withdraw altogether.

Accommodator (The Sweetheart)

The Sweetheart is unassertive and cooperative—the antonym to The Fighter. The Sweetheart typically plays the role of the sacrificial lamb in this mode, completely disregarding their own concerns with the intention of satisfying the concerns of the other party. While this style can appear charitable, they can also be perceived as a “people pleaser”, lacking boundaries, or incapable or unwilling to share opposing views.

Interested in running this assessment for individuals or teams?  Reach out to us at info@whiteboardconsulting.caDay 11 of 365 Days of Leadership

 

When should leaders dig into the details?

The answer to this question is not always black and white; when do you need to stop thinking in the abstract and start doing the dirty work–be it in sales opportunity or in understanding how your company can execute an idea? Your answer could depend on many variables, be intelligent about when to broaden and when to drill down.

The dangers of getting stuck on the details

It is important for a leader to be thorough and to be involved with the details. Detail-oriented people need not worry as much about getting stuck on the step at the top of the pyramid, as they will likely not make it to those high-level tasks if they can’t complete those at the bottom. However, those who seek only high-level strategy must avoid loss of focus or their project could suffer from failures due to missed low-level details, such as logistics and operating structures. Ultimately it’s best for a leader to equally involve themselves with both ends of the spectrum and know how and when to do so.

Why leaders should dig into the details

In order for a leader to make the best decisions, they need information. They may not be privy to all of the information necessary, but if they aren’t asking questions, then the organization might not get the full picture. It’s part of a good leader’s job to walk along with an issue and solve it by following through.

How to dig into the details if you aren’t a detailed person

Being detail-oriented can be challenging, especially if you are someone who tends to be more creative. If you feel like the little things are often weighing you down, be sure to allow extra time to plan out your work. It’s normal not always to know the right answer; the key is to ask questions and to take action. Remember that revisiting details is an important part of the process of getting something right!

 

The Top 6 Reasons Why Knowing Your Personality Type can Help You Lead

Have you ever noticed that great leaders are able to get the best out of their team? They must have a way of getting everyone on board, while also juggling all the different tasks they need to do along the way. But how does this happen? It might be because these leaders are not only self-aware but also know their own personality type.

What is Personality Type?

Personality type is simply a way of identifying who you are and how you work best. No two people will have the same personality type and each one comes with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most common personality test, which categorizes people as either introverts or extroverts, sensing or intuitive, thinking or feeling, judging or perceiving.

Understanding Your Own Preferences

Knowing your personality type is a great way to understand yourself and develop a style of leadership that is uniquely suited for you. Understanding that people have different preferences, you can recognize their strengths and weaknesses. This will also allow you to become the best leader possible because you will be able to adjust your methods for situations where specific personalities thrive.

Understanding Your Team’s Style

People who lead others and want to do so successfully need to know their team members’ personality types. Understanding these personalities will help them know the best way to motivate and communicate with each person. It is important for leaders to make sure that they are speaking about things in a way that will be understood by those who have different styles.

Conclusion

The Importance Of Knowing Your Personality Type

Knowing your personality type can help you to know what kind of people you will get along with best and how best to lead them. There are many ways to find out your personality type, but this article highlights the six most popular methods.

Want to learn about your Personality Type as a Leader?

Reach out to us HERE!

No No Nancy Strikes Again

Season Two, Episode Six. Podcast recap! (And if you missed the podcast, you can find it here.)

Podcast Recap: Season 2, Episode 6

Every Office Has One

This week on the podcast we tackle that one person in the office that makes everyone groan. No, not Peter with all his horrible Dad jokes. No, we gave Peter the week off.  Instead we are talking about “No No Nancy”.  She’s negative. She hates change. She’s a downer. She doesn’t like new things.  She doesn’t even like old things.  She definitely doesn’t like you.  She says “No” a lot  – and her behaviour is a drag.

As always, our guiding principle here at Whiteboard is to seek to understand, so we should probably start with trying to uncover why some people have that negative style and others don’t.

Is the negativity a result of  personality preferences?

According to Myers-Briggs theory, people with a preference for Sensing (S) typically need factual, real, observable data in order for them to consider it trustworthy information.  Their personality opposites, those with a preference for Intuition (N), tend to trust information on the big picture and possibilities.

When our big picture thinkers (N) bring ideas/concepts/changes to our fact folks (S), the latter typically respond with a barrage of questions. These questions, used simply to get more data, information, and facts, are commonly interpreted by N’s as REALLY NITPICKY AND NEGATIVE: What’s the cost per night? Whats the weather that time of year? What was the data from last year? etc etc.

They aren’t meant to be negative, but that’s how they sound to their counterparts. As Ruth, Whiteboard’s resident S says, it’s “No for now, until you can prove otherwise”.

Similarly – S’s might start off proposals for change and meet with a similar perception of negativity from their N counterparts: What’s the big picture? How does this link to the strategy? Have you thought of other ideas? etc. And the perception is the same – a negative response that is a huge drag.

How to Deal?

If you’ve identified your No No or Negative Nancy as someone who just needs more data, BRING MORE DATA. As I (Nicole) mentioned, I deal with my seemingly super nitpicky, annoying husband who loves facts, data, and observations (love you babe) by always bringing facts and data with my ideas about which I want him to make decisions.  You know, like spreadsheets of vacation options with a zillion columns.

If you are the data driven realist trying to appeal to a big picture seeking N, can you give some thought to strategy and future possibilities to accompany your data and appeal to their thinking style?

This is all fine and dandy – but what if this isn’t a personality issue because there seems to be more going on?  Is it possible Nancy’s No’s are the result of some past experiences that are triggering a negative behaviour response? Or said differently…..

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

So this particular negativity comes from people who are impacted by past history/experience. Now the big question is how do we differentiate between the two sources of negativity, and more importantly does it matter? Let’s use Neville (Ruth’s Harry Potter obsession is really taking over…) as an example.

Every time Neville hears about a project he rolls his eyes, mutters under his breath, and is just generally grumbly.  Is he just being difficult because of past experience? Is he looking for the data? How can we find out?

Use open ended statements like:

Tell me more…..Help me understand…

to “peel back the layers of the onion” and find out.

You might hear:

  • I don’t understand it.
  • I don’t see the logic.
  • I don’t see the research.

Tell me about a time when this did work?

This is an Appreciative Inquiry technique that helps people focus on the art of the possible.

Either you’ll hear some positive ideas that you can work with, or, you might hear:

  • This always happens.
  • This never works.
  • I’m tired of all this.

This sounds like change fatigue, or previous examples of change that haven’t worked well or caused some workflow issues.

In this case you might want to find out where the person is in their journey for change? Maybe set some expectations about your topic.

But wait there’s more (like a great infomercial).

What if you hear:

  • I’m really mad about [insert unreasonable scenario that no one should be mad about here].
  • I can’t stand [insert really nice person who seems to just be driving Neville nuts].
  • Can you believe [insert really normal story that shouldn’t be alarming at all].

Sounds like maybe this is just a case of the MONDAYS. Sounds like this is just a grumpy day and will probably pass. Might be a good day to let someone just vent and be grouchy and not worry about this type of negativity bringing down the office culture too drastically.

BESPOKE COACHING

At the end of the day. Who’s on the “Bus to Change” with you? Who’s slashing the tires? Who’s grumpy in the back? And who’s gleefully singing songs at the front of the bus?

Deal with your negative Nancy’s/Neville’s/Nanette’s in respective order to their potential damage to your bus destination.  Before you come to a solution:

  1. Seek to understand,
  2. Then give info (if required), and/0r
  3. Then coach, and/or
  4. Give advice/support, and finally, if all else fails:
  5. Be directive.

The moral of this episode is….just because the symptoms sound the same (negativity), doesn’t mean the solution is the same.

You have to investigate and find the source of the negativity in order to deal with it effectively.  Listen to the podcast for Ruth’s Dog Bark/Tail analogy.

Next week on the blog we fire Peter.  Well not exactly – but we tell you what firing Peter might be like and how to prepare.

And we give you a sneak peek on Season 3 of the podcast! So keep on listening.

Until next time….

Nicole

 

How to Tell Peter He Smells

Season Two, Episode Three. Podcast recap! (And if you missed the podcast, click here.)

AWK-WARD….

Phil Collins, in case you’re too young to know who this is. Also click here to listen to SUSSUDIO.

This season on the podcast we’ve been focusing on awkward/difficult/uncomfortable conversations and helping everyone to get over their fears and just DO IT.  Now I believe that all difficult conversations are to some extent awkward, otherwise they’d just be conversations.

In case you don’t have time to listen to Ruth and my hilarious banter about body odour and low cut tops, this blog will give you three quick tips to having a conversation about a super uncomfortable topic.

(But you should listen, because otherwise the Phil Collins reference makes no sense.)

What Kinds of Conversations are we Talking About Here?

We’re talking about uncomfortable conversations like:

  • body odour,
  • bad breath,
  • food odours, or
  • work attire.

And to some, these might be no more difficult or awkward than not getting a promotion, not getting a pay raise, or just giving feedback.

Some of these are most difficult because they are subjective….what is “bad” body odour, what food smells “bad” versus not bad, what constitutes “appropriate” work attire.  They are also difficult because they are personal – it’s happening to your body, it’s on your body, or you’re putting it in your body. The reactions to this type of feedback can sometimes be more emotional and defensive and that can make having these types of conversations that much scarier.

3 Tips for Having Awkward Conversations

1. Prepare & Map it Out

We talked about this last on the podcast, but I’m going to add it here.  Do some prep work with your HR department, your corporate policies, or the good old interwebs.  Check out what current policies and labour laws are for the item you are approaching your colleague about.

Create a process map or decision tree of your conversation.  This helps you plan for reactions that you aren’t prepared for.  What if the recipient denies that they actually smell? What if the recipient bursts into tears? What if they get angry and walk out of the room? So your conversation process map might be as simple as this:

Opening: I have something awkward to tell you involving body odour.

Response:

  1. No I don’t smell.  You have no idea what you are talking about.
  2. OMG, really? I had no idea?
  3. Crying/Leave room/Somehow end conversation

Responses:

  1. Here’s what I’ve observed, others have described. Here are the impacts to the team/me/others.  What are your thoughts?
  2.  Same as above
  3.  Reschedule meeting and try again

And you can keep going down the line, what are possible responses to those….and what are your responses.

2.  Open Well

One of the greatest openings for this type of conversation is just laying it out there. “This is going to be a difficult conversation”.  This is such a lifesaver.  It sets the other person up to prepare for something awkward. It gives you, as the conversation leader a little bit of a pass on being “perfect”.  It eliminates the need for any pleasantries or diverting from the topic.  It prevents you from starting with distracting comments like “We know you are really great, we love your work, how was your weekend…..”.  You can move right to the meat of the conversation.

3. Follow-Up

Once it is over, make sure that you check in after this tough conversation and see how it is going.  Is the behaviour changing? Is it staying the same? Why?  You might need to have a second (or third or fourth) conversation before the impact really sinks in.

Awkward conversations are hard. With planning and practice they can become less difficult for everyone involved.

Give these tips a try, let us know how it went on Twitter at @whiteboardcons and check out the rest of our podcast series on our homepage at www.whiteboardconsulting.ca.

Until Next Time,

Nicole

 

 

 

How I used a process map to make a kid go to bed.

Ah Summer Vacation.  Rest, relaxation, sun, fun……and a screaming 5 year old. We had the pleasure of taking my stepdaughter on vacation just a couple of weeks ago.  Nine hours of driving to arrive in the stunning Virgina mountains at a family fun resort. Yay!

To be fair, let me tell you this kid is an angel.  She is most definitely the sweetest, kindest, most polite child I have ever set eyes on. And there is no bias there whatsoever. Bedtime, however, reveals a second more scream-ey personality.

As the evil stepmother, I try not to interfere with the nitty-gritty parenting details.  That’s for daddy.  I’m there for playing, cuddles, and using snapchat filters to make the kid laugh.  After a few days of nighttime screaminess (and not enough wine in the world to combat the effects), I decided to take matters into my own hands.  The kid needed structure – even if we were on vacation and things were a little less routin-ey. So I did what I know how to do best.  I facilitated a process mapping session (cleverly disguised as a “craft”).

Use Process Tools to Re-engineer your kid. Child’s Bedtime Process.

Step 1: Engage Them

So, first I said, would you like to do a “craft” with me? We can use stickers and markers and stuff?

Then we went to building a current state/ future state map simultaneously (which I wouldn’t do normally, but I had attention span issues to deal with).

I asked questions about her normal bedtime process at home:

  • What comes first?
  • What next?
  • What if…?
  • What it..?
  • How would you feel if we did this first, next, afterwards?

This made her feel like she designed the bedtime process, she knew what would happen next, and she had some consistency – everything should go in the same order every time.

Step 2: Map the ProcessIMG_5054

Since she can’t quite read, we added pictures and stickers.  Ok, and it’s not a true process map.  It’s a list.  But it shows the order of things and what is included, and we even made some notes for concurrent steps or other issues (sometimes I brush my teeth and hair at the same time, or sometimes I don’t want a show, I’d rather have a story). I will definitely be introducing basic process mapping shapes into the next version, don’t you worry.

Note: If you are alarmed by the term face mask – we found a sleeping mask helped her close her eyes and got to bed – so it became part of the process too.

Step 3: Execute with CONSISTENCY

The next step was to get all excited about the list and try it out.  We posted it on her bedroom door and said, “ok – what do we do first?”  Eureka! It worked.

The more we did the list, the less she complained about this step or that step.  She almost always had something to look forward to, and bedtime didn’t feel so imminent.

And now – we just stay with the flow.  We make adjustments as necessary, but try to stick to the process as much as possible.  Maybe in a month or two we’ll map it again- hey continuous improvement is just as important as the first improvement.

So process geeks rejoice!  You can now process map at home without fear of repercussion.  Even kids get into it.

Let us know if you try it out @whiteboardcons #bedtimeprocessmap.

Until next time,

Nicole

Why Leaders Should Download PokemonGo.

What the &$^# is a Pikachu?

It started with a few photos on Facebook.  Cartoons and acquaintances of mine were popping up in photos together on my newsfeed.  I figured it was random or a super geeky thing I didn’t need to know about and then the posts started getting more cryptic….friends were “hunting” Pokemon? Pokemon were screen-capped sitting on friends’ laptops and posted to social media and I was very very confused.

Even the University Health Network here in Toronto posted a chart on how to play safely. Wait what?

Then the naysayers started emerging. Nasty tweets and posts popped up about how stupid it was. While sending a text during my morning dog walk the construction worker doing road paving near my house said “Ugh.  Tell me you aren’t looking for Pokemon? That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of”.  News stories broke out about PokemonGo related injuries, accidents, along with the instant rise of Nintendo’s share price.

IMG_3076

My attempt at photographing Ruth holding a Zubat. 🙂

My husband came home that night, and described the concept.  “You walk around and there are things to collect and battle while you walk around.  And it is in real life. It’s weird, but kind of interesting, right?”

I thought, wow, I’m not really interested in phone games, but the concept sure does sound neat.

So I downloaded it.  Much like Snapchat I didn’t get it right away. (My good friend Jamie told me that it was so old people couldn’t figure out how to use it. Hmph.) But I figured a few things out. I caught a few Rattatats and Zubats.  Then Ruth downloaded it and we went for a little break.  We had quite a blast, and I learned a few things too!

So while I hate to admit it, it’s kind of fun.  It’s kind of social. It got me outside for a quick walk instead of glued to my laptop.

So why would a leader in an organization give PokemonGo a try? Shouldn’t we be keeping our minions in their offices doing work instead of looking for nearby Pokestops? I don’t think so. And here’s why:

3 Reasons Leaders Should Download PokemonGo

  1. It Will Help You Be Kind and Curious. Remember our famous coaching phrase? Kindness and curiosity leave no room for anger and resentment.  Instead of harbouring all that anger and resentment for those cute little cartoon characters, try playing it for 15 minutes.  If you hate it, at least you can say why and you can say you tried it, right? Get your kids to teach you, or get your employees to show you how it works.  They’ll get a kick out of it.  Trust me.
  2. You Will Find Something New to Talk about. Often when dealing with different generational types in the workplace, it’s hard to find some common ground in conversations. Instead of your team members jumping back to their desks and pretending to finish their TPS reports when they were actually out poke-hunting, you can ask them if they found that damn Zubat, and encourage them to relax. Start a conversation, ask them to take you for a hunt and show you how it works.  They will love getting to engage with you without having to have that same humdrum conversation about your weekend. (And they’ll respect you when you suggest it’s time to get back to work now.)
  3. It Will Help You Encourage an Active Work Culture. Maybe your office has a lunchtime plank session, or yoga class, or fitness or meditation group.  In large organizations that might be possible, but in smaller organizations it might be cost prohibitive to implement a large scale wellness program.  This is a great way to take 10-15 minutes out of your day, to get outside as a group, go poke-hunting together, and get some fresh air.

This all being said – boundaries are important. What I love about the UHN tweet is that asks people to be safe and considerate of others, but also jumps into the spirit of things and wishes players luck.  If you feel it necessary to set some boundaries in your organization, try to keep it firm and fun, instead of shutting the whole thing down and making people hunt in secret.

Tell us how PokemonGo is playing a part (or not) in your worklife. Tweet us at @whiteboardcons!

Until Next Time,

Nicole (@missNicoleNorth)

 

 

 

 

Sorry. Be Canadian and apologize at work.

Canada Day.

Tomorrow, July 1st, we celebrate Canada Day.  Sorry to say, it’s not with the same gusto as our neighbours to the South celebrate Independence Day, but we celebrate with a certain “Je ne sais quoi,” that only we Canadians have.  Mostly we celebrate with beer, swimming in the lake, and mildly dangerous home fireworks.

In honour of the birth of our country….wait, let me google that’s what we are actually celebrating to be sure.

Canada Day (French: Fête du Canada) is the national day of Canada, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867 (then called the British North America Act, 1867), which united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire

(source: Wikipedia)

canada dayHmm.  Interesting.  Not sure I knew that explicitly. Thank heavens for the interweb.  Either way, the day off in the middle of summer where I always go to a cottage got me thinking about being Canadian and office culture.

Canadian Workplace Traits

What Canadian traits do we have in the office workplace (if any)? While I know you all want me to describe the intricacies of using “Eh,” I will not. Sorry.  Oh ha, there it is! What I am going to discuss is our use of sorry and how it impacts our business culture.

Compared to our English speaking neighbours, apparently we have a penchant for overusing the apologetic term.  Our friends to the South apparently don’t say it at all, and according to the National Post, our accented colleagues in the UK don’t mean it.

#sorrynotsorry

So presumably the theory is, when we say sorry too much we are meek, over-polite, and perhaps even admitting guilt that isn’t there (I won’t begin to tell you the number of times someone bumps into me and I say sorry!).

So in the work environment, we want to create a culture that is polite, respectful, accountable (meaning we are willing to say out loud that we bungled something up), but saying sorry for everything might undermine our career aspirations. Saying sorry might:

a) be perceived as excessive and unnecessary (particularly for the analytical types who may favour data to feelings),

b) create a perception that we’ve done something wrong, when we actually haven’t, and finally,

c) it might render the use of the word somewhat meaningless.

How to Say Sorry Just Enough!

  1. When you have hurt someone’s feelings. So, in yesterday’s TPS report meeting, you tell Cynthia that the new TPS reports are “THE DUMBEST IDEA EVER”.  Cynthia has been a little aloof lately, and you find out later she designed the new TPS reports.  This is a good time to admit that your statement was offensive.  “Cynthia, yesterday I said the new TPS reports were dumb. I realize that might have been offensive. I’m sorry. Can you help me understand them better so I can have a better appreciation of the work you did?”
  2. When you have made an error and are owning up to it. Once very early on in my career in the Ontario Public Service, I made a $150,000 procurement error.  I forgot to type over the system default date of April 1 with Mar 31.  We lost that money from our budget that year.  After creating a small wading pool of sweat in my cubicle and panicking to the point of fainting, lumberghI went into Lumbergh’s (not his real name…but there is a movie reference here) office and said: “I made an error in the system. This money is coming out of this years budget, not last years. This is how I’m going to fix it so this never happens again. I’m SO sorry.”  Lumbergh turned beet red with rage, and then immediately resumed his natural “public service pale,” and said – “thanks for owning up to it, not making excuses about the system, and for your apology.  Let’s move on”.  Now, I wasn’t normally a fan of Lumbergh, but in that moment I could’ve hugged him.
  3. When you have not acted politely. You interrupted Sally’s story during a meeting. You failed to notice Henry two-stepping it to catch the open door because he had two coffees in his hand and let the door crash into his face and his lattes. “Wow.  I’m sorry. I just interrupted you/slammed expensive coffee into your face. Please go on/let me hold the door.”

The Goldilocks of Sorry – Just Right.

My point here is that sorrys don’t have to become ubiquitous.  Use sorry sincerely and genuinely.  Don’t say “Sorry, but…..it was x,y,z’s fault” – that negates your sorry and says you aren’t sorry at all. Don’t say sorry unless you know what you are sorry for.  Don’t say sorry when someone bumps in to you (say excuse me instead – and honestly as Canadians we don’t want to be doormats!). canada sorryDon’t say sorry when you are late for the 100th meeting in a row. You clearly aren’t sorry because you aren’t fixing your complete lack of respect for others’ time.

Say sorry when you screw up, and you know it. Say it in isolation. I’m sorry {period}.  Let it sink in. Say it with passion, and if you must, add an “eh” on the end to seal the deal.  And as a major belieber, it is never too late to say sorry. 

Happy Canada Day!

Until Next Time,

Nicole

 

 

 

Process Mapping? I’d rather be Napping.

So I’ve heard a lot of people say they are so fascinated by what I do in the process improvement world, and how great they think it is , but how “it’s not for them”.  Using my coaching skills, I usually say something like, “Oh yeah?  Tell me about why it isn’t for you”.

Here are some of the responses I get:images

“Snore.  Processes are super boring. My company is really intuitive, and we just know exactly what to do and we fix it.” – my super annoying friend

“Processes, who needs it? I already know my team is garbage and as soon as I can replace them, things will turn around”. – a client who later realized her team was great because process mapping revealed a culture issue

“Ugh.  Sounds bureaucratic. I’m an entrepreneur.  There is nothing corporate about he way I run my business, and to be honest we don’t need it.” – my sister-in-law

PROCESS MAPPING3 Signs You Need Process Mapping STAT!

  1. Something is wrong and you “think” know exactly how to fix it.  How do you know what’s wrong?  What leads you to believe that?  What is the expected outcome if you make the change? You might be right. Intuition is super important.  Why not validate those gut feelings with some evidence in a process map? It’s a great way to get buy in from your stakeholders and employees!
  2. You “think” your employees are the problem. They suck.  While this is the first place many people look for solutions, it’s usually something else.  Why do you think they suck?  What tells you that? What could be inhibiting them? Have you asked them? Research shows that if you take great people and put them in a bad process, the process will win every time. Process mapping sometimes uncovers secrets that are hiding within a bad process.
  3. You “think” process is too rigorous.  Well, it can be, but it doesn’t have to be.  The right people, the right style, and the right moment can take you from being a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants entrepreneur to a being a strategic one.  Why not set the stage so you can pass the tasks that aren’t worth your time (or you aren’t great at) to someone who can actually add value (so you can go and be amazing). Process mapping identifies those tasks and lets you properly divide them up.

If you’re not a “process person,” or even if you are but don’t have a lot of time, we can help you. We are expert at coming in, talking with you and your team, and uncovering the hidden opportunities to improve your business.

Even better – why not build process improvement and process mapping capacity on your team? We offer public workshops that are fun, interactive, and relevant. Check them out by clicking here, and contact us if you want to know more.

#whiteboardworskhops #theyredifferent

Until Next Time,

Nicole

Screen Shot 2016-06-16 at 4.09.44 PM