Dealing with Poor Performance Employees
March 2, 2015
Cross-Training – A Way to Common Values
March 4, 2015
Finding Creative Solutions
For any business person in today’s environment, the ability to remain on top lies in finding creative solutions to old problems and issues. Most of this blog is about creating a culture that utilizes people’s ability to overcome problems. I have discussed in some depth Issues Management and people’s values as they relate to the creative process, throughout these posts. While a few people are looking for significant technological breakthroughs, most of us are trying to find solutions to issues and problems that will affect our business less than one percent.
These solutions require a great deal of employee commitment requiring small attitudinal or behavioral changes on a daily basis. The only two ways this type of change takes place is through the use of fear or through an engaged work force that shares a commitment to making a difference. Fear works for the short term and even over a reasonably long term if the general market situation remains positive, but I contend that basic business survival will be at stake if the company has not empowered its people to be part of the solution process.
There are techniques that can help a manager in any organization tap the workers’ knowledge without taking much time or energy. I will be writing these ideas from the assumption that the overall culture is not supportive and that employees have not had much experience with the kind of behavior described here. My premise is that if these ideas work in unsupportive cultures, they should work even better in a more positive and group-involved atmosphere.
Generally, the manager realizes there is a problem facing the work group, and the old solutions are not working. The manager does not have the time to recreate the culture and he or she may not have the skills. In most cases the manager will not even want to change the culture; the only objective is to find a new solution.
In most cases of this nature the first thing is to understand that the group must go outside the usual range of solutions or choose to find a new way of looking at the problem. Both of these concepts rest on the idea that we look at problems in light of the history and experiences we bring to this moment, and respond through our personality, with its inherent strengths and weaknesses. Finding a creative solution to a problem is really nothing more than looking at it through a different set of backgrounds, histories, and personalities. And this means that you really have several options, though they are somewhat limited by the amount of money you can spend.
First, get out and travel — go see how other people do things. A manager in the middle of a serious set of decisions and problems usually becomes myopic and very narrowly focused. You went into the swamp with the objective to drain it but you found some alligators. It does not seem important that the alligators are not the same today as yesterday. It’s the idea that all alligators are the same and that you still need to drain the swamp.
Leaving the swamp and seeing how other people deal with their swamp and their alligators may provide the creative solution you need. You don’t always want to look for swamps that are the same as yours. When the banks realized they needed a better answer to their customer service problem, they went to retail and the restaurant and hospitality industries looking for their solutions. The key element is that you are willing to look outside of your own swamp. As a manager you should always look for ways to send your people on experiences that will let them see other organizations and groups who will give them input about their situation while there are still choices to be made.
A second technique is to hire a trained facilitator to come into the environment and create a breakthrough discussion. This usually takes a couple of days to accomplish but has a major impact on the business environment. It is a clear signal to everybody that something is different and a different method is being used. It is highly probable that the immediate issue will receive a fresh look, a different perspective, and that the group going through the experience will be able to vent some frustrations as well as offer ideas and solutions that management has not asked for before. But – if nothing changes after the experience, passive resistance to issues and participation will increase.
In many ways the choice of an outside facilitator should be made based on whether high turnover is an obstacle to maintaining a meaningful work environment. The ultimate indicator of employee passive resistance is usually high turnover, either in people who are let go or people who are looking for new jobs. When the job market is soft, you can have a passive resistant work force that just hangs around. In any of these cases a one-time visit from a quality outside facilitator can work wonders and help find a new point of view that includes a lot of employee history to help solve the problem. In an environment like the one I have been talking about in this work, bringing in an outside facilitator on a consistent basis over several years will not only help solve critical problems, but send a signal to your people that you are interested in their personal growth. As a result, the level of passive resistance will be significantly diminished. There will be less need for major creative breakthrough, because issue management will be part of the culture.
A third way to find solutions is to simply call a meeting with your people, create an atmosphere different enough from your other meetings to let them know it’s for a very specific purpose, and use a different technique than you normally use. Most managers hold meetings in a manner that reflects their work personality. If they are extroverted they gather everybody together to discuss or brainstorm how things should change. If they are introverted they ask everybody to write a quick note and give them some ideas as to how to solve the problem. If the manager is very structured, people talk in turn, and if the manager is spontaneous, the conversation jumps from one idea to another.
The point is, there is no one way to get a breakthrough. However, I will offer a process that balances all the skills and styles, and at least gives you an opportunity to construct an environment that encourages a creative solution.
The premise driving this process is that you must create an atmosphere that is different than business-as-usual, and that allows all types of people to participate in the solution. It also requires the manager to learn one new technique to involve his or her people.
The steps are:
1) Call a meeting with a formal request for attendance and a clear statement of why it is being called: to discuss and find solutions to a very specific problem.
2) Limit the size of the meeting to 15-20 people, and have the room set up in a U-shaped configuration. Most managers have been to a seminar or training meeting in which the organization of the room was designed to promote conversation and discussion. I also suggest that the manager assign seats to ensure that people are not sitting with their work friends. The room should have a flip chart, felt pens, and masking tape.
3) The issue or problem should be written on the flip chart so people see it as they enter the room. The first discussion should be to identify and define the problem so that everybody is clear that it exists and is using the same definition.
4) The next step is risky for the manager. I suggest that you buy a book on “mind mapping” and take your people through a “mind map” of the problem. The basic premise of mind mapping is that any problem has parts and pieces, and it must first be organized into compatible groups of issues. Problems are solved in small increments, not big pieces. To define and group the issues allows the problem to be broken down into its basic parts, and therefore, be more easily solved. I will not try to explain mind mapping other than to say it is not a difficult concept, and in this kind of meeting, it is more helpful to the extroverts in the work group.
Going around the room, each person adds their thoughts, while the manager uses the mind mapping technique to categorize the comments into common areas. If an employee does not have anything to say, he or she can pass and wait until the next time around. The idea is to fill a flip chart with issues surrounding the central problem, classifying them into general areas that can be attacked together. This process also shows how different types of issues are related to each other.
5) If there is time after the points of the problem are identified and arranged, break your work group into smaller groups with the objective of coming up with solutions to a set of issues.
6) The final step is to have each small group report to the large group their recommendations for solving the issues, including both how and when they would be carried out. This can take from one-and-a-half days to a week or two, depending on the nature of the problem and how the issues come together.
The obvious advantages of this process are that it involves people, clarifies the problem and its key points, and elicits the group’s best ideas for a solution. It also has a positive effect on those who get to participate.
The overall goal of finding a creative solution to management problems is understandable and possible, but I am reminded that only a thirsty horse will drink when led to the water. If these techniques are part of the overall culture, then the group will be solving issues and problems as part of its everyday work habits. They will always be drinking the water. If the culture is not in place, then the horse may need to become thirsty in order to find the best creative solution.
