Getting Every Brain in the Game

Getting Every Brain in the Game

What it Means

What’s one universal thing that every person in the world instinctively wants? The opportunity to be heard. Giving dignity and voice means giving everyone on the team the chance to speak their minds and share their ideas openly without fear of reprisal or humiliation.

Why it Matters

·         Engages team members and lets each person know that they are essential to the organization’s success.

·         Builds trust and cohesion in the team.

·         Fosters an entrepreneurial spirit that is driven by speed, flexibility, and creativity.

·         Prevents “group think” and getting stuck in a pattern of “this is the way we’ve always done it.”

·         Increases the pool of new ideas generated from across the organization.

·         Continues to reinforce candor by actively demonstrating that it is not only okay for team members to share their thoughts, but it is expected.

·         Creates a competitive advantage by finding new ways to improve products and processes.

Action Plan

Getting Every Brain in the Game

There’s no one silver bullet for infusing your organization with dignity and voice. However, if your organization is large, overly bureaucratic and/or simply in need of a “jumpstart” on creativity, it is often helpful to organize a structured session to solve your most urgent challenges and get at new ideas. You will find an example of a “Work-Out” model enclosed that brings the business decision-makers together with the people who actually do the work. However, in the meantime, there are many simpler steps that you can take to get things moving in the right direction.

Your Starting Point

As you think about whether your organization is doing all it can to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and has a voice that is being heard, consider the following:

1.       Do you listen to everyone on your team more than you talk?

2.       When was the last time you actively solicited feedback and new ideas?

3.       Do you have a formal mechanism to seek feedback? Do you need one?

4.       Are your goal-setting processes and performance evaluations a two-way conversation?

5.       Can you recall a time when you celebrated people who brought good ideas? Have you done it enough?

6.       If you are a senior level manager, what are you doing to ensure that people two or more levels below you can get their voice heard?

Quick Wins for Giving People Voice

If you want to get every brain in the game and get new ideas flowing to find “a better way every day,” then it all starts with trust. Your team has to know that their voices will be heard and that they can share their concerns. As the leader, it’s up to you to establish, support, and reward this culture. Getting started doesn’t have to be complicated; it just has to be sincere.

·         Demonstrate explicit, public (even exaggerated) support when team members come up with good ideas. Others will catch on. They will see that you’re excited and they will get excited. They’re going to want some of that praise for themselves, and so will quickly start looking to bring forth new ideas.

·         If the ideas is presented in a private meeting, it doesn’t have to stay private. Send an email or note around (copying the person who shared the idea, of course) making a big deal about it. A simple message saying, “I was talking to _________ earlier today and she had a great suggestion about __________” which can put a smile on that person’s face all day long and inspire the rest of the team to bring their best thoughts’ forward.

·         Never ever, ever humiliate a team member in a public setting. As soon as you shoot down an idea or belittle someone you send a message to everyone else on the team that this is not a safe environment to speak out. If the suggestion raises a concern that needs to be addressed with the person who raised it, do so privately and directly, but never lose your cool.

·         Send a note. Yes, a note—a hand-written one (remember those?) to tell a team member how much your appreciated their contribution to a discussion. In these days of digital noise, getting a hand-written note stands out. In fact, don’t be surprised if team members save a note from the boss for years.

A Work-Out Planning Questionnaire

Cutting through bureaucracy and politics to empower fast action, a Work-Out session brings top managers together with the team members who are closest to the work itself to identify critical business improvements and decide on specific solutions in real time. Once the key decisions are made, the team is challenged to implement the recommended changes in 30 to 90 days.

1.       What problem has been identified that the Work-Out event is seeking to address?

2.       What are the indicators that this is a real problem? Give specific, quantifiable examples whenever possible.

3.       How long has this problem existed and what (if anything) has been tried in the past to resolve it? What were the outcomes of these efforts?

4.       Have there been significant changes in the market, product, or the process that have exacerbated the problem or brought a latent problem into focus?

5.       Who needs to be involved in getting the problem solved? Think about all the departments (and levels) that are impacted, who should contribute to finding a solution and what their roles should be.

6.       When can the Work-Out session be held? Think about the balance between speed to action and giving session participants time to adequately prepare.

7.       What other work projects may be interrupted by the event? What is the plan for making sure that productivity is not lost while participants meet for the Work-Out?

8.       What is your plan for communicating the purpose of the Work-Out session to: a) colleagues, b) manager, and c) other team members?

9.       How can you help the team to prepare for the event so that it is a good use of everyone’s time?

10.   What logistics do you need to consider to ensure that the venue and timing are optimal? Consider:

·         Travel requirements for participants.

·         Other projects and deadlines that could be disrupted (or be disruptive).

·         Vacation time that already has been scheduled.

·         Location—onsite or offsite (each has its advantages and disadvantages).

·         Post-event commitments that could undermine effective implementation.

Setting a Work-Out Agenda and Expectations

Effective pre-planning is critical for an effective session. Remember, you are asking people to give up valuable time to gather together to solve a problem. An unstructured event or wide-open brainstorming session may get you to where you need to be (if you’re lucky), but you increase the odds of success considerably if you plan in detail. Rather than present a specific template, which may or may not meet your needs, the following is an event checklist to think through as you craft the agenda.

Suggested agenda:

Introductions

Brainstorming with small teams

Presenting the ideas

Developing the top 5 best ideas

Decision making by the key business manager (a Work-Out always concludes with this)

Suggested Agenda:

Defining a plan of action

Clearing establish pre-work and session expectations. Everyone must come with:

·         A well-articulated idea of the problem to be fixed.

·         Identification of the steps of the existing processes.

·         An idea of the measurable improvement goals being sought.

Make sure that event leaders have thought-starter questions and process diagrams to both get the creative juices flowing and to make sure everyone really does understand ALL the steps of the process involved. Picture (such as diagrams) really can be worth a thousand words.

Carefully review all the tools needed for the event such: reports, spreadsheets, calculators, flowcharts, internet access, etc. Getting to the event an realizing that some key work can’t be done onsite can derail the whole session.

Be realistic about the agenda and comfort issues. Pretending that everyone can work in a small room or can be wide awake and alert after a 12 hour marathon session is not realistic. Plan for:

·         Comfortable attire (leave the suits behind).

·         Lots of refreshments.

·         Room for breakouts and group work.

Define ownership of even deliverables and (if possible) outcomes/actions before the event starts.

Implementing Approved Recommendations

Getting every brain in the game accomplishes little if nothing changes as a result of all the great ideas generated. Remember, not every idea can, should or will be implemented. While it is essential to make sure that team knows this going in (and knows not to take it personally if their ideas can’t be acted on right now), there must be an established protocol for implementing the ideas that are agreed upon.

Set an implementation goal ahead of time. A sound model is:

·         75% of the decisions should be agreed upon immediately

·         25% will be resolved in 30 days

It is essential that your Work-Out session conclude with the following 6 action steps:

1.      Agreement among stakeholders as to what decisions have been made: no ambiguity.

2.      Acknowledgment that while there may be some areas where agreement has not been reached (or the solution wasn’t what you hoped for), this must not be an excuse for not moving forward and giving it your all to support the team decision.

3.      Specific and measurable action items must have a timeline and owner attached to them.

4.      Senior-level (or departmental) ownership must also be explicit.

5.      A summary report should be generated for all participants outlining decisions, actions, ownership, and timelines for next steps.

6.      Mid-point reviews (and possibly follow-up meetings) must be scheduled so that:

·         Everyone knows there is accountability to take IMMEDIATE action.

·         They can check in and see the progress (and adjust course as needed).

·         It can be clearly demonstrated that the Work-Out event was not just lip-service.

Game Pages

Infusing Your Organization with Dignity and Voice

Work-Out Agenda and Expectations

Event Name:

Date, Time, Location, Attire

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Additional Logistical Details:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Event Objective:

Attendees:

Work-Out Agenda and Expectations

Instructions:

·         Come to the event prepared with . . .

·         Expectations for your participation at the event include . . .

­­­­­­_____________________________________________________________________________________

·         Following the event you will be responsible for . . .

Schedule:

Other Items:

Event Preparations

For the Work-Out session, I need to prepare the following:

Reports:

Work-Product Samples:

Ideas of What Isn’t Working:

Histories of Key Initiatives:

Suggestions for Improvement:

Potential Barriers to Implementation:

Requests for Support:

My Action Items

Item:

Due Date:

Resources Currently Available:

Additional Resources Needed:

Team Members Involved:

Deliverables: