- July 14, 2015
- Communication, Culture of Collaboration, Leadership
Today’s article relates to one I wrote on February 3 of this year as I was moving into the work of the Rockefeller Four Decisions.
That article began with these questions:
- How can I develop a team that will not need to talk to me and still move forward?
- Why do we have a great strategic plan and then only get a fraction of execution of that plan?
- Why don’t the functional leaders of this organization work together more effectively?
- How can we engage people in our vision and make it their own?
- There is no one who can take my position at this time, and I am not sure the people that are on my team can be the ones.
I would like to postulate that the most important aspect of leadership development in 21st century business is the ability to create leadership at all levels. Top leadership cannot afford to continue to have only a small percentage of people leading a large number who have not learned to express their leadership, nor use information about the vision of the organization to affect their conversations and decisions.
We all know that communication is key, yet how can we define communication so that it affects results? In the Rockefeller Habits the first and most important question is: Is the Leadership Team Healthy?
The first area to look at is the top leadership team to assure that the coming together of that team creates positive changes in the people, strategy, execution and cash position of the business.
When you decide to make meetings a priority, execution improves almost immediately. I was invited into a large Fortune 500 company because one of the top teams was having difficulty due to continuous conflict that was exaggerated by lack of effective communication and collaboration.
The plan that I proposed and delivered included individual confidential interviews with specific questions relating to team effectiveness, leadership and collaboration. I interviewed the Vice President team leader and the direct report leaders who each lead a team of managing leaders within the manufacturing plant. In addition, an initial day-long meeting was scheduled with the leadership team, followed by four monthly meetings over a period of 6 months.
The results have been very positive with the team working together in a new way, with a sense of empowerment, effective communication, and results that have created greater accountability and rhythm in the manufacturing area.
The first meeting consisted of using the Rockefeller Four Decisions Methodology and some communication exercises that began to get past the conflict and focus more on the strategic direction and core values of the team, and of the larger business.
The most effective and important part of this process is to allow team members to go beyond their own personal concerns, and to access their leadership and their contribution to the business as a whole.
In the Execution Module, the most important aspects are: priorities, metrics and meeting rhythms.
Have you struggled with meetings that lose focus and seem to accomplish nothing or less that you planned?
Would you see the advantage in having meeting rhythms that would create better, faster decisions?
The rhythm refers to daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual contacts of the functional teams in the organization, starting with the top leadership. You can start to reshape the effectiveness of your meeting rhythms to conform to the real time of your business.
Daily Huddle-–These serve to Synchronize the Team. They are short, no longer than 15 minutes, and can be shorter. They are designed to bring forward issues that need resolution but do not necessarily need to be solved on the spot. The format is short and allows each person to speak and to talk about the day, what is up, and if there is any place where they feel stuck
Speeds up business, insures teamwork, and heal relationships
Weekly Meeting—Focus and Collaboration: These serve as a status and update session for the leadership team and other departmental teams.
Monthly Meeting— Learn and Solve: This meeting includes the top leadership and the next level to provide information and to review progress. These meetings, along with the huddle and weekly meetings, address the strategy and progress, as well as provide a leadership opportunity for the management staff to give them a sense of progress and of their contribution to the overall strategic plan.
Quarterly Meeting— Full Day: Priorities and Critical Numbers: These serve as directed review, communication and education opportunities, and create the sense of teamwork at all levels.
The four meetings above are the recognition of the 13-week cycle of each quarter for the whole organization.
Annual Meeting—Reviews the year and plans for the upcoming year.
I highly recommend Scaling Up by Verne Harnish where these meetings are discussed more fully. The Rockefeller Habits and Four Decisions are a very effective way to scale up your business and to increase results. I find this way of expanding business and of creating a culture that develops leadership and accountability to be effective and practical.
I hope this month brings great results and connection for you and your team!
As always, if you have a question, challenge, or success story you would like to share, please be sure to leave a comment. Also, if you are interested in an opportunity to experience this methodology, please let me know. I would enjoy hearing from you! – Patricia
