Listen To Your Experts!
06/24/02
Karl Weick, co-author of Managing the Unexpected: Assuring High Performance in an Age of Uncertainty and professor at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, knows a lot about High Performance Companies: "How do we know what's really worth paying attention to? The answer: Listen to your experts--the people on the front line. People at the top may think that they have the big picture. More accurately, they have a picture, certainly not THE picture, and certainly not bigger in the sense that it includes more data. The picture of the frontline employee is different. It is drawn from their firsthand knowledge of the company's operations, strengths and weaknesses. These people capture a fuller picture of what the organization faces and what it can actually do. In most cases, they see more chances for bold action than the executives at the top. So it is better...to allow decisions to migrate to frontline expertise rather than to the top of preestablished hierarchies."
Allowing frontline staff to make decisions is not only empowering, it's smart. If they have a key picture of the strategic goals and mission, they can be effective in making the fine-tuned decisions that bring that mission to life. In a fast moving world, taking time to check with management may mean a lost customer opportunity and a demotivated associate.
But the trust and the confidence necessary to make such empowerment work must be earned by leaders and workers alike. Leaders must gain trust and workers must gain confidence in their ability to make sound decisions. No matter how wise empowerment sounds, leaders do not empower workers they do not trust. Instead, they tend to work around them. But by avoiding the problem, they just end up burdening their best employees with even more work.
Good leaders expect more of ALL of their people. To do less is to waste a resource and to insure demotivated employees. To gain trust with such employees, leaders must clarify the existing boundaries for empowerment and meet frequently to challenge the workers to expand those boundaries by showing evidence of their effective decision-making. As the workers gain confidence and the leader builds trust, everyone can work together to create the vision we all want to see--empowered frontline employees making the decisions needed to delight our customers and make a difference where it counts.
If you don't have the experts you need on the frontline, what are you doing to make sure you do?
MONDAY'S MIRTHFUL MOMENT
Loren Ekroth supplies today's mirthful moment--some signs that make the point but do it in a fun way. Enjoy!
In a fire department waiting area "If we see you smoking, we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action."
On maternity ward door "Push, Push, Push."
In a podiatrist's window "Time wounds all heels."
Outside a muffler shop "No appointment necessary. We'll hear you coming."
Outside a Hotel "Help Wanted. We need inn-experienced people."
In a veterinarian's waiting room "Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!"
In a restaurant window "Don't stand there and be hungry. Come in and get fed up."
In the front yard of a funeral home "Drive carefully. We can wait."
...Good idea! Please drive safely during this summer holiday season.
When you keep your eyes open for mirth, you just may find it! Hope this kicks off your morning and helps get your mood adjusted for the week. Now, get busy MAKING CHANGE WORK and have some fun along the way!...