-How do you make a project run smoothly and effectively?

-What are the main causes that things often go wrong? (I will call them practical pitfalls later)

-How do you make positive use of the diversity of the team?

These and other aspects are discussed in my blog of approximately 10 minutes reading time with a short analysis, the problem behind the problem and of course full of tips that work.

Recently a relationship asked if I would like to think with him for a moment. As a fan of the book 'Getting Naked' written by Patrick Lencioni and the thoughts behind it, I was happy to make some time for him (Note: for people who still have doubts about reciprocity within a business relationship; a recommended read).

His 'Problem Sketch': “Due to the current situation, more of our people are working remotely.” His company therefore works more often with TEAMS as an online instrument. It suddenly turns out that 'working remotely' can be quite difficult. Especially if you have projects involving different disciplines within your company.

He had noticed (following my blog 'from Covid19 to Topfit20') that people are indeed working very concentrated on their own square meter. That's fine and good for efficiency, but sometimes it leads to misunderstanding of each other. While one person still has questions or wants to investigate something quietly, the other is already working on the next phase or is simply arranging matters on their own initiative. You can read further on how to prevent this and how to keep the club together, but first briefly about that own square meter that I wrote about in my previous blog (or if you are in a hurry, scroll straight to: Processes are becoming faster and faster)

THE OWN SQUARE METER:

People like to concentrate on their own function. Positions such as Account Manager, CFO, CPO, Product Manager, Purchasing or Logistics Manager (and we could go on and on). There is nothing wrong with that because the focus is on the work and that provides guidance and certainty when defining tasks and responsibilities, so that you can switch quickly. That is why you can be productive at home. Although unfortunately that can also be a pitfall.

'Working with focus' and 'depth' in the job has led to more and more specialist positions. This way we get the most out of it, get into a flow faster and achieve better results. But then on that proverbial 'own square meter' and that is where the danger immediately lies.

I hope that your company employs many specialists who are driven, enthusiastic and passionate about helping customers move forward. I hope even more that they go through life with an open mind and work intensively with colleagues. Everyone has to deal with their own specific tasks, which means that subconsciously different interests may play a role, while everyone sincerely has the best intentions with regard to the company. Failure to recognize and acknowledge these different interests makes the difference between 'oil or sand' in the gears.

A bit like the difference between the TV commercial between the left and the right Twix. Different 'self-interests' can lead to great mutual annoyance. It requires mutual coordination, give and take, knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses. A good team has one heartbeat, so to speak. How good is your team and do you have “employees”, “collaborators”, “collaborators”, “collaborators” or a mix? I sincerely wish you many “collaborators”.

So much for the retrospective. My relationship noticed that the team members (with different knowledge and experience levels) are all extremely involved in the company, but that somehow more and more misunderstanding and fumbling arises (fortunately at a distance, otherwise they would also be too angry with each other). body). He asked me for a simple, short-term solution. I have that, below is the simple solution, but first a short introduction:  

PROCESSES ARE GETTING FASTER:

Within companies, multiple processes are increasingly running simultaneously. Within the good old hierarchy it was clear who did or had to do what. In any case, there was more time to think about things, to put them into practice and to maintain progress step by step. In fact, we do this no differently today and there is nothing new under the sun, only with the essential difference that everything happens at a much higher speed. Relaxing or slacking off increases the chance of making mistakes. This requires recovery time and time is money.

Organizational structures are also increasingly intertwined, people more often work in matrix contexts and everyone contributes a smaller piece to the puzzle. This can cause a loss of overview and involvement. It causes fumbling, misunderstanding and puts mutual trust at risk. The ultimate damage will be many times greater than just the directly identifiable costs. Because when people no longer understand or want to understand each other, resistance naturally arises and mutual trust disappears. Just as many dissatisfied customers do not complain but simply buy elsewhere, dissatisfied and misunderstood employees look for another job and, even in times of crisis, the good people always find that other nice job.

-A- Gone is the talent for the future.

-B- The company may once again incur costs in searching and finding good people.

-C- New people have to be trained again, you have to get them involved within the group, you have to obtain and maintain their motivation and all this in such a way that they will contribute to the result (or simply earn money for you) .

All this requires more than just time and effort. Have you ever thought about all the invisible costs of this story? (Be warned, because you will be shocked when you do the calculation).

HOW DO YOU AVOID ERRORS? A SIMPLE METHODOLOGY:

Making mistakes to learn from is good, preventing mistakes is better. Within “Lean Six Sigma” there is the DMAIC Circle. A handy 5-step methodology to guide processes and, above all, to stay on the same wavelength and always take the next step together;

-Step 1: Ddefine, or; What is the question, problem or goal?

-Step 2: Meat; Take care of the baseline measurement. Provide data. Provide insight. What do we have? What else do we need? How big are the challenges in obtaining this information?

-Step 3: Aanalyze; What are the main causes of congestion? How do these affect the problem or goal? What does it take to get progress? What result do we want? Who do we need?

-Step 4: Iimplement; What are the best solutions? Formulate SMART and determine: Who will do what? Do a pilot before the final implementation takes place.

-Step 5: Cuncheck; How do we safeguard and verify the results? How do we ensure continuous improvement?

Tip 1: Involve your customers at an early stage, go for the WOW factor. Include “the customer” from step 1 in the plans, make the journey together. It will increase involvement and therefore commitment, prevent unnecessary errors and better meet all wishes.

Tip 2: Of course, something can go wrong at any stage, in fact, I think someone who doesn't make mistakes probably also has something to hide (or is just not doing anything). Therefore work “PUC”.

Always make sure you have a good one Planning, describe this as clearly and purposefully as possible. Remember that spending a little more time on planning will save you from unnecessary mistakes later in the process. During the Uimplementation, you will encounter the necessary challenges that require adjustment of the course to be followed, or remain flexible, creative, critical, persistent but not rigid. Always make sure that every team member knows in which phase of the DMAIC they are working. The team itself takes care of the Cmonitoring each phase, including the associated reporting and recommendations or solutions for bottlenecks to the client(s) of the project. Have mutual commitment before moving to the next phase.

Practice Pitfall 1: If you zoom in further on daily practice and look at the above points, you will see that number one, the most common mistake is to skip steps 2 and 3 of the DMAIC circle (or go through them very quickly, which actually amounts to the same thing) with the reasons: That's just how we do it here (culture) and lack of focus.

Therefore, do not underestimate the issues of the day and the preference of team members for taking short routes.

Practice Pitfall 2: Unfortunately, taking the shortcuts mentioned is human nature. People naturally make a lot of assumptions and the faster society moves, the more assumptions we make. 'On and on again' is a fashionable slogan that you often hear.

Practice Pitfall 3: Unfortunately, people usually grossly overestimate the amount of work they can do in a short time, driven by unrealistic deadlines and promises made.

Assumptions based on our own beliefs, opinions and past experiences, which means that we do not 'really' listen to others, is then the logical consequence. Therefore, put together teams with a variety of disciplines, experiences and backgrounds and ask team members to be open to others' opinions and thus stimulate the creative process. At the start of a project, always ask for commitment from everyone and express this to each other, it will prevent a lot of annoyance.

Another possible pitfall: Every organization has its own corporate culture, with its own norms and values. If these norms and values ​​are not known to everyone in the company or if you work with external people who do not align their own norms and values ​​with those of the client, a lot goes wrong before anything even starts. You can also hire a Lean Six Sigma 'black belt' for such processes if you do not have enough time yourself. He or she will monitor the process.

Summary

Consciously go through each step of the DMAIC circle (first learn to walk, then learn to run). Spend sufficient time on Planning from the start. This both before and during the process (and continue to do so). It ensures that the Execution runs faster and, above all, that you have to make fewer corrections during the Control afterwards.

BUT THERE'S MORE, at least if you want to collaborate more successfully (here's the gist of it all):

Working together uhhhh Working together is like driving a car. One person is like the accelerator pedal and wants to keep going, the other is like a brake because we are going too fast, another is like the clutch pedal because without clutching you cannot go to the next gear. We are not yet talking about the question of which gear we are currently driving in or should actually be driving in if we want to make serious progress. Continue? What do you think happens if you accelerate and brake at the same time? Oh yeah; And who controls it all?

A good team is composed of people who not only have a difference in knowledge but also show a difference in work and thinking behavior. It provides multiple perspectives that make use of everyone's strengths. When fused together in the right way, it creates a very strong team. As a “Leader” you have the task of ensuring that your people get wings, so to speak, to smoothly avoid obstacles, both individually and together. It's up to you to invest some of your time and energy in your team. Because even though people are not on the balance sheet, they work together to achieve the best results. The better they know each other, the more they trust each other (with all the differences in knowledge and character), the more targeted they can work to achieve the desired results.

With Insights Discovery you can work on the mutual interplay between team members using a simple and accessible color model. Insights Discovery provides insight to every team member based on 4 bright colors. By the way, every person has all the colors within them, but the amount is different per individual and therefore every person is unique. It's like having your own PIN code. If you learn to read these PIN codes, a world will open up for you, giving group processes an extra (group) dynamic.

The colors refer to behavioral characteristics that people usually or prefer to show. If each team member has a clear insight into themselves and the associated behavioral preferences, but also into those of the other team members, more understanding is created, a better view is created of each other's strengths and weaknesses, and you will make more targeted and proactive use of the strengths of each team member. . What do you think this will do to the result to be achieved?

Team workshops, personal profiles and team profiles make it possible to better coordinate people. Up from https://www.insightsbenelux.com you will find more information. If you are interested, I can facilitate this for you and your team(s).

AND IF YOU WANT TO MAKE THE INDIVIDUAL OR THE GROUP EVEN MORE SUCCESSFUL AND MORE SKILLED?

It's no different with further training your people. First look at the objectives of the organization. Then where the organization stands and the individuals within it. This is how you discover the 'GAP' of the person and the team.

Remember that someone with an unlimited and brilliant amount of knowledge will only be truly successful if he or she knows how to skillfully deploy, use and apply this knowledge. The latter gives them real wings to success. If your people enjoy further development and development, they will:

-A- Just more money in the drawer.

-B- They are like an ambassador for your company, not only getting other people interested in the company, but at the same time motivating themselves on the subconscious level to continue to perform. How beautiful can it be, it is like the turbo on a win-win situation.

Managing the organization, dealing with changes, attracting new profitable clients and at the same time getting (but also keeping) people involved, enthusiastic and interconnected is complex. It requires a lot from your leadership. That's not always easy. Helping and facilitating this process is what I and my colleagues do.

Darwin (He lived from 1809-1882) once said: It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent. It is the kind that responds best to change. How do you and your people deal with the current changes?

Did this blog make you think?

Please share it with colleagues, MT, DT, your business network, your LinkedIn downline. Our goal is to help as many entrepreneurs, enterprising salespeople, enterprising managers and their teams emerge from this time successfully. We like a challenge.

If you would like to discuss, if you have feedback (I appreciate it), a question or if you would like a Quick Scan, please feel free to contact me via my LinkedIn or send me an email with the subject: 'Koos; Darwin already knew it'.

Koos Minnema
k.minnema@kennethsmit.com
06-51965959

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