The All Day Team Meeting
Today was worth two or three.
I delivered a web conference this morning... nothing unusual there except that because I was scheduled to do so I also had to miss the first half of an all day team meeting.
During the recent re-org our director was also made director of the Technical Publications department... so now... Education (formerly Client Ed and Employee Ed) and Technical Publications are to be one big happy family... still two separate departments but also one big happy family.
To be perfectly honest, none of us (in education or tech pubs) was all that excited about this meeting. We are all currently short staffed and under the proverbial gun to meet (what we consider to be) some pretty unrealistic deadlines on several projects. Taking an entire day away from our development work to sit around and brain storm on "how we can create efficiencies" was not something any of us considered an efficient use of our time. None of our deadlines were pushed back even a day to accommodate this day-long meeting and since the meeting is about how to find ways to do more, better, and faster with less (less people, less money, less time, etc)... well... it is perfectly understandable why no one was all that excited. To add to the lack of motivation is the fact that currently there is a company wide edict for "cost containment" - this cost containment includes new rules for what office supplies we can purchase AND has caused the end of any overnight mailing except for sales contracts... this means that for remote employees who are tasked with reviewing and/or creating any kind of documentation or product that cannot be delivered virtually (email, across the network, etc) - they have to wait 3 to 5 days for delivery. Since the company is not yet on board with the idea of electronic signatures, this means that for items that need signatures from remote employees or employees at sites in different states the wait time can now be anywhere from 3 days to over a week (depending on how many locations are involved). But... even with all these cost containment efforts - our director chose to take us away from our work for an entire day to attend an off-site catered meeting at a fancy hotel. So - that sets the stage for the general attitude by the non-manager types toward this meeting. And who could blame any of use for this attitude.
To be honest again - given the general attitude - everyone else's and my own - I was not all that disappointed that I had to miss the first half of the meeting in order to deliver training to our clients. I enjoy delivering training to our clients and I wasn't all to sure that I would enjoy sitting there and listening to our managers present to everyone else what it is we do (or what it is they think that we do) in our department.
So - I went in early to set up the web conference, answered several emails, called a couple of clients who needed help or had questions, delivered the web conference (2 hrs), answered a couple more emails, left messages for a couple of clients who I could not reach, set up my "out of the office for the rest of the day" email and telephone messages, and headed off the to the meeting thinking I would be there just in time for lunch.
I walk into the conference room (after getting rather lost in the hotel lobby), and there is my manager only about half way through his portion of the "what my people do" presentation (guess the meeting is running late already). He says, and I quote, "...and look, here is Susan." And.. get this... everyone applauds... then some one from the tech pubs dept says "I understand you're going to belly dance for us at lunch." Nice - apparently (I learned this later) during the initial introduction to the Education staff - since I wasn't there to represent myself... my manager introduced me as the belly dancer and Pepperdine MA student (in that order). LOL. Fortunately, I think fast on my feet... so it was all in good fun and after the spontaneous applause they continued on with the presentation and then broke for lunch. My manager told me a lunch that I walked in at the best possible time because everyone was starting to kind of nod off and I really woke them all up... lovely.
So - after lunch we did "break-out sessions" where we were tasked first with listing the things our groups have in common and the challenges we have in common. Not a bad task - and we did find that we had more things in common that we might have assumed. To make a long afternoon sound short, we came up with 7 points that we want to work on... the interesting thing is that the plebs want to work on these things because we believe that it will make our daily lives in the company better... the managers (and director) want us to work on them because it will "maximize efficiency." Same path different goal. I'm concerned that having the goal of being more efficient is not, in the long run, as productive as the goal of having more passion for and enjoyment in ones job and colleagues... but perhaps it is just that I don't think like a manger. Actually - I should note that item 7 was more resources (people and tools), more official recognition (titles), and more pay. Our director wrote those things down and then said we would not discuss them further because they were not in our power to do anything about. While that may be true, I thought it was perhaps poor judgment to write off those concerns so quickly - as there is one thing all of us can do about it... polish our resumes and look for other work. I sensed there were several people in the room who were thinking that way and I thought to not acknowledge it all (as the director and managers chose to do) was not very attentive. Rather than dismiss that universal comment, I think perhaps they should have acknowledge it and then talked about some other ways we might be able to achieve job satisfaction in the face of "cost containment." Instead, the attitude was "just accept that you won't get that and move on."
I don't think I remember the other 6 things exactly... but here is my best recollection. 1- minimize duplication of efforts. 2 - Better SME (subject matter expert) availability and more accurate SME input/participation/reviews. 3. Share resources (which I thought was similar to number one but the managers thought was a separate thing). 4. More positive visibility, respect, and value within the corporation as a whole (for our departments). 5. More useful client feedback. 6. hmmmm... can't remember 6... I think it was similar to 4 though.
Each table (mixed groups, members from each department, like short-term learning circles) - was tasked with brain-storming ideas for meeting one of the 6 points (remember... we left 7 on the table).
The table I was at was tasked with finding ideas for need number 4. The pain-point behind number 4 is that both Tech Pubs and Education seem to feel that we are not valued in the corporate structure (by the upper management and by other departments). Further - that it is because our value isn't recognized that we sometimes don't get the help, resources, etc. that we need. So our task was to come up with ways to increase not only our visibility but also our sense of value in the company.
I sat and listened to what the others at my table had to say... Difficult for me to do... I like to jump right in with my ideas... but I forced myself to just listen first because there were several angry people at my table and as frustrated as I am w/ the whole situation right not... I'm not really "angry" or resentful... just ... disappointed. So - I listened. The first idea... When they all pretended was a joke but obviously wasn't all that much of a joke... was to withhold all documentation and training (internal and external) for 3 months and then see if the company would realize our value. I kept my mouth shut and let them vent. The next idea was more productive - it was to participate in product development meetings and make intelligent and useful comments (rather than just attend the meeting and take notes). The next idea was to hose some fun event that would involve other departments in finding out about all the great stuff our department does (like a scavenger hunt for technical publications and training opportunities). I continued to listen and started to think about the lesson we learned from the story about the wolves and the sheep (for Dr. G's class)... I started to think about what we were missing... what was the important BIG IDEA that we might be completely overlooking.
A few more suggestions were made... and then... it hit me... I thought I saw what we might be missing... So... I asked the following... "What departments in the organization feel valued?" At first the answers were Sales and Development and maybe Implementation. So I re-asked the question... first I said... "Ok.. .we think that the organization values those departments above the others... and that may be true... But... (and here is the important question)... What departments within this organization sit around a table and talk about how valued and respected they are?" Everyone thought for a moment... then someone said that while we think Product Development is highly valued... they don't see it that way... they think that the company values implementation and sales above them... and implementation thinks that sales and education is more valued ... and sales feels that development is more valued... and so on." After a very short time... we all agreed that each department feels like it isn't valued or respected when compared to other departments. So - then I suggested that perhaps hosting special events where we "toot our own horn" in the interest of telling everyone else how great we are may not be the best approach. Perhaps instead... we need to find ways to promote other departments contributions to the organization and then in turn we promote ourselves as well. We work with all these departments in one way or another... so why not promote our projects in such as way as to also highlight the contributions from these other departments. At first... everyone just sort of stared at me... and I thought I'd lost them. But then... I actually saw the lightbulbs going off over some heads... If we show them that we value and respect them, then they will come to value and respect US too! WOW... revelation.
Best of all... When we present our idea to the managers and director... I think we really blew them away... as I don't think even they had thought of that idea.
I don't know if it will work. There is still a great deal of resentment. But - I did feel the day was worth it just because of bringing that revelation to the table. At the end of the day... several people in the room commented that they felt the day was valuable because we had come to realize that we all have much more in common (what we do and what our challenges are) than we thought. Our director asked for ideas for future meetings and I suggested that we might want to have (on occasion... not too often cuz everyone is so busy) a meeting like this with another department (development, implementation, etc)... as we might discover that we have more in common with them than we thought too. I saw a minor revelation in a few faces there as well... not quite a dramatic as the other one... but still there. Very cool. I'm glad I took the time to listen first and then try to see what we were all missing. I'm glad I went to the meeting too. I don't think things will get better over night... and I still think our managers are not communicating as well as they might... but I see a lot of hope for the strength that may come from our groups creating a larger community for ourselves.
Ok... enough for tonight.
I delivered a web conference this morning... nothing unusual there except that because I was scheduled to do so I also had to miss the first half of an all day team meeting.
During the recent re-org our director was also made director of the Technical Publications department... so now... Education (formerly Client Ed and Employee Ed) and Technical Publications are to be one big happy family... still two separate departments but also one big happy family.
To be perfectly honest, none of us (in education or tech pubs) was all that excited about this meeting. We are all currently short staffed and under the proverbial gun to meet (what we consider to be) some pretty unrealistic deadlines on several projects. Taking an entire day away from our development work to sit around and brain storm on "how we can create efficiencies" was not something any of us considered an efficient use of our time. None of our deadlines were pushed back even a day to accommodate this day-long meeting and since the meeting is about how to find ways to do more, better, and faster with less (less people, less money, less time, etc)... well... it is perfectly understandable why no one was all that excited. To add to the lack of motivation is the fact that currently there is a company wide edict for "cost containment" - this cost containment includes new rules for what office supplies we can purchase AND has caused the end of any overnight mailing except for sales contracts... this means that for remote employees who are tasked with reviewing and/or creating any kind of documentation or product that cannot be delivered virtually (email, across the network, etc) - they have to wait 3 to 5 days for delivery. Since the company is not yet on board with the idea of electronic signatures, this means that for items that need signatures from remote employees or employees at sites in different states the wait time can now be anywhere from 3 days to over a week (depending on how many locations are involved). But... even with all these cost containment efforts - our director chose to take us away from our work for an entire day to attend an off-site catered meeting at a fancy hotel. So - that sets the stage for the general attitude by the non-manager types toward this meeting. And who could blame any of use for this attitude.
To be honest again - given the general attitude - everyone else's and my own - I was not all that disappointed that I had to miss the first half of the meeting in order to deliver training to our clients. I enjoy delivering training to our clients and I wasn't all to sure that I would enjoy sitting there and listening to our managers present to everyone else what it is we do (or what it is they think that we do) in our department.
So - I went in early to set up the web conference, answered several emails, called a couple of clients who needed help or had questions, delivered the web conference (2 hrs), answered a couple more emails, left messages for a couple of clients who I could not reach, set up my "out of the office for the rest of the day" email and telephone messages, and headed off the to the meeting thinking I would be there just in time for lunch.
I walk into the conference room (after getting rather lost in the hotel lobby), and there is my manager only about half way through his portion of the "what my people do" presentation (guess the meeting is running late already). He says, and I quote, "...and look, here is Susan." And.. get this... everyone applauds... then some one from the tech pubs dept says "I understand you're going to belly dance for us at lunch." Nice - apparently (I learned this later) during the initial introduction to the Education staff - since I wasn't there to represent myself... my manager introduced me as the belly dancer and Pepperdine MA student (in that order). LOL. Fortunately, I think fast on my feet... so it was all in good fun and after the spontaneous applause they continued on with the presentation and then broke for lunch. My manager told me a lunch that I walked in at the best possible time because everyone was starting to kind of nod off and I really woke them all up... lovely.
So - after lunch we did "break-out sessions" where we were tasked first with listing the things our groups have in common and the challenges we have in common. Not a bad task - and we did find that we had more things in common that we might have assumed. To make a long afternoon sound short, we came up with 7 points that we want to work on... the interesting thing is that the plebs want to work on these things because we believe that it will make our daily lives in the company better... the managers (and director) want us to work on them because it will "maximize efficiency." Same path different goal. I'm concerned that having the goal of being more efficient is not, in the long run, as productive as the goal of having more passion for and enjoyment in ones job and colleagues... but perhaps it is just that I don't think like a manger. Actually - I should note that item 7 was more resources (people and tools), more official recognition (titles), and more pay. Our director wrote those things down and then said we would not discuss them further because they were not in our power to do anything about. While that may be true, I thought it was perhaps poor judgment to write off those concerns so quickly - as there is one thing all of us can do about it... polish our resumes and look for other work. I sensed there were several people in the room who were thinking that way and I thought to not acknowledge it all (as the director and managers chose to do) was not very attentive. Rather than dismiss that universal comment, I think perhaps they should have acknowledge it and then talked about some other ways we might be able to achieve job satisfaction in the face of "cost containment." Instead, the attitude was "just accept that you won't get that and move on."
I don't think I remember the other 6 things exactly... but here is my best recollection. 1- minimize duplication of efforts. 2 - Better SME (subject matter expert) availability and more accurate SME input/participation/reviews. 3. Share resources (which I thought was similar to number one but the managers thought was a separate thing). 4. More positive visibility, respect, and value within the corporation as a whole (for our departments). 5. More useful client feedback. 6. hmmmm... can't remember 6... I think it was similar to 4 though.
Each table (mixed groups, members from each department, like short-term learning circles) - was tasked with brain-storming ideas for meeting one of the 6 points (remember... we left 7 on the table).
The table I was at was tasked with finding ideas for need number 4. The pain-point behind number 4 is that both Tech Pubs and Education seem to feel that we are not valued in the corporate structure (by the upper management and by other departments). Further - that it is because our value isn't recognized that we sometimes don't get the help, resources, etc. that we need. So our task was to come up with ways to increase not only our visibility but also our sense of value in the company.
I sat and listened to what the others at my table had to say... Difficult for me to do... I like to jump right in with my ideas... but I forced myself to just listen first because there were several angry people at my table and as frustrated as I am w/ the whole situation right not... I'm not really "angry" or resentful... just ... disappointed. So - I listened. The first idea... When they all pretended was a joke but obviously wasn't all that much of a joke... was to withhold all documentation and training (internal and external) for 3 months and then see if the company would realize our value. I kept my mouth shut and let them vent. The next idea was more productive - it was to participate in product development meetings and make intelligent and useful comments (rather than just attend the meeting and take notes). The next idea was to hose some fun event that would involve other departments in finding out about all the great stuff our department does (like a scavenger hunt for technical publications and training opportunities). I continued to listen and started to think about the lesson we learned from the story about the wolves and the sheep (for Dr. G's class)... I started to think about what we were missing... what was the important BIG IDEA that we might be completely overlooking.
A few more suggestions were made... and then... it hit me... I thought I saw what we might be missing... So... I asked the following... "What departments in the organization feel valued?" At first the answers were Sales and Development and maybe Implementation. So I re-asked the question... first I said... "Ok.. .we think that the organization values those departments above the others... and that may be true... But... (and here is the important question)... What departments within this organization sit around a table and talk about how valued and respected they are?" Everyone thought for a moment... then someone said that while we think Product Development is highly valued... they don't see it that way... they think that the company values implementation and sales above them... and implementation thinks that sales and education is more valued ... and sales feels that development is more valued... and so on." After a very short time... we all agreed that each department feels like it isn't valued or respected when compared to other departments. So - then I suggested that perhaps hosting special events where we "toot our own horn" in the interest of telling everyone else how great we are may not be the best approach. Perhaps instead... we need to find ways to promote other departments contributions to the organization and then in turn we promote ourselves as well. We work with all these departments in one way or another... so why not promote our projects in such as way as to also highlight the contributions from these other departments. At first... everyone just sort of stared at me... and I thought I'd lost them. But then... I actually saw the lightbulbs going off over some heads... If we show them that we value and respect them, then they will come to value and respect US too! WOW... revelation.
Best of all... When we present our idea to the managers and director... I think we really blew them away... as I don't think even they had thought of that idea.
I don't know if it will work. There is still a great deal of resentment. But - I did feel the day was worth it just because of bringing that revelation to the table. At the end of the day... several people in the room commented that they felt the day was valuable because we had come to realize that we all have much more in common (what we do and what our challenges are) than we thought. Our director asked for ideas for future meetings and I suggested that we might want to have (on occasion... not too often cuz everyone is so busy) a meeting like this with another department (development, implementation, etc)... as we might discover that we have more in common with them than we thought too. I saw a minor revelation in a few faces there as well... not quite a dramatic as the other one... but still there. Very cool. I'm glad I took the time to listen first and then try to see what we were all missing. I'm glad I went to the meeting too. I don't think things will get better over night... and I still think our managers are not communicating as well as they might... but I see a lot of hope for the strength that may come from our groups creating a larger community for ourselves.
Ok... enough for tonight.
posted by susan @ 8:13 PM
1 Comments:
At 11:31 PM,
Margaret said…
your insights are good and you are trying different actions...listening rather than talking. For others, it might be talking instead of listending. When you try something different from what you normally do and record the outcomes that is action research. Your first cycle might be listen before you act.
M.
Post a Comment
<< Home