A highly functional team knows each others strengths and weaknesses. Over the years, I have watched many teams and bright individuals follow processes that were more akin to a Rube Goldberg without questioning each other, the creators of the process or even their management. It’s always the same reason. We are taught to avoid conflict to stay out of trouble. Drawing attention to ourselves is not good business acumen. While in most situations that can be true, avoiding healthy conflict is a sure way to stifle positive change, creativity and innovation for the good of all. Not knowing what should be addressed (“know which battles are the right ones” as one great mentor I had once told me) simply to avoid all conflict actually encourages unhealthy conflict. Let’s explore the single most important asset you have when trying to solve a problem. People are your most important asset.
Therefore, the bottom line to fixing a big problem is to be tough on the problem, not the team or the people.
A good process, a great set of rules or guidelines, can aide in binding new teams together and advance team productivity. Bad ones can too if the team is already highly functional. However, it cannot accelerate productivity on its own. It’s an “all in” (or, fall short of the goal) commitment. What makes bad processes, rules or, guidelines worse? When they are at their core a disincentive to follow let alone commit to.
How do you make a necessary process worth using with a new or, highly functional team? Let’s presume that incentive (the “carrot”) is the approach we will take, not disincentive tactics (the “stick” i.e. “do it, or else”). If a process already exists, you can apply the same “all in” approach with the people who will be using it by diving into and understanding the data collected from different feedback channels. For example, monitoring metrics on how many times a process flow is followed. When a workflow begins is it; a) 100% complete/correct,b) partially complete/correct, or c) incorrectly applied. Additional metrics such as where in the flow was the process subverted and why? When was it not used altogether? Talking to a random sample of users whom you have collected metrics on to understand the data also puts it into the context needed to fully grasp the problems within a process.
The best way to capture the essence of what’s going on is to commit to the whole process not just a part of it. Unsurprisingly, there are no shortcuts to gaining proper insight. What’s surprising is that once a new process is launched in the name of continuous improvement, ownership is disbanded. The application of Deming’s principle A Constancy of Purpose used temporarily is like washing your hands only when you think it’s a good idea.
When you are working with a new or highly dysfunctional team, it can feel like you’re watching a relay race of runners without a baton. The people on the team forget that the ‘baton’ is the process not them. They act independently of the actual goal of a team moving a baton forward as quickly as possible for the best possible outcome. The total amount of time and money it takes to complete the entire task or, provide meaningful information as to where the baton is, is not a concern by anyone on the team. Then, there are those who “know the rules” of the game who are often more interested in pedantic catechism than in rendering an actual service. The absence of team spirit and customer advocacy (two things that make the baton real) becomes palpable when people use a process to absolve themselves of accountability to the whole purpose of what is supposed to be accomplished. What they have forgotten is that they unwittingly malign a company’s name and reputation more than their own when they do this.
So, if you find yourself bogged down by a process or on a team that’s less than desirable, remember that no one here gets out alive. Meaning, make the most of what you have, while you have it. Success that comes with knowing that you have tried your best is carpe minutam more so than carpe diem. You’ll know who your peers are by how well they function when nothing is going as planned. Theses are the ones you can count on. The other ones, the ones that turn on each other need to know that they count on you and others like you to show them how to rise to the challenge. These are the ones that know the right baton for each sprint, by following the process and carrying on.
qualitasrebus 