Sometimes this reinventing and rediscovering happens because there’s been a change in staffing, sometimes it happens because people just don’t bother to write things down.  But I’m amazed at the “shortcuts” people think they’re taking to work around those cases:

• We couldn’t find our username and password to manage our website domain name, so we just registered a new one and re-printed our business cards.  Problem solved!
• We forgot that our last IT person already had a Facebook page setup, so we setup a new one and then asked everyone to like the new page.  Problem solved!
• We’re not sure where the source design files are for our marketing brochure, so we’ll just design a new one.  Problem solved!

Meanwhile you’ve lost a bunch of would-be visitors to your website who still have your old business cards, halved your population of Facebook followers, and wasted someone’s week on solving a problem that was already solved.

Sometimes it is faster to take a shortcut – I’m guilty of using the “forgot my password” feature on web applications WAY too often because I haven’t bothered to do a good job of tracking the password used when I don’t use the service but a few times a year.  And there can be value in having a given process considered with fresh eyes and new perspective, even if it is because the old way wasn’t well documented.

But when you find yourself repeating this exercise over and over again, spending time and energy (and money?) reinventing or rediscovering some core parts of your operations, you have to wonder if there’s room for improvement:

1. Encourage the building and documenting of shared knowledge using tools like wikis, intranets, internal blogs, and shared document repositories, and train staff on how to use them (“All of our key account information related to our corporate website is in that folder on the shared network drive.”)
2. Facilitate easily checking in with coworkers before launching something new (“Hey, I’m gonna create our new Facebook page, anyone see a reason not to?”)
3. Audit the time your staff spends getting up to speed on core business practices or resources.  (“The last three marketing department hires each spent 10 hours researching and documenting area printing services we could use – maybe there’s something wrong here.”)

What parts of your organizational operations are being unnecessarily reinvented or rediscovered on a regular basis?

How do you make sure your staff members build on what you and your coworkers already know?

Recently, as a part of getting ready for some staff training, I tried to write down 10 things that might be helpful for a new member of the team to know about how I approach this role.  For better or worse, I now present them to you.  I don’t necessarily expect you to think that they’re good practices; I offer them as self-reflection, not advice.

1. I prefer to interact with you as a co-worker collaborating on shared goals, not as a boss telling you what to do or think; please try to do the same for me.
2. By default, I will have very high standards for your performance here.  I expect that you will always be open to finding ways to challenge yourself and grow.
3. I prefer to confront difficult or challenging situations head on and as early as possible.  If there’s a conflict, I want to work to resolve it, even if it’s hard or uncomfortable.  If there’s a problem, I want to analyze it until we understand it the best we can and know how to keep it from happening again.
4. I place a lot of value on practicing good communication and intentional framing – being articulate, concise, prepared, engaged, and knowledgeable.  If I see you being “lazy” about these things, I will try to call you out on it, and hope you’ll do the same for me.
5. I expect you to take the initiative in solving problems, answering questions, and being more effective/efficient as a staff member.  I want us to rise above the standard of “do my part and then wait for everyone else to do theirs” – we all have unique gifts to contribute, and we all share equal responsibility for finding ways, unprompted, to be successful.
6. There will likely be few times when I seem totally “available” for unscheduled conversations.  It’s still your responsibility to make sure you get what you need from me to do your job.  Unless I’ve explicitly indicated that I’m not to be disturbed, don’t be afraid to interrupt me – I will tell you if I need to defer a conversation until another time.
7. I will take it for granted that you are always acting in good faith, with honesty and integrity that serves the best interests of the company, its clients, and staff.
8. Sometimes I have very particular ways that I want things done, and sometimes it will feel like I’m micro managing.  I hope that eventually you’ll come to trust that I only do this when it’s important to the big picture, but you’re still welcome to challenge it.
9. I want and need your feedback.  If you think of ways I could improve and be more effective, or if you think I’ve done a good job with something, I hope you’ll tell me.  Even if your remarks are critical or uncomfortable, I’d rather talk that through than not have you share it at all.
10. I expect that we’ll engage each other as complex beings with more to us than just our lives at the office.   I’m happy to hear about things going on in your life outside of Summersault, and especially so if they’re affecting your life at Summersault.

That’s ten things about how I approach management at my business, and I think they’re serving me well so far.

What works for you?

“If you read my previous post about 10 Reasons to Work at Summersault, you may have noted Reason #5: In-depth performance reviews provide you with concrete professional goals and feedback on your successes. As we wrap up our Fall review cycle for staff here, I thought I’d say a little more about just what that process involves.”

Continue reading Staff evaluations: giving feedback, building strong teams.