Saturday, January 26, 2008

Getting Staff to Understand You, Part 1

Today’s piece is about you. And so is next week’s, because this topic is too important to convey in one posting.

I was meeting this week with Glenn, CEO and owner of a midsize engineering firm. Here’s what happened.

Situation

“Pam, I really need your help,” Glenn said. “Every January I give a state of the company address to the troops. The usual stuff: how we did last year, where we’re going this year, how excited/optimistic/cautious I am about the future, and so on. And for the next 12 months, every year, managers and staff ask me where we’re going, how we’re doing, etc.

“What am I doing wrong? I keep telling them what they want to know, but nobody seems to get it.”

What’s going on

This example demonstrates why communicating effectively is so tough. Think about these points.

Nobody – and I mean nobody -- has the same perspective as you. As CEO, you see how myriad pieces come together. You really are alone in this position.

Your managers have been told, but they are human beings—they have their own concerns. They each have their own turf or silo to take care of and be held accountable for.

Your general staff knows what they do on a daily basis—get in by 8 a.m., out by 5:30 with luck, make calls, take care of the project, do great engineering.

What to do so they get it

Start with asking yourself some critical audience analysis questions.

What do they (your managers, staff, and/or stockholders) . . .

  • · Already know?
  • · Want to know?
  • · Not want to know?
  • · Need to know?
  • · Not need to know?

When you, the CEO, speak, it’s like hearing the booming voice of the wizard in “The Wizard of Oz.” Everyone is wary, particularly in a tough economy. So you have to think through the perspectives of everyone in your audience and figure out to deliver your message. This applies whether you are in a small firm or a multistate firm with hundreds of employees. No one can read your mind.

We’ll cover more on this next week. Clear communication from the CEO is absolutely essential for a firm to be successful.

In the meantime, check out this related article on our website

http://www.armstrongscott.com/Articles/Article-StrategicCommunication.htm

Remember: Numbers may drive the business, but people drive the numbers.®

See you next week.

Pam

P.S.: If you have any questions or comments about what we post on this blog, you can post them here by clicking on the “post” button below. Please keep your comments professional. Or if you prefer a personal reply, email me at pam@weknowengineers.com

Friday, January 18, 2008

Joshua's a List Maker

I got a call from a client today about a problem with a direct report. Here’s the situation.

Situation

Bob, owner of a 25-person civil engineering firm, needs Joshua, a senior project manager, to drop what he (Joshua) is doing and call Marty at Topsoil Construction. It’s urgent—Marty has some concerns that need to be addressed right away. Topsoil is a major client, worth at least $500,000 of business each year. They also are a long-time, repeat client—an A-level client without a doubt.

Bob went by Joshua’s office at 8 a.m. today and explained the situation. Joshua said he would get on it.

At noon, Bob checked back in with Joshua, expecting to hear how the call went and that problems were resolved. Joshua said he hadn’t called yet and would get to it probably around 4 p.m.

Bob is furious. “What do I have to do to get Joshua to jump when I say ‘jump’? You know what I mean—get a sense of urgency about something.”

Insight into Joshua’s world

Joshua is a list-maker. Every morning he reviews yesterday’s list to make sure everything got done. Then he makes a to-do list for today. The items are numbered 1 through whatever. Then Joshua works his list. He does No. 1 until it’s done, and he can check it off. Then he moves to No.2, and so on.

Unfortunately, Bob didn’t get to Joshua before Joshua made today’s to-do list. So when Bob told Joshua to call Marty, Marty got added to today’s list. Marty is now No. 7 on what was a six-item list.

I joke that if the office were on fire and Bob yelled to evacuate, Joshua would keep working his list until he got to “No. 10--evacuate burning building.” The building could burn down around him—he’s only on No. 7 on his list.

Meticulous list-makers tend to be very efficient with their time until something unexpected pops up, demanding their immediate attention. Having to change their priorities and change them now throws folks like Joshua off track. They lose their concentration, and it takes them a long time to get it back. It also stresses them, because they are forced to switch gears quickly, which wasn’t part of the plan.

What can Bob and Joshua do?

Bob needs to recognize Joshua’s need to work his list. But emergencies do come up that need to move to the top of the list. Here are some ways to ease the situation.

a. Joshua can schedule planned crises time, maybe as No. 2 or 3 on his list. If no crisis comes up, he can check that off his to-do list and move to the next item. Some folks like Joshua may need to schedule “crises time” in the morning, right after lunch, and last hour of the day. That way, they will be able to adapt.

b. When a crisis comes up and Bob needs Joshua to act now, Bob needs to give Joshua perspective on why now. What’s at risk if nothing is done right this moment?

c. Bob can ask Joshua what he is working on that can be put off until later, so that Joshua can call Marty now. I have found that a lot of Joshua types often are working ahead of schedule; they are less likely than others to do things at the last minute.

d. Bob can explain how Joshua’s behavior comes across. Others may perceive Joshua as intractable, stubborn, dense, not driven, having no sense of urgency. If Joshua can become more flexible, and he can, others will credit him for his ability to respond in a crisis.

Remember: Numbers may drive the business, but people drive the numbers.® See you next week

Friday, January 4, 2008

Welcome to weknowengineers

Welcome to the blog for weknowengineers.com, hosted by Armstrong Scott Inc.

We take the mystery out of what they didn’t teach you in engineering school.

Our purpose here is to create an online community for professional engineers to exchange ideas, improve their communication, and learn how to handle different people issues. As we know, “Numbers may drive the business, but people drive the numbers.”® We help you deal with those people.

We work with CEOs, owners, and executives of engineering firms who want to improve their leadership skills and abilities. We provide real-life, how-to solutions to your problems with

  • direct reports
  • leadership team
  • board members
  • stockholders
  • employees
  • clients
  • CEO peers
  • community

Each week we will focus on a hypothetical example of people problems you encounter regularly. You know whom we’re talking about:

  • your direct report who doesn’t know the meaning of a deadline
  • a member who isn’t playing and working well with the rest of your leadership team
  • a whiny stockholder who thinks he knows more about running the company than you do

Why do we know these problems and these people? Armstrong Scott provides executive coaching for people like you. Our clients range from a two-man operation to a company with hundreds of employees.

For more insight into how we help engineering execs and to download free articles, visit www.armstrongscott.com Stay tuned for the launch of our new website www.weknowengineers.com early in 2008.

We KNOW engineers. We’d like you to know us.