Dealing With “Chatty Cathies” and “Flapjaws”

Last week I spent a half day with two of my Future Leader coaching clients. These are the guys the CEO expects will take the helm and lead the firm when the current execs step down very soon.

Ray and William are both extraverts, like me. Extraverts have to talk in order to think. Believe me, the three of us did a lot of talking, and they came up with great ideas and a plan for moving forward. That’s the beauty that comes from extraverts working and talking together.

It’s unlikely they would have made such gains if they had each worked on the problem alone, in their offices.

Ray, William, and I are different from a lot of the engineering population. Statistically, the majority of engineers are introverts. Introverts like working alone. Introverts don’t talk until they have finished their thinking.

Introverts wonder when the extraverts are going to shut up. They call us “Chatty Cathies” and “Flapjaws.”

How do you, as the boss, help these two groups coexist?

FOR THE EXTRAVERTS

Most extraverts don’t realize how much they talk. They also don’t realize how their talking grates on introverts’ nerves. Here’s what you need to do to educate your extraverts.

• Tell them you understand they need to talk to think
• Make them aware that they talk a lot, which is an energy drain for introverts
• Have them identify who they work with, particularly clients, that would appreciate them talking less
• Remind them to ratchet it back, as I told one extravert, before going into meetings with introverts
• Institute the 5-second rule—They have to wait 5 seconds before speaking when someone else finishes.
• Tell them to jot down ideas when they get them, but not to interrupt to share an idea the moment one pops up.. Extraverts are world-class interrupters.

Next week: How to get Introverts to extravert just a bit—and what extraverts call introverts

CAN YOU HELP?

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Closing Some Communication Gaps

This week’s tale from the human side of business.

I was meeting with Sue, a client who is a principal in a pretty large firm. She and her team are working on a high profile project. Another senior engineer, George, had been recruited to help Sue’s team out. George had a big project of his own.

For the second time, George had failed to finish work when he said he would. Sue’s frustration was that George had set an expectation for Sue that he would be done on Monday. When Monday rolled around, he hadn’t completed the work. Sue was livid.

“Why didn’t he tell me he couldn’t get the work done until Tuesday? I could have lived with that,” a frustrated Sue exclaimed. “As it was, I had to tell the boss that the report wasn’t ready for him to take into his Monday meeting with the client. You can imagine how happy he was at that.”

When I asked if George knew the boss needed the report, Sue said, “No, but he would have known if he would come to team meetings, but he doesn’t.”

Several things are at play here.

• George needs to learn the importance of setting realistic expectations. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. He needs to understand the logic behind the deadline.
• Sue needs to let George know that the boss needed George’s report for his Monday meeting with the client. She needed to tell WHY the timing was critical.
• George needs to attend team meetings so he knows what’s going on. Even though he has a big project of his own, he is a critical member of Sue’s team and needs to participate that way.
• Sue needs to have one person take notes in team meetings, then write up and circulate the notes. That way, team members who are on vacation, out sick, or meeting with the client can be kept up to speed on what’s happening.

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Taking Stock in the Future

The emotions in the comments were almost palpable.

“What is wrong with these guys?” bemoaned the 60-year-old exec. “When I was their age, I worked 60 hours a week, raised my family, and still bought into the company. These guys, though—they aren’t stepping up and buying stock. What’s up with that?”

Thus, the generational issue raises its head again--particularly with Boomers eyeing retirement. They are the primary stockholders in their firms, and the firms need staff to step up and buy company stock so the Boomers can leave.

The Boomers see the issue as one of loyalty. Truth be told, some also want to see that stock price go up so they will take home more when they do cash out.

For the staff, though, it’s a leadership issue. I’ve been hearing this from clients for some time. Now Watson Wyatt, an international consulting firm, has documented it. The data is for Canada, but I think it is significant enough that we can use it here.

Let the data speak

Watson Wyatt put employees in groups according to age: Under 30, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60 and over. Here is what they found.

• No. 1 driver for all age groups except 30-39 is Strategic Direction and Leadership. No. 1 driver for ages 30-39 is Rewards (pay and benefits). That’s hardly surprising since this is the group most likely raising young families.
• No. 2 driver for all groups except 30-39 is Rewards (pay and benefits). For the 30-39 group, it’s Strategic Direction and Leadership.
• No. 3 driver for all three groups is Communication.

The message is clear: If you want staff to buy stock, you have to tell them what future they’re buying into. And you’d better be making a profit.

Strategic Direction and Communication

You, company leaders, need to provide and communicate strategic direction for your firm. Putting together an annual strategic plan and handing out copies is not enough. One firm has a schedule for who is going to communicate what strategy-related message, when, to whom, and by what means. They let staff know what progress they’re making on their goals.

Teach Them What You Had to Learn

You need to identify the folks you want to step into leadership roles and educate them about the job. One 40-something client made this point last week: “They keep calling us the future leaders, but we are leading now.” In his case, he’s right. Just like you, they didn’t learn how to run a company in engineering school. Help them learn what you didn’t know.

Share Your Thinking

Once you identify those leaders, you need to get into the financials and history for your firm. These 40-somethings need to understand why you make the financial decisions that you do. They probably don’t have your decades of experience with the firm, so, for example, they need background on why you got out of a particular market 10 years ago. You have 20, 30, maybe 40 years of knowledge about your firm in your head. You need to share it.

Be Creative in Stock-Buying Plans

The 40-somethings are likely raising a family, looking at ever-looming college costs, and starting to deal with their own aging parents. Taking out a sizable loan to buy stock in the company isn’t going to happen. Thus, you need to get creative in offering ways to buy stock. Some firms are giving stock as a bonus. Others encourage staff to use bonuses as a means to buying stock. Another firm has a payment plan.

ON A SIDE NOTE

The exec in this tale talked about how he and his partners all grew up as a family as they built the firm. Thinking out loud, he said maybe the company should have a cookout or some other get-togethers so folks could get to know each other better. That’s typical Boomer thinking.

When I relayed that comment to a 40-something, he said, “I don’t need to get to know those guys any better. I know them well enough.” That’s typical Gen-Xer thinking.

Boomers need to recognize that Gen-Xers are focused on their families, not the company. In our tight labor market, a top-quality engineer can quit in the morning and find another job before the day is out. Their priority is taking care of their families.

What’s a Boomer exec to do? Provide that Strategic Direction they want, demonstrate leadership and grow new leaders. Be creative in ways for the staff to buy stock.

No Group Hugs Required

Yesterday our kids, 20 and 22, ran their first half-marathon, a great accomplishment for anyone, but especially so for these two non-runners. They set their goal. They trained. They even cleaned up their eating habits. And they crossed the finish line.

“One thing that really helped was all the people cheering us along the way,” my son said. “All that encouragement really helped us keep going.”

So easy to give. Too seldom done.

This past week one client was bemoaning how seldom people in his company give “atta-boys” to staff. He included himself in that group—giving praise and positive feedback doesn’t come naturally to him.

Nor is it natural for lots of folks in this business.

Surveys say the No. 1 reason an employee leaves is his or her manager. Employment Source Newsletter cited these top problems with managers:

• Doesn’t give feedback
• Doesn’t appreciate the work I do
• Doesn’t care about me or the other people

We are all familiar with the costs of employees leaving. We are all very aware of the tight labor market. We all like to be told we are doing a good job.

So, why don’t we say “well done,” “good job,” “thanks for your efforts” more often? It just takes a minute and costs nothing.

TRY THIS

A speaker from Vistage, an international CEO organization, shared this great exercise to help CEOs and others remember to give praise daily. I wish I could remember his name, so I could give him credit.

10 Pennies Exercise

Start out each morning with 10 pennies in your left pocket. The goal is to move the 10 pennies to your right pocket by the end of the day. You move a penny each time you praise someone. That’s all there is to it.

It sounds so simple, but everyone I know who has tried the exercise struggled with it. I’ve had a few clients try it with just five pennies and still not succeed.

Here are a few phrases to help you move those pennies.

“I appreciate your work on ….”

“You handled that situation well.”

“Good job on the . . .”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

“The client likes working with you.”

Or simply, “Thank you.”

I DON’T WANT TO HEAR…

A few folks out there will respond to this with “Why do I need to tell them they’ve done a good job? That’s what I pay them for.” That’s true, but get over it.

Human beings like to be valued for their contributions. Particularly in this tight labor market, you need to tell them you appreciate them. Just give ‘em an “atta-boy” and move a penny.

No group hugs required.

----Try the exercise and let us know how you do.

Delegate, Don't Abdicate

TODAY’S SITUATION

Williams Engineering is a midsize firm with three offices. Harry, the CEO, told me about a situation he was facing on a project that was being done by staff in Midville and Genoa City. It seems communications on the project had fallen through the cracks, with each office blaming the other for the problem.

Harry said, “I could just tell them to deal with it. Or I could get involved. I would like the staff to handle these types of issues on their own, but I don’t know if they know how.”

He decided to address the situation then delegate responsibility for future breakdowns, should they occur, to Chuck.

HOORAY FOR HARRY

Harry demonstrated his leadership skill with the decision he made. Too many leaders claim to delegate to staff, but what they really do is abdicate. Take Bill, for example. When staff came to him with a problem, he would just tell them to deal with it. That’s not delegation, that’s abdication. Here’s what true delegation looks like.

HOW TO DELEGATE

When you delegate, you teach others. Learning occurs.

1. Give someone the authority and responsibility to do something that is part of your job.

2. Let them know that you will hold them accountable.

3. Let them know exactly what you expect from them and particular outcomes if you know them.

4. Tell them what resources are available to them.

5. Be clear about all deadlines and why those deadlines count.

6. Establish a schedule for them to check back in with you for follow up.

7. Establish checkpoints to monitor their progress.

8. Sit back and let them prove themselves.

9. Hold them accountable.

10. Praise their good decisions and determine what lessons were learned.

THE DECISION TREE

Another tool that helps staff understand when they need to consult you or make decisions on their own is the Decision Tree.

You establish what a decision is for each level. This is also a great way to deal with those staff who keep coming to you to make every decision. Empower them.

BACK TO OUR FEUDING WHATEVERS

Here’s how Harry solved the situation with Bob and Chuck.

a. He had Bob and Chuck bring in all written communication—i.e., emails—from the dispute.

b. He had them bring pertinent project documents that specified what was needed and when.

c. He sat down with Bob and Chuck to review the facts of the situation.

d. Harry gave each man a chance to express his feelings about what happened.

e. Bob and Chuck, with Harry’s guidance, worked out ways to prevent such things from falling through the cracks again.

f. Harry delegated responsibility to Chuck to handle any future breakdowns.

THE RESULTS

Bob and Chuck have a better working relationship, which is good for the client and good for the company.

As a group, they identified gaps in their communication process that needed to be addressed.

Harry proved his leadership by helping Bob and Chuck address the situation, then delegating responsibility.

Bob and Chuck learned.

What can you delegate today? Get something off of your list and turn it into a learning opportunity for one of your direct reports.

Shooting for Line of Sight

I was meeting with Ming, CEO of a firm with 120 engineers and architects. Ming shared his dismay about staff’s perceptions about recent changes in the business. “We’ve had to make some cutbacks, due to a slowdown in the market. Some of those changes included cutting back on our training costs and requiring staff to strategically plan their trips to minimize travel costs and time away from the office.”

“As always, my staff engineers are questioning the changes. Their target is the business development folks. ‘You’re asking us to make cutbacks, but Don and Janet still play golf, go to ballgames, and more. They’re never in the office. Why are they so special?’

“I don’t know what to do to help the engineers understand why the business development (BD) staff do what they do.”

The situation

Ming’s dilemma is common to all businesses, regardless of size. The troops have tunnel vision. Each employee only knows his or her small piece of the business. They don’t understand that doing business is a long process, and they are each one little point in the process.

Let’s use the alphabet as a simple example. As you know, there are 26 letters that go from A to Z. Say your name begins with S. Then for you, S is the focus of your alphabet. As S, you don’t focus on the other 25 letters. If your name begins with C, C is your focus. As C, you don’t pay much attention to the other 25 letters.

Translating the alphabet into business processes

Staff in any business, not just engineering, only understand their individual role in the business cycle. BD folks don’t focus on the fact that project managers need to deliver on the promises the BD people make. The project managers don’t focus on the BD folks’ need to get repeat business with their clients. I hear it all the time.

We used to experience this in the newspaper business every day. If a reporter didn’t turn his story in on time to the city desk, it caused problems and delays all the way through the production and delivery process. A delay on the front end could easily lead to making the newspaper delivery guy late on his end.

What’s a boss to do?

You have to educate all employees on the entire business process, from the cold calls to get business, to getting the work done on time, to getting paid on time, to doing repeat work for each client. It doesn’t have to be in great detail, just give them an overview. One client has put together a timeline of the entire process and added names to key points in the process to give staff a better understanding of who the players are and where they function in the process.

Get your graphics person to create such a timeline and educate staff in a Lunch and Learn. Include the information in your company newsletter. Post it on a bulletin board that staff will see.

Key Data on This

Studies show that when employees have line of sight—an understanding of how their job fits in with the company’s strategic direction—financial returns are four times higher than otherwise. Sounds to me like it’s worth the cost of a few pizzas.

What Kind of Experience Does Your Customer Get?

I’ve missed a couple of weeks with you due to family situations. But I learned a lot about customer service—excellent and awful. I want to share my experiences with you and challenge you to grade your firm on how well you provide for your customers.

Primo customer service--in a hospital

The Ambulatory Care Center at Self Regional Medical Center in Greenwood, S.C., absolutely wow-ed us with their level of care, compassion, and communication. A family member was there for a heart catheterization. The medical team assigned to us could not have done a better job. It was obvious they coordinated their efforts so that everyone knew what everyone else was doing. We didn’t have six different people asking us the same questions six different times. The doctors were patient with us and answered all our questions, no matter how silly the concerns may have seemed. Not only did the staff take great care of the patient, but they also cared for the family members. All the staff treated us as if we were their most important concern in the world. Awesome.

It was a far cry from our experience a couple of years ago when my husband was hospitalized in Atlanta—in a very good hospital we always use when needed. Our lasting impression of that experience is of a doctor who was always in a hurry and didn’t want to answer questions. We fired that dude.

Flip side at a car dealership

During the same time frames, my mechanic told me it was time to finally replace my 9-year-old van. It required too much work and money to keep it any longer. I hate buying cars, so this was a big deal for me. I had not been to a traditional car dealership in 9 years. I don’t like those places.

This time, lured by very cheap financing, I thought I would try a traditional dealership and see what had changed. I did all my research and knew what I wanted. I browsed online and set up an appointment for a test drive. The Internet-based customer service rep promised me that Salesman Bob would be waiting for me when I arrived and would already have background information on what I wanted and a car available for me to test drive.

I showed up at the dealership for my appointment a few minutes early. The guy standing out front directed me inside where I could find Salesman Bob. I waited about 5 minutes for Salesman Bob to show up—he was with another customer and did not have any of the information I had given to the Internet guy. Bob promised to send a top sales person over to help me.

Sales people were milling about and chatting to each other. The only person who talked to me besides Bob was the receptionist who offered me coffee or water. No top sales person showed up. The final straw came when a salesman who had been talking with two women went off to get the Big Guy who could make the best offer. The Big Guy shows up and spills the same slimy spiel they were using 9 years ago. Twenty minutes after walking in the door, I left.

I could have raised a fuss, but I didn’t. It was a social experiment and that car dealership failed.

I went across the road and bought from Jim Ellis, a family owned dealership that truly valued having me come in.

Live human beings in a computer store

While all this was going on, I had to buy a new laptop—it was a rough month at our house. After researching it all, I went to a local computer store that has real people to help you –Vision Computers. Within 15 minutes, I had the laptop I needed. The No. 1 selling point at Vision Computers—human beings. There to help me decide which computer was a best fit and there to repair it and answer all questions. They tout that their wait time for technical support is 15 seconds—yep, seconds.

What are your customers saying about you?

Are you driving your customers across the road to deal with your competition? Think about it. Check in with your customers. I know one dealership and several online computer stores that missed out on a good chunk of change because they didn’t really care about me and my needs.

End of the story: Family member is doing well, and I have a new car and a new laptop.

Pam

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