It's What You Do To It

Thanks to the Anonymous comment from Monday for today's topic. It's not what you call the pile of poo, it's what you do to it. What motivates our decisions for handling a hot mess. This could be a nature versus nurture discussion, but tonight it is a question of engagement and loyalty. You can tell a lot about your employees by how they address problems. Do they ignore it? Do they refer it to someone else and walk away? Do they grab a towel and pick it up? Do they look into how the pile got there and set up a plan to prevent future piles? The extent to which the majority of your people address or don't address the pile makes a big difference in how the business runs. Loyal employees that believe they can make a difference drive your success. They do more than just their assignments and would never tolerate poo in their work area or any where else in the business. I know a manager that found her employees leaving their problems on her desk to solve. Instead, she created the poo-poo box where they could neatly place the piles that needed addressed. The installation of the poo-poo box was quite an event. She worked with the interdependent departments that were creating the messes due to outdated processes or their own engagement problems. She solved some of the issues to show that she was committed to making things work, then she involved her team. She started directing her staff to resources to resolve the problems that were coming up for themselves. It doesn't take a satisfaction survey to guage how connected the staff is. Look around at what the team is contributing and start assessing where the gaps are. The poo-poo box may not be your solution, but it is time for you to get creative and capture the attention of your team in a positive way. Show them some intiative to give them tools and clear the path, then show them how to clear their own way. That's what you do to it.