Chaos, inconsistency, closeness, multitasking slow down both individual employees and entire companies. How to unravel the tangle of problems at work?
The well-known saying “Everything ingenious is simple” was reformulated by coaches and business coaches in their own way: “Everything simple is effective, everything complex leads to chaos.” We — both bosses and subordinates — often spend an exorbitant amount of energy on solving seemingly elementary tasks. Why is this happening?
“If we were all whole, stable individuals, everything would be simple. But we bring to work fears, stereotypes, ineffective behaviors that we learned earlier,” explains Andrey Mozhzhanov, business coach, coach, project manager.
The rules of the game of one clash with the rules of the other. This complicates the interaction so much that almost all the time and energy is spent on overcoming resistance, trying to reach out.
“Once a protracted “cold war” between our department and the IT department nearly disrupted the delivery of the project,” says Andrey Mozhzhanov. — There was a long correspondence, with an indispensable copy to the general director. It seemed like it would never end. Work has stalled. And then we decided to arrange a meeting with IT people.” It turned out that both units were stewing in their own juice, not understanding who was doing what. “We opened ourselves and sincerely took an interest in the tasks and problems of our colleagues. And they moved from the category of opponents to the category of partners. After that, the “cork” was broken, and work on the project quickly gained momentum.”
The ability to take the position of another, look at the situation from a different angle, feel other people’s emotions and understand motivation — this is the so-called emotional intelligence, a prerequisite for effectiveness. Information needs to be shared, both top-down and bottom-up.
Agree goals and discuss priorities
Often only a top manager has sacred knowledge of the overall strategy. Employees do not understand the goals and objectives. It turns out like in the fable “The Swan, the Cancer and the Pike”: everyone runs and pulls where they see fit, but in the end the project comes to a standstill.
Sometimes targets are deliberately hidden. “In Russia, the first thing we do when we start working with a topic is to protect information, in connection with which a lot of tolerances, decision-making levels, approvals and signatures are established,” says Denis Makarhin, a psychologist and business coach. “It creates unnecessary barriers.” As a result, often the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing, functions are duplicated. If you are a leader, think about it: is top secrecy always justified?
Yes, there are objective external circumstances that interfere with the ease of being in Russia (regulation, bureaucracy). But often, executives arrange the work in such a way that it is surprising how anything is produced and sold at all.
Due to the unpredictability of management in the company, an ordinary employee does not build a personal long-term strategy, because it is not known whether he will work there tomorrow: whether he will be kicked out or he will leave on his own. “Employees always feel whether they are appreciated or not. As management treats subordinates, so they treat customers. And sooner or later it will affect the business as a whole. We need to take care of each other,” Denis Makarhin is convinced.
Output? Show employees the prospect, give confidence in the future. And subordinates should protect themselves as much as possible by asking questions, drawing up a reliable contract with the employer, declaring themselves and their desires.
We can’t be «creative» if we’ve just extinguished a fire, and in half an hour submit a report
Another hindrance to effective work is spontaneous meetings and the requirement to do everything at once. Employees do not understand how to allocate time and what task to take on until they call for the next “let’s get together for 5 minutes”. As a result, they don’t do anything, like that monkey in the joke about the smart and beautiful: “What should I do — burst, or what?” Sometimes it doesn’t occur to the bosses that they are violating our plans and interfering with our common work. You can ask the leader to prioritize himself.
“Spontaneity, oddly enough, needs to be planned,” Andrey Mozhzhanov is convinced. — Brainstorming should be prepared in advance. We cannot be “creative” if we have just extinguished a fire, and in half an hour we have to submit an important report. If you are the head of a department, you must create conditions for creativity.” Strategic and tactical planning, risk management are the basic equipment of a manager.
The task of a good leader is to bring the goals of a particular employee closer to the goals of the company. “Each of us wants to understand that we are participating in the achievement of a big goal, bringing our personal success and the success of the company closer. As a result, promotion up the career ladder, salary growth, new interesting projects.” For example, during the construction of a large energy facility, the general director made a presentation for the entire team, including drivers, accountants, security guards, so that people would understand the scale and importance of the construction. “Maximum involvement of each team member gives the maximum effect,” Andrey Mozhzhanov is convinced.
Learn to listen to each other
Neither bosses nor subordinates often know how to communicate and build working communications.
Everyone speaks on his own topic, not listening to each other. Discussing things behind their backs instead of asking directly. There is a lot of unnecessary information noise. This can be quickly corrected with the help of special corporate trainings to develop communication and team building skills.
Often, at meetings with the management, disassemblies, claims, searches for the guilty begin, time is spent inefficiently.
“I grew up in the Soviet Gazprom system, where there was a good tradition: before the planning meeting, the heads of departments clarified all weaknesses and problems with the director in advance, agreed and already came to the management with a specific solution to the issue. This is a great approach that is worth adopting,” says Denis Makarhin.
The phone book works wonders. Communications are noticeably simplified when there is a common database where fresh contact details of team members are promptly entered. “In my practice, there were cases when people who worked for several years in the same department did not have each other’s mobile phones. Moreover, they did not even know the names of their colleagues,” Andrey Mozhzhanov is surprised.
Do not wait for instructions from above — start with yourself. Feel free to ask colleagues questions about how the overall project is going.
Often there is inconsistency of structural divisions and elementary rules of corporate etiquette are violated. “Even such simple things as a business letter, which would indicate the name, surname, position, phone numbers, email address, postal address, office number, is an incomprehensible thing for many in Russia,” says Denis Makarhin.
No less deficit — response letters with the result of some operation or important information for another department.
“It doesn’t occur to some that one of their shortcomings or a decision made on the sly can affect the entire business,” Andrey Mozhzhanov explains. Ray Bradbury’s short story «Thunder Came» A butterfly crushed in the past changed the future. Similarly, a hidden error, timely or not transmitted information at all can give rise to a wave of problems. In teamwork, it is important that all participants keep each other informed. And here you should not wait for instructions from above — start with yourself. Do not hesitate to ask colleagues questions about how the overall project is moving, at what stage it is, and if you need something from you. Sooner or later, quantity will turn into quality, and colleagues themselves will start calling and writing to you, without waiting for another communication failure.
“Simplicity is the hallmark of excellence. There are four kinds of personal powers: will, precision, curiosity, and responsibility. And there are resources that we are able to manage: technology, people, time and money. The formula for success is to correctly combine forces and resources,” explains Denis Makarhin. You should hone your skills: be a strong-willed person and accurate in achieving the goal. Explore and apply new technologies with curiosity. And take responsibility for your decisions. Then you will not have time to look back, as unnecessary difficulties will leave your work.