A good friend is moving to a substantially new role in the coming year. His
background is mainly in PR (he is terrific with people) and he is about to
become the CEO of a service organisation. His PR capabilities will be invaluable but how will he start to bring things together - the organisation is in need of some updating and he will need to make sense of the situation asap.
My
recommendation is to start a conversation with staff that will be ongoing. It could be based on a simple but valid job description:
- Know what is happening
- Work with others to improve what is happening
- Make it easier for the next person to do well
Using this framework, my friend will begin with information 1:1 conversations along the lines of
-
How clear are you about what is happening? (And how can we improve that?)
-
How do you work with others to improve what is happening? (Examples? And how can we extend that?)
-
How do/could others make it easier for you to do really well?
-
How do/could you make it easier for others to do really well?
Effective systems as well as individual and team performance rely on the 3 key elements of the job description (above). Improved systems can then emerge easily, naturally and quite quickly from such conversations because they are about real-life actions and solutions. Used continuously they also form a sound basis for integrating continuous improvement into the culture of the organisation.
