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Bella is down to two teeth.
While many of you many of you know who Captain Jack is, our other canine pal named Bella is his partner in crime. Bella is a couple years older and over the course of the past few years has had teeth removed as part of the aging process. Last week, all but the two canine teeth have been extracted. While she is happier without the pain and infection that was being caused, she still seems to think she has those offensive and defensive weapons in her mouth.
Bella can be territorial with Jack, and just the other day as he tried to jump up on the bed, she gave a warning growl and lunge, while baring her two remaining teeth. Had Jack only known that her bite would be mostly toothless, he retreated. I guess if a dog shows enough confidence in her bite, teeth don’t matter.
That’s not quite true in business.
All too often, organizational objectives and initiatives are announced and they seem to have some “teeth” behind them. The problem is, while they might be promoted with confidence, if they are basically toothless, employees will figure it out quickly and those projects and initiatives are not likely to be successful.
Many times, the “bite” is lost with lack of communication, engagement, and collaboration. There is a lot of effort made to strategize and not enough on how to distribute and communicate the process and goals.
The best way to assure that communications and engagement put some teeth on performance, is to mandate “Daily Huddles.” I learned about this concept from my colleague and friend, Art Koch. Art is a supply chain expert and has shared with me the great success of these daily collaborations.
Here’s the quick process: Enforce that teams hold daily meetings in the morning to discuss objectives for the day. It’s a time to assure everyone is on the same page, that ideas are shared, objections made, and next steps clear. Each morning starts with a review of the previous day and then a rinse and repeat.
These teams can be departments of a large organization or maybe everyone in the organization of a small business. Ultimately, this process will reduce misunderstandings and conflict, identify areas of success and concern, encourage new ideas, and improve organizational performance on those important projects and goals.
If a company regularly implements plans that have no teeth, those employees will figure it out and not respect any future initiatives. Additionally, the lack of communication will lead to more drama and disfunction.
But if a company sets up metrics that require communication and engagement, then morale and performance are both improved.
Final thought: The Daily Huddles don’t have to be in person. They can be done virtually. There is no reason to miss these sessions. Like muscle memory, consistency equals strength.
And the end result of that muscle is that an organization has a bite that matches its bark.
Be unleashed.
Quote of the Day:
“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
~ Mark Twain
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