Leading During The Economic Crisis – Part Eleven
ByThis is the eleventh in a series of posts about leading/managing during the economic crisis.
The content of these posts will include unedited transcriptions from a recent webinar addressing “How to Optimize Teams’ Effectiveness in Difficult Economic Times”. The webinar contained questions from the attendees. The questions are answered by the following five management and leadership experts:
Jerry Houston, Carol Bergmann, A.J. Hiltenbrand, Ed Oakley and See Luan Foo.
The rest of this post contains an unedited transcription of one of the questions asked and answered during the webinar:
Ed: This is from Tom of Washington D.C. What have you found effective in helping others overcome fear of the unknown? He’s got three parts of this question. I think I’ll go ahead and read all of them what works and overcoming the paralysis of analysis. “How do you help others and yourself stay focused on the high pay off actions and avoid wasting time? Who would like to take a stab at that?
Carol: This is Carol. I’ll start out here. I think we’ve actually addressed some of this already; certainly the conversation about the fear of unknown has come up several times. I think the keyword here or the key strategy is in this times it’s really being able to should manage focus, where are people focusing. And as Jerry brought up, paying attention, the fact that they maybe in fear first in dealing with that and allowing them to express that and helping them focus on where you need them to focus.
What can we do, at any moment there are things that we don’t but there are also things that are working that we do know. And people tend to forget that when we were in those moments of crisis.
Going back to what See Luan said, how can we focus among the opportunity? What is the opportunity? What is the goal? Where do we want them to focus? So honoring first and managing that focus and helping them remember where that is, and that’s the point I brought up before.
Sometimes in times like this as a team leader you may find yourself repeating that goal or that forward focus or where you wont reminding people where to focus over and over and over again.
So that’s an area. And also it helps in overcoming paralysis of analysis too because often times people will stay in the analysis or work on analysis or things that they are comfortable with, because they are in control of what they’re analyzing, but that may not give you the forward direction to take action. And so helping them remember the goal and encouraging the forward motion is key as the team leads or as the manager too.
Ed: I will just going to add one little piece. I’ll add and will and then you can complete if you don’t mind.
Carol: Sure.
Ed: The just one of the ways is to keep sort of harping on the right focus is the questions you ask. The best single paradigm shifting tool I know is the power of an open-ended forward focus question.
It stops people, it shifts where they’re thinking it works so much better than telling them over and over what focus should be. Asking the right question, “What do you think the most important thing we should be focus on right now is?” As an example of that, the person cannot not start thinking about that question and get clear about that question. Excuse me for interrupting Carol, go ahead.
Carol: That’s actually a great add and really important in terms of being able to shift focus in using the questions. The last point I was going to make really addresses the last part of the question of how to help others stay focus on the high payoff action.
During times like this and I actually am working with a client right now there are middle managers that are struggling with the fact that above them the strategic focus is confused right now. Not unusual for companies to be rethinking their visions and not clear and a feeling that the company may have lost direction or specific direction in a particular given strategic area. You may be affected as a middle manager in that you’re not getting clarity from above.
What is key in those situations they’re still think that you know you can work on and returning to what you can approach in engaging people in questions, what can we do strategically in our own area that we do have control over. And re-looking in that and getting the entire group that you have control of or that you may be leading. Focus on that again can be again a very helpful thing and get you moving on what is important. Asking the question over and over again what’s the most important at this time and checking in whether those assumptions are still accurate is also an important strategy to employ during times like this as well.
Ed: Okay great. Anyone else like to comment?
See Luan: If I may, I would like to piggy back on your comment about the power of open ended and forward question. My own experience in coaching senior executives is if I ask questions of executives, both the client and I learn more.
If I tell the client what to do, he or she may not be receptive. Secondly, I think when you ask you are being very solution focused, that means looking into the future whereas when you tell and analyze problem, you are focusing on the past and very often trying to find scapegoats.
Ed: Yes thank you. Very important, I totally agree with that one hundred percent, anybody else like to add?
Jerry: This is Jerry Houston, I also thought and I think this is very true in at least my experience in Singapore when I worked there it was very true, and it’s true in this country too. When I asked another person’s opinion and input as what should be done you’re honoring them and people want to be honored they want to feel that their opinion is particularly on this difficult times that their opinion as what needs to be done is important. And they’ll be more engaged and more willing to work towards the solution if they’re included in what direction you are going to take as a department or on an organization.
Ed: Thank you, excellent comments.
That was the end of one of the questions and answers in the webinar. My next post will contain another question and the answers. I plan to publish this series of post every two days.
You can find more leadership ideas at my web site:
www.makingmanagersintoleaders.com
Best Regards,
Ed Oakley