Ducks in a Row: What Conversation Tells You
by Miki Saxon
What are your goals in 2011? Hike productivity? Juice creativity? Motivate your people? Strengthen retention?
Whatever they are, the best way to accomplish them is to engage your people.
Uninspired advice, since you hear it all the time, but this is a great time to actually start the wheels of engagement turning.
And you do it through conversation—face-to-face, verbal conversations with your team—whether it’s composed of the company VPs or a small group of staffers.
Notice the emphasis on ‘conversation’ which, in this case, means everyone talks.
First you describe the goals, not a laundry list of everything that needs to be done, but specific goals that you honestly believe can be accomplished in 2011, with a subset for Q1.
Then you shut up and listen to your people.
Not just let them talk, but really listen and hear what they are saying, even when what’s said doesn’t agree with your ideas.
But if you shut up and hear nothing then recognize that for what it is: a great insight into the culture you created, not to mention the fear and distrust in which you are held.
Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/
