Dear Readers,
Thank you for coming here!
It has been a while since we we had the last entry on “Good Employee” series.
Here comes the Part 7 — To be an effective employee, we need to have the “picture”.
The picture that allows us to visualize the end-state and to communicate it clearly.
Why is it important?
The picture will enable us to plan backward so that we know by when we need to accomplish what by who.
This is the basis of good project management and the planning will assure your managers and colleagues that you have things under control.
This also is critical in stress management. Knowing that we have things under control is greatly relieving.
This is of course hard.
We need adequate understanding of the related areas, structured thinking, team management skills, just to name a few.
We also need some imagination to pick up the potential points of risks and then plan the mitigation and back-up options.
Experiences do help!
What could be more important and harder?
Being able to communicate the picture clearly and make your audience understand is more important and a lot harder to do.
I always knew it would be hard, because people are very likely on different frequencies, due to background, experiences, education etc etc.
However, I never expected it to be so hard.
Previously, even as a consultant when I had to communicate with people I do not know at all, I could typically manage it.
I could adapt to their styles and habits fairly quickly. After all, it was my job to make them understand and cooperate.
However, things are different now.
My new boss posted a huge challenge for me.
I just could not seem to reach the common understanding with him. Even when I thought we did, we did not, because he expected totally different things from what I delivered next time we met.
This added a lot of frustrations and pressure.
After a while, I think I kind of figured out the reason — we were talking about different “pictures”.
He was always talking about the long-term picture and I was always trying to explain and align with him the intermediate picture which was realistic and executable given our resources.
He got frustrated because he simply wanted his picture.
I was frustrated because I told him I understood his long term picture and now I would like to discuss with him what we can do to achieve it in a realistic way. Or at least, we should agree on the expectations before our next meeting.
Once I realized it, the communication has become much better.
I will simply ask him “what do you think we should do now before we meet next week?” and if he has no clue, I give him my suggestions.
This seemed obvious and unnecessary to me as well at first. But that question clearly told him that we now discuss what we do today or this week.
That establishes a common platform.
It is ok if he does not have a clue or he does not care. I will simply give my suggestions.
Sometimes, the solution is so simple.
Simple solutions typically require clear and deep understanding which is not simple to do though.
How do we crack that?
Getting to the root cause is not easy.
Based on my experience, I offer four pieces of suggestions.
1.Show the pictures
This is the most intuitive thing to do.
We want to explain and make people understand our pictures, so just show them.
This will be much more effective than just explaining verbally.
If we are building a PowerPoint deck, show the dummy deck.
If we are doing an analysis, show the scenarios — what are the possible outcomes and each possibility will lead to what conclusion.
If we are organizing a meeting, show the picture of the meeting venue, layout of chairs etc etc
2.Standardize rules of engagement
As much as we can, we should standard rules of engagement.
For example, terms.
In the professional world of phones, here are the terms that should be used across the board.
- Model — iPhone 12 is a model
- Variant — iPhone 12 128GB is a variant
- SKU — iPhone 12 128GB black is a SKU
For example, deadlines.
When we set a deadline with external clients, we expect our internal preparation to be fully completed, reviewed and finalized 24 hours before the deadline.
For example, data update cycle.
If we are doing analysis in Feb, data needs to be updated at least till Jan.
…
3.Sync up
This is similar to Point 2. However, this refers to things that cannot be explicitly communicated.
I remember a documentary on The Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron.
The pilots said they spent pretty much all the time together to understand how each other thought so that they could sync up their actions to complete the beautiful maneuver without crashing into each other.
Most jobs do not require this level of sync up. But spending more time together seems to be a good way to sync up.
4.Think, analyze and summarize
Of course, with every encounter, we think, analyze and summarize. This will speed up the process.
Summary
If we could have the picture and make people understand it, we send the strong signal that we have this area under control, which sets the stage for career success.
On the other hand, if we could perfectly understand the pictures of our managers, or even come out with the pictures before he does, we are on our way to become indispensable.
Till next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment