Peter R. Classen, Shaun P. Bourgeois
Part 3 of 3:
Highlights:
To recap Part 1: “Mindfulness” is central to being skilled at the modern idea of being “Situationally Aware.” The business case for “mindfulness” and “mindful leadership” comes down to this: If one lets one’s employees suffer the personal pain of the COVID-19 crisis on their own, and without any collective or coordinated support from their employer, there should be no surprise that employees become disheartened, demotivated, and disengaged.
To recap Part 2: Achieving mindfulness or becoming a mindful leader need not be a spiritual quest for greater consciousness and improved self-awareness (not saying that’s a bad thing). It can be about improving one’s competencies as a leader, and about improving one’s alertness, carefulness, concentration, concern and consideration for employees. It can be about better human capital asset management.
For the pragmatic-minded pioneering, result-focused leader (a non-integrator), following six steps will increase one’s mindful leadership skills: 1) Establish the role of “Head of Pain & Fear Management”, 2) Set the daily practice of “checking in”, 3) Be genuine and be ready to listen, 4) Create a Pain & Problem inventory, 5) Solve problems, and lastly 6) Have a positive, mindful sign off for every call.
For the organization that wishes to at least survive, and possibly even thrive in today’s crisis and challenge-filled environment, an enterprise-level solution is needed to rapidly develop mindful behaviors. Part 3 is a COO-level focus on what is needed to rapidly put in place the necessary four infrastructure elements: information requirements, devices, mechanisms and processes, along with a recommended approach and suggested schedule.
5:12am, April 22nd, 2020, somewhere in Corona-Corporate America and some decisions need to be made. Consider the to-do lists of two very different people: the “not-entirely-together” non-executive employee and the “not-entirely-there-either” Chief Operating Officer.
“It’s going to be a Rough Day”
To-Do-List of the Non-Executive Employee
Decision: Wake up by 8:00 am.
Decision: Put on Pants (Or stick with what I’ve got on, its worked since Monday).
Decision: Shower (Though I did that on April 15th, what day is it?)
Decision: Speak to children, if they are up (I wish I was in cyber school).
Decision: Acknowledge existence of Spouse.
Decision: Choose between Zoloft, Celexa, and Prozac (popular antidepressants).
Decision: Saying something during the 6.25 hours of scheduled video calls for today.
Decision: Buy cheese, because I miss cheese. (Distraction #1).
Decision: Start training for the Olympics. (Distraction #2)
Decision: Check out what the Holderness Family is doing; they’re really funny (Distraction #3).
Schedule two hours for a nap as I only got nine and a half hours of sleep last night.
“It’s going to be a Rough Day”
To-Do-List of the Chief Operating Officer
Decision: Sleep-in until 4:00am (as if!).
Decision: Pick-up on unfinished items from yesterday or start on the crisis-du-jour.
Decision: Arrange oxygen for the finance director, whose 11:22 pm email about disastrous monthly sales just freaked everyone out.
Decision: Be successfully able to recognize children and spouse (from a virtual line up).
Decision: Outline what positive, hopeful things to say to each of seven direct reports on the 7am, 8am, 9am, and 10am check-ins.
Decision: Choose between a) writing another status report, b) launching a recovery planning effort, or c) changing the way team leaders manage their teams, by making them more mindful so to better protect our workforce.
Make conference calls and feel more normal by driving by the dry cleaners, the bank, the hardware store, that great hotdog place, and the kid’s soccer field (not actually stopping anywhere, just driving because chauffeuring feels normal ).
Combine the two scheduled hours for self-doubt and self-loathing, to save an hour (come on you can “do depression” faster than anyone).
Whose got the easier To-do list? First answer: Hard to tell. (Who's got the funnier to-do-list? Well that’s a different story). But really, both lists suggest each is losing their marbles. Both lists show distraction. Both lists suggest deep personal, possibly clinical, mental health issues. And both list show a lack of clarity around each individual’s primary purpose. Seriously though, who has the easier to-do list? The employee does. None of their decisions feel like especially hard decisions, and none of their to-do items sound like they are especially demanding (except for the ones about the children and spouse).
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) on the other hand, isn’t so lucky. None of those decisions sound fun or easy. It all involves stress. All decisions could have major repercussions on the business if the COO chooses poorly. Who would want that job at a time like this? #notmesaideveryone.
The daunting task of “changing the way team leaders manage their teams, by making them more mindful so to better protect our workforce” is about to get a whole lot easier, with the no-nonsense outline that follows. To be fair, we all know initiating the transformation of one’s organization into a mindfully-led, reality-embracing enterprise is possible in far less than seven days (every true operator knows this is possible, you just have to be willing to do what it takes). The point is that once you have achieved buy-in with the other executive leaders the technical organizing and operating policy adjustments steps are not really that difficult or onerous.
“If you are a senior operating executive in any organization that has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; it doesn’t matter what kind; a Fortune 500, a major corporation, a non-profit, or a start-up; you really only have one purpose: to solve problems. To take responsibility, seek solutions, to find better ways. If solving problems is not your main purpose, what is?”
Former Chief Operating Officer and Head of Portfolio Company
Improvement at a large diversified Investment Holding Company
Apology: For brevity, this third part of the series relies on the vocabulary, approaches, and best practice ideas that senior and chief-level operating executives, business transformation leaders, general managers and executive directors would be most familiar with. It is possible to explain the foundation blocks and their implementation in much more simple terms, only it would take us a little longer. In the interest of delivering these ideas quicker, we opted for using the language of experienced operations executives. (If you are really interested and some of the concepts are unclear, please reach out to Grahampton & Co. for a deeper discussion.)
The four foundation blocks upon which one builds a mindful organization
The management scientists and authors, Endsley and Jones (1997; 2001), describe an attractive model of team situation awareness (which Parts 1 and 2 of this article explain why team situational awareness is good for today’s business). Endsley and Jones take us further in conceptualizing what structure is needed for teams to develop high levels of shared “situational awareness” across members. This is the model Grahampton has used when it orchestrated a leadership transformation in Eastern Europe first in 1998, again in 2008, and in 2015. Bottom line: We have found this model to be efficient enough and a good basis for technically-viable rapid professional development effort in the management ranks.
Each of the four building blocks [factors] they defined —requirements, devices, mechanisms and processes—act to help increase team cohesion, shared situational awareness, and work-resource balance (i.e. ensuring the work is appropriate for the team’s current capacity to produce and will not result in morale-breaking failures). Each building block is discrete but much can be built in parallel. Can they really be built in seven days? Yes, if the executive-in-charge has access to experts in management science, if they have influence, and access to sufficient budget. The effort requiring the most time relates to the procurement of “devices”. The rest can be accomplished quickly, again, if the executive-in-charge is focused and is good at operationalizing new management approaches.
1. Team Situational Analysis Requirements
Requirements define for team leaders and team members which information needs to be shared, including which “higher level assessments and projections (which are usually not otherwise available to fellow team members), and information on team members' task status and current capabilities.” In times of crisis, one could expect to expand the definition of team members’ capabilities to include team members’ constraints, capacity to work issues, personal and family health, personal and family safety, personal and family vulnerabilities, and quarantine-related problems.
The COO can accelerate the adoption of mindfulness by defining the team-level information sharing guidelines / requirements with a group operating level initiative. A collaborative process using design thinking or a problem-solving sprint would work to define these requirements. Participation in the effort should favor the best and the average performers from among the internal team leaders. This is an effort that could be executed in one or two days, tops.
Effort Needed: One to two days to produce requirements in collaboration with team leaders. Pre-work: Achieve executive buy-in, provide an orientation for team leaders, set in motion the change management plan and the training plan development.
2. Team Situational Analysis Devices
One needs to be specific about the devices available and to be used for sharing this information, which can include “direct communication (both verbal and non-verbal), shared displays (e.g., visual or audio displays, or tactile devices), or a shared environment. As non-verbal communication, such as gestures and display of local artifacts, and a shared environment are usually not available in distributed, remote teams, (read: we cannot be with each other to see the non-verbal cues), this places far more emphasis on verbal communication and communication technologies for creating shared information displays.”
The COO can accelerate the availability and consistency of devices so there is a stable device platform upon which the timely sharing of information (of all types) occurs. A first step may be requiring IT (or someone) to inventory the devices and device-supporting communications infrastructure that exists in remote-working employees’ homes. Large variances in device availability, device type, supporting communications infrastructure, supporting communications service availability, and the availability of private, physical space to work from have led some firms to not rely on employee device resources, and instead purchase standardized equipment and standardized proprietary software to ensure a technically-stable, robust, one-high-standard-for-all remote working platform. This effort to ensure adequate devices can be run in parallel with other build-out efforts. We have observed this task being accomplished - from the time of first inventory to new equipment purchasing (a purchase of 700 pre-configured laptops) - in seven days during March of 2020.
Effort Needed: Orientation of the IT function to the objectives and the immediate tasks. Gathering of current insights and probably options from IT and the creation of an audit form to support decision making. Two to three days to produce the audit of the device and device-supporting communications infrastructure (at the employee’s worksite). Running in parallel, a first check on options availability, costs and timing. One day for thinking and decision-making. Two to three days to source vendors (if any) and execute. Total: 7 days (yes, this foundation block is probably the long-pole in the tent).
3. Team Situational Awareness Mechanisms
Mechanisms refer to the degree to which team members possess mechanisms, such as shared mental models, which support their ability to interpret information in the same way and make accurate projections regarding each other's actions. (read: how well they understand each other, understand what each other is saying, and get along). The possession of shared mental models can greatly facilitate communication and coordination in team settings. In crisis settings, mechanisms might also include a shared body of knowledge/facts and a shared means for updating that information/fact base.
Consider the recent March/April 2020 example from GE (General Electric). As much as the company seems to have fallen on difficult times, it still has some very strong management practices in its different business units. In one business unit in particular, the challenge was to produce a forecast for the timing of “market reopening” and “business recovery” efforts (and estimate associated cash flow implications). The business unit head asked different business unit executives-team leaders to conduct an analysis of their industry, its current situation, and the surrounding business environment. The analysis was done using a shared market analysis framework and templates that fed into a forecasting model. When the market analyses were shared and discussed, a “one team” view on the situation, the impact and the prevailing business environment was achieved. Since a common framework and template were used, updates to the body of knowledge/facts would be much easier to produce going forward. It was not through a verbal “consensus of opinion” that they produced the needed forecasts, but through “consensus and agreement on the facts of the situation, arrived at using a shared, credible approach”.
Surprisingly, getting the right mechanisms in place is not as difficult to accomplish than one might think, but it requires mental work and collaboration. That is, it is entirely achievable in short order for a systems-loving senior operating executive and, for sure, for any “got their s%*t together” chief operating officer). You only need to think granularly at the basic daily operations level: what needs to be done, what approaches do we have for each task, which approach will fit best with our current situation, how do we get people to follow and work with the same approach? Answering these questions by business function, starting with the highest value-producing functions, will point to the frameworks, templates and thinking needed.
At the same time though, understanding where team members are mentally, emotionally, and in their capacity to engage, is to be “mindful” in the modern sense. There are “listening” techniques to help employees be able to empathize with each other’s plights or celebrate each others’ success. It is necessary that all team members agree to the principles that a) we are facing many of the same challenges, though we might not know it, b) if we share and examine those problems, we will get to a solution faster and easier, and c) that if we deal with those extraneous, more personal problems first - whatever they may be - we clear our plates to be able to focus on business work and be able able to produce meaningful business work results. Bottom line: mechanisms are needed to ensure we think like one team, agree priorities as one team, and solve problems better and faster together.
Effort Needed: Decompose the current work and triage the tasks into “must have”, “nice to have”, and “don’t need right now.” Then identify which current “must have” tasks need better systems and standardization when being run remotely (i.e. need better mechanisms). Define the specific mechanisms needed, not forgetting that there are likely to be “company wide mechanisms.” Build and assign resources to have a “mechanism production capacity”, and hand off to a PMO (program management office) for mechanism production (five day sprint to put this all together).
4. Team Situational Awareness Processes
Processes, the final foundation piece, are about the degree to which team members engage in effective processes for sharing Situational Awareness information. It’s the processes the team uses to question assumptions, check each other for conflicting information or perceptions, set up coordination and prioritization of tasks, and establish contingency planning among others. Processes matter because without them, organizations lack consistency, thoroughness, and the cost of team management is through the roof. Mindfulness without standard process will result in some people - including some valuable ones - being excluded and left behind. There is a business side to the processes. Processes for frequently understanding consumer sentiment, demand and usage are vital in times of crisis. It is shocking to listen to fixed radio advertising at a time like this that speaks to a world before the COVID-19 pandemic. As if anyone is going to purchase certain goods and services like it is business as usual. Yes, some sectors of the economy are doing very well. Most are not, and most consumers are not. Updating one’s messaging to reflect new consumer attitudes is necessary. Such updates come from the insights that get generated through the team’s business processes we just mentioned.
The processes we are concerned with here are like those processes discussed in Part 2: Ten Minutes of becoming a mindful leader. These are the processes that equip a team leader to facilitate group and individual discussions on an employee’s personal situation and well being. Because in Corporate America, a boss’ interest in an employee’s personal affairs has been viewed as taboo, it should be expected that “bosses” are not formally trained to start such conversations, let alone build trust, show empathy, and calm fears. Furthermore, owing to variances in personality types and workstyles, the unmanaged business process of engaging with employees can have wholly unacceptable levels of variance - extreme “too much”, extreme “too little”, and barely any “just right.” To control and manage this process, three steps are sufficient: first, inventory team manager personality types and workstyles (using online tools, supported by video calls), then establish practical behavior guidelines (read: a set of do’s and don’ts) for each of the four team leader workstyle types; pioneers, drivers, integrators and guardians. (See the works of Dr. Helen Fischer, Biological Anthropologist and the March-April 2017 issue of the Harvard Business Review, the New Science of Team Chemistry for a thorough introduction to the workstyle concept). Lastly, train the managers well initially using a well-facilitated design thinking or experiential learning models (read: make the business case, show real world examples, teach the abstract concepts, then have everyone role play).
Implementation is tricky, only in that most of the learning and competency building comes from real world application. You need to build this competency through practice with real employees. A four step process has worked well for us in the past: introduce the change to all employees, establish a daily post-mortem, solve problems quickly, and create a positive feedback loop with employees.
Step 1: To smoothen out this on-the-job learning, an all-employee communication is probably a COO/Operator’s best option. This is an empathetic and positive note about the organization’s commitment to “being there”, an outline of the changes, and what’s in it for them - a short, direct, genuine promise. Step 2: For the first 30 business days, the practice of being mindful and leading with mindfulness will be foreign to most. Establish small cohorts, and hold each team leader accountable on a daily basis. We did this with an early morning stand-up (7:00-7:50am), where in a small group setting, we held a situational awareness update and each team leader was required to answer to the group a simple, direct question: “In what ways did I display mindful leadership practices yesterday with my team?” To modify management behavior (and change management instinct) it is the daily accountability check that mattered. At the end of each week we conducted a self-assessment of performance. For the most part, all team managers showed improvement and progress each week, and this self-recognition of accomplishment helped accelerate competency building. Step 3: Listening is not enough. Collective and distributed problem-solving is the main purpose of applied mindfulness. As employee pains, fears, and problems emerge there is a need to collect and aggregate this data, and then perform a triage effort. If an organization cannot solve several problems on this “real-time” list of critical employee needs per day, it is moving too slow. Bear in mind not all solutions will involve the organization spending money. The solution might be tapping into a personal network, making a call, sending an informative email, or offering expert advice. Solutions are not necessarily added expenses (but if they are, record them as such and take them as extraordinary one-time expenses in one’s profit & loss statement!). Step 4: A positive feedback loop is simply the communication of the human stories of employees helping employees and people helping people. A channel for open (moderated) communication between employees, team leaders, and executive leadership is what has worked best for our teams in the past.
The business case for mindful leadership is compelling. Through mindfulness we become aware of the internal factors impacting our operations, just like we use situational awareness to become aware of the external factors.
Mindfulness enhances situational awareness and allows organizations to see more of their current operating reality. In times of emergency and crisis, knowing the reality, the facts of the situation are worth its weight in gold. It is for this reason that organizations should make “mindful leadership” a professional development priority. If left unmanaged, individual managers no matter how personally committed will have a hard time becoming “mindful leaders.” A coordinated effort to be “mindful”; designed and implemented based on smart management practices, will produce unexpected returns in the short term, and inclusion & engagement dividends well into the future.
About the Author:
Peter R. Classen is a Chief Transformation Officer, Crisis Navigator and an Expert in “Leadership and Management in Challenging Times.” Peter is also one of the Managing Partners at Grahampton & Company, a management services and advisory firm with three decades of experience helping organizations survive and thrive in some of the most complicated and thorny situations imaginable. Peter has been a hands-on c-suite leader and “chief crisis officer” in two +1,000 employee organizations during an extended national crisis and disaster settings and facilitated over 78 companies to overcome and thrive in times of calamity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his strategic revenue growth and business transformation focus have shifted to working with leadership teams on revenue continuity, on “survive now & thrive in the future” strategies, and on proactive management and team leadership in times of crisis and challenge. Find Peter and his teams at www.grahampton.com.