By Virginia Mburu
 |
| THE DONKEY HAS REFUSED! |
The above cartoon featured
in the The Standard Newspaper on Wednesday 10th September,
2014. The rider is ordering the donkey to “Stop moving” but the
donkey has a mind of its own “Forward it is”.
Trust the cartoonist to add a funny angle to the whole story---- the rider is facing backwards! I will leave you to decipher the meaning.
This cartoon reminds me of another
donkey…Balaam’s Donkey in Numbers 22. In this story,
they are progressing well towards Balaam’s destination when all of a
sudden , the donkey stops.
Balaam urges the donkey to move but it refuses. Balaam beats it until the unbelievable happens—it speaks in a language Balaam understands!
Over to you- the Passionate
Entrepreneur and your business. Do you have situations when you
find that you – the entrepreneur or your employees seem to be
reading from different scripts. I bet you get the feeling the two
riders aforementioned must have experienced-how comes you cannot keep
your team under control?
What could be happening in the two
instances?
Scenario 1. The headless chicken syndrome
Of course without a head the
chicken cannot see what is ahead. The head and
the body will be moving in different directions as they as
they are now disconnected.The donkey and the rider do not have a
shared vision. The donkey can see what Balaam cannot see- An angel ready to strike
Balaam with a sword. In the cartoon, one wants a referendum and the other
does not.
Now to your business,
Passionate Entrepreneur;
a. Do you have a vision, mission, values and objectives statements?
b. Are they clear, simple and
communicated to everyone involved in your business such as employees,
suppliers, customers etc?
c. Can they easily recite
the vision and mission without having to refer to a manual?
d. Are you asking the
right questions to ensure that everyone understands the vision?
e. Do they all
understand such that they should at all times and circumstances live, eat and
sleep that vision/ mission?
f. Are their
decisions and behaviours aligned to the vision/mission?
g. Do you have
continuous, effective, open communication that promotes
support from the majority if not all involved?
h. Can everyone involved
in the business visualize how the destination looks like, feels like, smells
like, tastes like and sounds like for them and their significant others?
i. Are you actively
listening so that you can hear what is not being said verbally or via
body language? Are you reading between the lines?
j. Do you have
performance standards for every role (employees and relevant partners) that are
also aligned to your business goals? It is important for the
stakeholders to understand their unique worth and the value they
contribute to the objectives and be proud of their work.
k. Have you designed
to celebrate short term wins at the business and individual
levels so as to motivate the stakeholders? Keep in mind people love
to follow success.
l. Are you leading
by example? Are you confidently walking the talk? Remember –they
will pick your ques. Can they trust you to lead them to the promised land?
Scenario 2. Behold The
drama Queen/King !
He/ She is likely to manipulate situations through emotional blackmail (think of the two year old toddler tantrums), withhold information, steal ideas, be jealous, envious, play victim, only see the bad in the other employees, or basically blow matters out of proportion.
They could be that competent/ perfectionist employee who cannot tolerate others. You might actually need to gracefully identify the same traits in YOU!
So, how can we handle our drama queen/king?
a. Set clear Human
Resource (HR) Policies that clearly states that No Drama Will Be
Entertained
b. In an article posted
by John Halter, he advises that you quickly deal with drama before it escalates
to unmanageable proportions.
c. Understand the drama
players- the victim ( Woiyeee- the I’m Blameless who is looking for love),
persecutor (I’m right- the fault finder who is looking for power) and rescuer
(I’m good- the peacemaker who is looking for acceptance).
d. Keep them under the radar.
He recommends that you monitor their moves and know what is likely to instigate
them, how it is likely to play out and what your action plan will be.
e. The drama
affects the whole team. Call a team meeting with the aim of having the team set
“Team Standards of Conduct”. In the meeting, do not discuss the situation and
stick to “The Standards of Conduct” agenda only. Do not take sides or get
emotionally involved. What you need is an agreed rules of engagement plus and
an agreement that any issues will be sorted out between involved parties or
their supervisors without involving other parties. This code
of conduct will be useful as……….
f. Soon, the drama
queen/king will be at it again and you can now individually deal with them.
Read them the riot act based on the HR Policy and the previously agreed
“Standards of Conduct” while reiterating their value to the business and
request for a change in behavior. You just hit two birds with the same stone-
dealt with the undesired behavior and the rest of the team knows you will
not entertain drama.
g. Be ready for the
next drama. Now you know that donkeys can speak!
Scenario 3. A brewing
conflict
The conflict could arise from lack of information, poor information, no
information or misinformation regarding roles, responsibilities, resources (as
in the two cases above) as well as decisions based on emotions.
As it is with the drama king and queens, deal with conflicts fast
a. Set a meeting
where each party explains their position (without interference) as well as
specific actions they expect of the other party. What can they do more of, less
of, stop and start doing etc.?
b. Remain
calm, actively listen to both parties and do not take sides.
c. While at it,
stick to issues not personalities, avoid blame game and concentrate on seeking
conflict solutions.
d. Find a common ground and
obtain a mutual agreement on action plans, set progress review timelines and
affirm your belief in their capability to resolve the conflict.
e. Celebration time!
Appreciate the effort both parties have extended in solving the conflict and
what better way than to toss to that over a cocktail, lunch or dinner? Please
invite me……
What about you - Passionate Entrepreneur?
- Which of these scenarios have you experienced?
- How did you deal with it?
Whatever you do, make sure
it results in less work, more money and positive impact.
Update
Virginia Mburu
Passionate Entrepreneurs
Coach
Virginia empowers and
motivates Passionate Entrepreneurs to realize their purpose and pursue it. She
then assists the entrepreneurs to clarify, prioritise and focus on management
and marketing strategies and action plans that will get them to work less, make
more money and positively impact within one year. Download some of her gifts- absolutely free lessons on
www.biasharacoach.blogspot.co.ke
No comments:
Post a Comment