Food for thought: Restaurants offer communication lessons

Good restaurant kitchens are models of high-functioning teams that communicate constantly...

The next time the host seats you next to the kitchen, don’t grumble. Pay attention—you might learn something. 

As anyone who has ever worked in or around a restaurant kitchen can tell you, getting the food from the stove to the table without a collision is no accident. Good restaurant kitchens are models of high-functioning teams that communicate constantly. 

So, while you munch on your breadsticks, watch how the wait staff interacts. In most kitchens, you will hear cries of “Behind you!” or “Coming around!” as employees navigate tight spaces, their arms loaded with trays of food. 

What does that have to do with operations back at the office? It’s a lesson in the importance of keeping all members of a team informed about what others are doing. Failure to communicate in a kitchen means wasted food, broken plates, and injured workers.

In an office, it means wasted time, lost productivity, confusion, and hostility.

Your signaling system could be almost as simple as that of a restaurant. For example, you could institute standup meetings where your team members brief each other on the status of projects; periodic emails could keep everyone up to speed; instant messages could be the solution to getting up-to-the-minute data to team members in the midst of a conference call. 

Regardless of the medium for these messages, the key is for teams (and departments) to communicate frequently as events unfold because the next formal team meeting may be too late.

All the success!

Peter Mclees, Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping restaurants, stores and other multi-unit operators create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

Want to improve engagement? Learn from Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon loves his job. And it shows! He loves to make people laugh and he likes being a member of a creative team, working with writers and honing his craft.

That is a good lesson for anyone in management: Share your enthusiasm for what you do!

Life is tough, goes the adage, but work does not need to be so hard all the time. Research reveals that employees look to management to help provide meaning for what they do. One of the best ways managers can do this is to generate enthusiasm

Here are some suggestions on how to spread enthusiasm:

Speak up. Employees need to know their supervisor cares about the work. Some managers are very vocal; they are like middle school coaches, always teaching and always spreading cheer. Other managers are soft-spoken preferring to chat one to one with employees about what they do and how it matters to the team. It doesn’t matter which approach you choose–but employees need to hear it from you.

Show employees their work has meaning: To take satisfaction in your work, you need to know it has meaning. Help your employees discover the meaning by connecting their work to the mission. Talk about how what they do makes a difference. You can have them visit customers to see how their product or service performs, for instance.

Celebrate the outcomes. When things are going well, make certain you mark the milestones. Spring for a lunch for the team, or have an after-work social hour. Spread the atta-boys and atta-girls around by praising people for individual actions they took to help the project succeed. [If you don’t tie the praise to specific actions, it loses impact.]

The Limits of Enthusiasm

Obviously, managers who do not like their work, or the people in it, will not do well at generating a positive mood in the workplace. No workplace is perfect; and work is hard. But that cannot be an excuse for badmouthing “the corporation” or dissing “management.” We are all responsible for finding satisfaction in our work. And if the work we do does not measure up, it may be a sign we would be happier doing something else.

Generating enthusiasm is not always easy but managers who can generate a sense of excitement about making a positive difference can create a work environment where people actually want to belong.

All the success!

Peter Mclees, Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping companies create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/

An A to Z Guide for Enagaging Your People to Create Great Customer Experiences

Building an engaged workforce is perhaps the biggest challenge today’s employers face. The benefits are many—increased customer loyalty, profits, productivity and safety, to name a few—yet it can be tough to lead a workforce that maintains consistently high levels of passion and motivation.

This A to Z list about engagement from an employee’s perspective will help leaders determine where to focus their attention. Armed with these insights, you will be well on your way to developing the engaged workforce that create consistently great customer experiences.

Ask : Ask me questions, ask me for ideas, or ask me to participate. Ask me how we can improve the customer experience. You will grab my attention and begin the process of engaging my heart, mind and spirit.

Behave: How you behave towards me, my co-workers and those we interact with tells me a great deal. When you treat us like adults and contributors, we can move forward.

Treat me the way you'd want me to treat the customer!

Treat me as overhead, a resource, or human capital (whatever that is), and I will drift off to another place. Yelling, screaming or ignoring me—except when I mess up—won’t work either.  "Seagull" style managers don't earn my whole-hearted commitment.

Communicate and collaborate: If you want me to be engaged, help me understand what’s going on in the company. Tell me what led to or shaped our decisions. In other words, communicate with me. It’s from this foundation that you, me and others on our team can work together to clarify opportunities and determine how we will succeed. Let’s collaborate.

Deliver: When you make promises or say you’ll get back to me on something, please remember to deliver. You will build credibility and trust. If we can rely on you, rest assured you can rely on us.

Encourage and empower: This is actually a simple concept. When you tell me I did something well, I smile more. I learn, and carry that perspective forward. Let me know that you trust me to get the job done in the way that makes the most sense to me. Encouragement and empowerment are keys to keeping me engaged.

Feedback: Tell me how I’m doing. And not just once or twice a year—all the time. Tell me when you like what I’ve done; tell me what didn’t work and why. Providing both positive and constructive feedback regularly will help me improve. Share  formal and informal customer survey results. You’ll be surprised at what I will achieve.

Goals: Provide me with goals I can work toward. Better yet, let me in on developing goals that make sense to me, our team, the customer experience and the company.

Hello. How are you? Stop by now and then to say hello and ask how I’m doing. Ask about my family or just talk a little. Did you know I play golf? It couldn’t be simpler. It shows you care, and more important, helps build the bond we need to enjoy our time at work.

Integrity: Earn it, keep it, and reap the rewards. I’ll do the same and so will our teammates. Just imagine the possibilities.

Journey: Just like the company, I’m on a journey. Let’s find a way to connect the two. It will take some work, of course. You’ll need to get to know me a little. Find out what you can about my goals, ambitions, hopes, dreams, and where I hope my journey will lead me.

Find out who I am outside of work, too. I will return the favor by getting to know you. Remember to also share the company’s journey. Only then will engaging me become possible.

Knowledge: Share what you know with us employees, and allow us to share what we know with you. Make sure we share amongst ourselves as a team. Then, help us apply that knowledge in a way that leads to success.

Listen: Actively listen. Listen with your ears, eyes and mind. Let me know what you heard to make sure that is what I intended to say. When you do that, you will be surprised by what you learn.

Listen to me the way you'd want me to listen to the customer!

Meaning: My work has to have meaning, because I’m here for much more than a paycheck or social time. I want to contribute. Work with me to build that meaning and link it with our goals. Then you’ll really begin to capture my heart, mind and spirit.

Notice: Take notice of what I do and how I do it. Better yet, take notice of what our team does both individually and collectively, and give us credit for our efforts and achievements. Don’t forget that taking notice includes letting me know you did.

Opportunity: Use what you know about me to consider opportunities for me to get involved in other areas. From special assignments, leadership roles, and cross-organizational work to training and development, I appreciate the chance to deepen my capabilities and contributions.

Passion: Show me yours and I’ll show you mine.

Questions: Ask, consider, answer, probe and challenge. Questions are the gateway to deeper levels of awareness, understanding, knowledge and potential. Ask, "How can I help?" and see me soar.

Recognition, rewards and relationships: Let’s redefine the three Rs. Recognize what I do and reward me appropriately. Build a relationship with me on a professional and personal level. Forget the three Rs at your own peril.

Smile: A smile really goes a long way. Try one on for size and you might be surprised by how far it goes.

Smile at me the way you'd want me to smile at the customer!

Trust: Showing that you trust me and giving me a reason to trust you is perhaps the most important of the ABCs. Without trust, the rest is meaningless. Remember that we earn trust over time. While it’s not hard to earn, it’s very hard to get back once we lose it.

Unify our team: Work with us as a team and let us work on our own as a team. There is a difference. Allow us to work together to build a shared vision and set our goals. Let us have ownership and participate in the way that makes the most sense to us. Let us share our hopes, dreams and fears with each other so we can work together.

Victory: It’s important to us that you celebrate our wins, whether they’re large, small or anywhere in between. It lets us know our efforts paid off, that you care, and that you notice.

We: As the saying goes, many hands lighten the load. Let us in on what’s happening and we can succeed together.

X-traordinary: The results we can achieve by working together will be extraordinary.

“Yes and,” not “yes but”: When you say, “Yes, but...” our conversations and my creativity shut down. Next time, try “Yes, and...” You’ll be surprised by where it may lead and how it will make me feel.

Zenith: If you follow the ABCs of employee engagement, my full potential and commitment will be yours and our customers will be wow'd.

All the success!

Peter Mclees, Principal

P. S. Smart Development Inc. has an exceptional track record helping companies create a strong culture, leadership bench strength and the teamwork necessary for growth. Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

http://smartdevelopmentinc.com/