respect for the people Archives - Better Process Solutions

Trust, how do you build it in the workplace?

To build trust in the workplace is critical to keep your promises. — Gaining someone’s trust is not easy, do not do anything that risks losing it.

In my last post, I was talking about empowerment. I indicated that if you empower your employees, you need to trust them. But trust is a two-way street, you trust your employees, and they must trust you back. How do you build that trust?

5 ways to build trust in the workplace

1. Be honest and with integrity no matter the circumstances

There is no doubt that it is hard, to be honest, and act with integrity all the time. Regardless of how hard or inconvenient it might be, it is critical for being a trustworthy person. Consequently, admit when you don’t know and take responsibility for your failures.

Be transparent, accept if you are wrong, and be open about your emotions. For example, concede that you are angry about the outcome and ask for time for reflection before talking about the matter. Showing vulnerability is not showing weakness but rather that you are human too.

Also, always communicate your reasons to do something and list your expectations. Do not hide information, be transparent instead.

2. Show respect and listen to what others have to say

The most basic form of respect is to listen. Let people talk, focus on the person, and listen with the intention of understanding. Ask for clarification to fully understand ideas, concerns, or feelings. Then, respond with empathy and give feedback respectfully. Show your team that you genuinely care about them.

Another way to show respect is to be mindful of your demeanor. Be aware of your reactions. For example, don’t laugh or make fun of peoples’ comments. Likewise, do not dismiss their ideas. Your job is to coach and teach them. Remember that not everybody learns or analyze things at the same pace or the same way. Getting to know the person behind each employee, that is the best way to be able to help them.

3. Think before you act

It takes time to build trust. Therefore, the last thing you want to happen is to do something that breaks that trust. Take time to think about how you are going to answer, make decisions carefully. However, do not take too much time.

Be consistent with your actions, treat everybody the same way, and act with integrity at all times. While making decisions, think about your values. How do they align with your values? Always, especially during hard times, respond as per your values.

4. Keep your promises

Once you tell someone that you will do something for them, do what you say you would. Honor your commitments and don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you meant to do something, do it. If the outcome of your actions is not what the person is expecting to hear, say it anyway. Be honest about the reasons and offer an alternative solution.

5. Support your employees

Have their back at all times, never let anybody to bully or disrespect any person. Your team needs to know that you are there for them always. Create a trusted environment where they feel good about sharing their ideas and concerns. As indicated before, a safe setting where they learn and test their opinion without fear of losing their jobs. Provide feedback and guidance without judging but showing compassion and empathy.

Key Points to build confidence

Give trust to get trust, be the adult in the room, and extent the olive branch first. Gaining the confidence of someone is not an easy task. Therefore, take small steps by inviting the person to participate in a continuous improvement event, brainstorming session, or project with you.

Model those behaviors that you want to promote by respecting everybody, keeping your word, and being transparent. Participate with your team in the continuous improvement and problem-solving processes without trying to micro-manage. Instead of controlling the situation, coach, and give constructive feedback.

Leadership & Team Development

Bored employees, is your team part of them?

Do you have bored employees? How often you hear your kids saying they are bored? All the time, right? Not only do kids get bored, adults too. Often, they don’t say it. However, their actions are a reflection of it.

The 2016 Workplace Boredom Study by Udemy for Business indicated that 43% of US office employees are bored. Moreover, they mentioned that boredom is a leading indicator of disengagement. What are the causes of boredom? What can you do to fight against it?

Why people get bored?

Monotony is probably the most known cause of boredom. Repetition or lack of interest in a task cause boredom. Personality and personal traits determine how well people react to boredom. Some people need more novelty or variety than others. Therefore, they have a higher risk of apathy. Besides, people with attention problems also tend to boredom.

Lack of flow is another cause of boredom. Shahram Heshmat, in a 2017 post in Psychology Today, talked about task flow. He indicated that flow occurs when a person’s skills match the environmental challenges. It also happens when a task includes clear goals and immediate feedback.

Reasons for workplace boredom

The top two reasons why employees feel bored at work are lack of opportunities to learn new skills and unchallenging work.

The Udemy study that I mentioned before noted as a takeaway the following. “The biggest driver of engagement is an employee’s personal view of their future. Today’s workers desire to be more involved in shaping their own experience in the workplace. Business and HR leaders must help people envision their future career and learning path in order to effectively engage them“.

This is how you can fight boredom in the workplace.

Doesn’t that Udemy takeaway, remember you the continuous improvement tenet Respect for People? As servant leaders, our job is to create a culture of respect. Within it, we help the team to flourish and be what they can be. You do so by providing opportunities to develop their skills and get better jobs.

Empower your team to take control of their tasks and workplace. Do it by facilitating and supporting collaboration, learning, and personal development. Provide a learning environment where employees feel comfortable exploring and testing new things. Finding ways to do their job and improve their work conditions becomes a challenge. Therefore, they have a focus, a purpose, or a challenge that keeps them engaged.

Take time to know each person in your team. When you do, you can recognize characteristics that make them prone to boredom. As a result, you can create individualized development plans. Get to know your team members’ aspirations and personal goals. Also, try to encourage them to work towards their achievement.

Everybody feels boredom sometimes, but we can fight it most of the time!

Reference:

Heshmat, S. (2017, June). Eight Reasons Why We Get Bored: Boredom can be viewed as a crisis of desire. [Blog post] Accessed 11.18/2020. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201706/eight-reasons-why-we-get-bored

(Udemy for Business). 2016 Udemy Workplace Boredom Study. Accessed 11/18/2020. https://research.udemy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/2016-Udemy-Workplace-Boredom-Study.pdf

CI @ Home

How to show respect in the cell phone age.

Communication in the cell phone age

The other day I was browsing for pictures for one of my posts. When I wrote the keywords communication and talking, most of the photos that I got back were people with cell phones or computers! I know that the result depends on the algorithms used on that particular application, but yet, it was choking me. It drove my mind to think about a simple way to show respect in the cell phone age.

In what world we live, that all the talking is through electronic devices! A lot of the communication in and out of workplaces is through emails and text messages. You look around, and all you see is people staring down at their devices. You can see it everywhere, while in line in the supermarket, during break time, and even while in a restaurant with friends or loved ones! We don’t talk anymore!

What I am describing here, happens before COVID. Now, virtual communication is a blessing. But I am referring here to what happened before and for sure will continue after the pandemic restrictions are lifted.

Respect for the people, listen and be present

That situation kept me thinking about the continuous improvement tenet of respect for the people and how much we need to apply it to our lives. I would be hypocritical if I don’t use the principles of CI to improve myself as a person. Listening is the most basic way to show respect. If we seek to listen to our co-workers daily, why not with family and friends? What happened with being present?

Be present, even when not in the same place

This year, the holiday season is going to be harder than ever. Many of us are going to be away from our families and friends. Some will have a hard time putting themself in the celebration mood because they lost family members through this year, or a job, or their life savings.

For all these reasons, it is important to reach out to family and friends. We can revive those things from the past like a postcard or a handwritten letter. We can send a care package full of love, simple things like a nice picture of better times, and some treats. But the ultimate gift will be the gift of being present. With some, you can be present through a simple phone conversation or any of those video applications. With those living with you, be present by dedicating time without phones, tablets, or any other electronic devices. Let’s practice the art of conversation and be present!

Tools

What to do before, during, and after the gemba walk

Gemba walks, like any other process, need a consistent structure or standard. It helps to avoid confusion, clarify the purpose and intent, and provides general steps that facilitate customization for specific situations without losing the essence of what a gemba walk is.

The walks have three stages, which happen before, during, and after the walk. When you coach your team to be walkers with a purpose, you become more effective, learning by doing. The more you practice, the better you become.

Preparation

When you plan to go out for a gemba walk, the first thing you need to know is the purpose of the walk and to what area you will go. Each walk needs a purpose or objective, which can be coaching, learn about a specific situation within a process, or looking for improvement opportunities. Show respect for the owners of the area you are going to visit by letting them know in advance what is the purpose of your visit and how they can help. Be honest about your intentions and clear about your expectations. Right before the walk, take five minutes to explain the purpose and expectations of the walk to the team walking with you. Remember that two of the walk benefits are to develop your team and drive alignment within the organization.

During the Walk

While walking, you will go and see, show respect, and ask what, then why. Understand the purpose of work and performance expectations. During the walk, observe if there is any gap between what is supposed to happen and what is happening. Use the scientific process (PDCA) to identify the reasons and find the root cause. As a leader, focus on the process as the source of errors, not the people.

Ask what first, what is the purpose, what are the steps, or what are you trying to accomplish? Asking those questions requires being mindful of how you are asking, not only your tone but your body language as well. You want to show respect, listen to their words, be empathic, and let them feel that you care about their needs and feelings. Make your actions consistent with your words, and do what you said you would do, be trustworthy.

Once you gain an understanding of the situation, you can ask why questions. While trying to gain a deeper understanding, it is appropriate to use the 5 Why technique.

After the Walk

After the walk, take another five minutes to get an understanding of its effectiveness. Listen to the observations and discussion points from the walkers. Clarify any doubts and capture all observation and improvement ideas. Get agreement on what improvements the group will work with and combine them into one list. Create a follow-up plan, who will work with what, and preliminary timeline.

Do your best to stay focused on the agreed purpose of the walk. Lead the walk in such a way that walkers understand that it is more effective if everybody focused on one thing at a time. Unless you see something that is urgent, like a safety situation, do not deviate from the purpose agreed during the preparation stage. Remember, continuous improvement works because it is focused on small improvements at a time.

Leadership & Team Development

How do you show respect to your team?

Respect in the workplace

Three characteristics of workplaces with toxic environments are disrespect, ineffective communication, and lack of growth. Those things are the contrary of what lean promotes. The heart of the Lean system is the people. Continuous improvement is not about tools, it is about people. In a successful continuous improvement culture, leadership trusts the team to solve their problems, and that requires much more than training.

Showing respect to your team

The best way to feel motivated and good about their jobs is to feel leadership’s respect and trust. Unfortunately, not everybody treats their peers with respect, not in the workplace, not in the street, or in the supermarket. Considering the turmoil we are living in these days between the pandemic and the civil unrest for the double standard in our society, it is worth to list basic ways to show respect.

Reflections

Leaders and citizens, we all need to learn how to listen more and talk less and practice compassion. We need to hold one another accountable, be consistent with our beliefs, driving out fear of speaking up, and trying to do things better. The workplace is not an isolated island, what happens in our society affect it, and vice versa. Perhaps, the lean pillar of respect the people can help us to go through these challenging times inside and out of the workplace. As I learned from Bob Chapman’s TrulyHumanLeadership blog, “To get trust, you have to freely give it.”