Are the people upset? Were the basis covered?
Commentary by Earle G. Airey III, MSPOD
People are emotional beings in ways that some may not be
entirely aware of. So many elements can affect the moods of people. This can
shift their emotional resources in such a way that unexpected behaviors can
result.
When I say “Are the people upset,” these can be your people,
their people, people over there and so on. They can be customers, venders,
employees, and stakeholders of various degrees. Naturally the closer these
people are to the decision makers the more influence these makers have in
shifting the peoples’ emotional resources whether they realize it or not. There
many times I have seen so much emotional turmoil endured only to learn that if
some basic elements were practiced on a regular basis human interactions would
be much smoother and productive. Here are a few examples I have witnessed.
Was there transparency?
Now I am not saying that you have to display all your
business for the world to see, however is information that would better inform
other so they could in turn make better decisions shared openly?
Many people have a tendency to downplay or cover up
mistakes. It is a natural part of our built in defense mechanism. The primal
part of the human brain responsible for protection reacts automatically.
Without discipline this part of the mind can cause big trouble. People make
mistakes and hopefully learn from them. This can give the opportunity for
others to learn without having to face the same trials (if subject matter is
similar). People respect others more when they can admit they made a mistake.
Lack of transparency lends to the suggestion of something
being covered up. This could be related to the aforementioned mistake, ethical
dilemmas, nefarious causes, and so on. How many bad incidents were discovered
and made worse because of a cover up? This begs the perspective, “If what was
about to be done (or in process) was going to be on the cover of every news
paper and website across the world, should it still be done?”
I believe transparency builds trust. Trust builds closeness
necessary for a community to reach common goals and support of individuals
striving for personal goals. This fosters teamwork, creative thinking, builds
respect, and creates a natural environment to help others.
Was there any appreciation or encouragement?
Just to say good job once in a while (less than once a month
in this example) has a tendency to sound hollow and something that is just a
good idea for bosses to say once in a while. I have found that people in
general like to feel appreciated. Even those who work thankless tasks may not
necessarily look for recognition, but would like to know the work they do is
appreciated. This can also act as natural encouragement to do more of the same.
Encouragement is especially important to help remove doubt,
fear, and confusion. This triple threat is more than enough to strike anyone
out (including whole organizations). These elements support a negative downward
spiral of frustration that diminishes creative thought and logic, two elements
needed to reverse the spirals direction. Discovering the areas that challenge
others to the point of frustration creates opportunities for encouraging them
and aids in reversing the downward spiral. This goes a long way in creating and
maintaining resonant relationships.
Were their physical and safety needs met?
Drawing some from Maslow’s pyramid of needs suggests that
most individuals are concerned to have their physical and safety needs met
before applying the higher levels of the model. It is not possible, nor
feasible for leaders and captains of industry to totally meet these needs for
the individual except for areas that are under their control.
Example. I knew of a delivery company that was so cheap they
only bought license plates for about two thirds of their fleet. These vehicle
made deliveries and then returned for reloading to make more deliveries. It was
determined that about one third of vehicles were being reloaded and any given
time so the thought was, “why pay to license them?” Well first of all it is
illegal not to. Second, drivers would sometimes forget to install a valid plate
and drive off without one. And third, it showed that the company was more
interested in saving a few bucks over the driver’s wellbeing in performing
their job. There were other challenges with this, however I trust the point is
clear, the drives felt threatened about paying for a ticket they didn’t
deserve. That logic permeated many aspects of the company.
How about the workplace itself? Is it in good repair? Are
the restrooms in decent order? How about cleanliness? Just because someone may
have a disheveled desk does not mean they are okay with toilets that don’t
flush right or electrical wiring hanging out the walls and/or ceilings. The
physical environment impacts the psyche in numerous ways. In some facilities
careful attention is paid to lighting, color, and environmental comfort. There
are obvious difficulties in providing this depending on the nature of the work
being done (like a coal mine, but it should be a clean and safe coal mine…as
far as coal mines go), however it should be kept in mind what these issues can
do in the promotion/demotion of feeling if their physical wellbeing is at risk.
Most of us have seen those signs in restrooms of commercial establishments
asking to inform an associate if the facility is in need of servicing. Now why
do you think that is?
Do the people have the resources they need to meet desired
objectives?
Early in my automotive career (in a former life) I worked in
a facility where it was better if you had your own tools. Most auto technicians
indeed have their own tools, however in this place it was not a deal breaker to
work there. There were tools everywhere. It was a chore finding tools and when
they were found, they were either broken, part of it MIA, or in use by others.
I brought my own meager set of tools, but quickly starting building what I
needed to do my job without this added frustration. Do the people have what is
needed to adequately accomplish the desired task? Are clients given a clear
path to obtain customer service? Is the proposed system including adequate
representation from all departments for evaluation to get more holistic input,
or just the management staff making all the decisions?
I am aware that there are challenges with the acquisition of
adequate resources and wise distribution of them. Beyond this however, if
people do not have the needed elements for success they can become defensive.
They can become frustrated in their task (which can contribute to the downward
spiral mentioned earlier) and fearful they will bear the blame for any failure
encountered. If resources are not available or limited this can create another
opportunity for encouragement. Letting people know that there are doing a great
job with limited resources may relax them and help them feel safe from
reprisal. This safe state can add to creative thinking and they just may come
up with a solution that meets the resource challenge.
Final thoughts
It is probably obvious that I place a lot of value in
people’s emotional states and resources. I have seen people (individually and
collectively) affected by the bad negative stimuli (there is a good negative,
like the kind that tell one to pull their money out of a bad investment or pull
a finger away from a hot surface) to where logical and creative thought was
elusive. In worse cases the end can be a mob mentality, at best another day of
an undesired status quo.
Consequently from the opposite perspective I have witnessed
what positive stimuli can accomplish. Safety promotes positive thinking and can
promote improved health through managed stress. In some organizations this is
the “secret” weapon of their success.
Those are just a few observations I have witnessed. What are
some experiences or ideas do you have? Please share, thank you.
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