Are the people upset? Were the basics covered?

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.