A recent study showed that more than 50% of companies surveyed are undergoing major changes MOST of the time, and two out of three people feel constant uncertainty and ambiguity in the workplace. I’m not so sure…but than again, who knows?

These five indicators tell you if you’re balancing focus and flexibility, force and frivolity, seriousness with humor.

1. When the Going Gets Tough - The Tough Use Humor
Fortunately, most of us are NOT engaged in physical battle, so instead of “tightening up” and
slamming through - throwing more time, money, muscle, energy…at the problem - how about
“lightening up” and asking the team to look for an easier way? Who said it has to be hard?

2. Are You Noticing Other People?
It the situation at hand seems like a joke, perhaps you’re half way there. To prevent “hardening
of the attitudes,” notice the absurdity in it, then notice how other people can play a role in
attacking the problem (rather than attacking each other)

3. Can You Meet Them Where They Are?
This up-front investment in first understanding them, and letting them know you got it, gets you
out of isolation, clearing the runway for faster results. It’s what we call “go slow to go fast.”

4. Response-able vs. Responsible
The best way to manage and lead change, or when things to wrong, is to identify areas of shared
responsibility, and get to an agreement about consequences we all want to avoid (such as
perpetuating past problems) and what we are going to do about it now. Rehasing the past is
pointless and an energy drain.

5. Is Learning Happening?
There are two ways to learn anything: the easy way and the hard way. Effective business relationships are
based on learning (also known as continuous improvement.) Do you give and get feedback easily? Are you
generally open, non-defensive, willing to listen, understand and use what you hear? If someone points out
that you (heaven forbid) made a “mistake” can you see your customers, coworkers and the boss…as a
learning resource?

These indicators will greatly assist you when pressure exists and from the results of this survey, that is pretty much all the time!

Barb Bruno, CPC

This entry was posted on Friday, July 21st, 2006 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.