Fourth Quarter 2013- Issue 14
At the End of the Day- “Focused Participation”
I recall a leader who had visited an operating facility and listened to the results that were shared with him in a quarterly meeting. One particular result that made an impression on him was from a manager at the facility whose results had significantly improved. When the leader asked what drove these results, the manager replied that he began to focus on the situation and had simply gathered the relevant information, started looking at it, made it visible and shared it with his team and they all concluded this was not acceptable and developed a plan to address it. In other words, he focused and gained their participation. He went on to say they worked together to constantly see if their efforts were working and when they were not, they made the necessary adjustments. In this situation, the power of “focused participation” drove performance up exponentially.
“Focused participation” can be summarized as follows:
- Gather relevant information on a specific matter
- Look at it closely
- Make it visible
- Share it with key colleagues
From this focused participation, a positive and inclusive work environment will lead to the following:
- Alignment with the need to improve it
- Development of a plan to address it
- Monitoring the progress of the plan (feedback)
- Making adjustments to the plan as necessary
- Achieving or exceeding targeted results
Getting others to focus and concentrate in today’s technology, sound-bite-driven world is a management/mission critical goal for today’s leaders. To focus, or give someone or something your undivided attention, is paramount to being engaged. When others see and feel the leader engaged in a positive way (not necessarily micromanaging), their participation levels rise. They become open to more and more possibilities and everyone wins.
By the way, the leader, whose full attention they had was me, appreciated the efforts of the manager and his team at the operating facility and thanked them for a great job!
–Mario Flores
Mario Flores. All rights reserved. No part of these materials may be reproduced in any form without written consent.
