A group of technical experts with over couple of decades of experience in their fields eagerly went on explaining their work, expertise, issues & challenges to their new manager. There was anxiety, a kind of fear and tentativeness in their approach. They were unsure – did this guy really understand our work? can he appreciate our concerns and truly make any attempt to address some of them???
The young manager was seriously listening. Noting down some aspects of conversation – here & there. The topic was new to him. But not the essence of challenges and a logical understanding of why they can be so.
He paraphrased the entire conversation of 90 minutes in three sentences –“I understand that you are all very passionate about the work you do, the impact it creates on the business and the need for ensuring your contribution remains significant. I’m honored to be part of this great team. Let’s make this remarkable!”
“The challenges you mentioned can be categorized into three sets – Intergroup Coordination, Operational Inefficiencies and Technical Limitations”
“Starting immediately, let’s work-together to define & baseline a way-of-working with all stakeholders highlighting interface requirements, dependencies and workflow patterns. Secondly, let’s list all improvements we should bring in next 3 months time and suggest how best this can be done in the current business environment. Identify areas you can own and lead the effort. Thirdly, let’s invite business leaders & select customers into our monthly meetings to provide visibility to our efforts and seek their feedback.”
Team felt relieved and happy to see their new manager connecting immediately to their feelings, bringing positive perspective to the situation and participating to make it happen.
Competent teams do not need yet another guru. They need acknowledgement for their value. They would like to participate in decision making process within the organization and thrive to remain “wanted”.
In the new normal of abundance of information, everyone can claim to be an expert. But the true power of experience comes in the form of immediate “relevance”.
While traditional managers tend to increase their span of control, practical leaders always play for widening the span of relevance.
Get closer to your teams, be relevant to them so that you can together create something of significant value!
What are you playing for today?
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