WHILE THE EFFECTED COMPANIES WERE STRUGGLING FOR SURVIVAL THROUGH THE DARKEST HOURS OF THE PAST DECADE OR SO, THERE WERE PROBABLY PEOPLE WITHIN THOSE COMPANIES WITH THE SOLUTIONS TO THE DILEMMAS PERPLEXING THE BOARDS OF DIRECTORS.
OUR TRADITIONAL BUSINESS CULTURE HAS PREVENTED THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE IDEAS OF OUR PEOPLE FROM SURFACING. MANAGEMENT TALKED AND THE REST OF THE ORGANIZATION LISTENED. IF MANAGEMENT DID NOT HAVE SOLUTIONS, WE USUALLY HIRED CONSULTANTS. EVEN IF WE ASKED FOR IDEAS, WE DID NOT LISTEN WELL AND MOST OF THE FOLKS WITH THE IDEAS DID NOT TRUST OUR MOTIVES.
THE WORLD'S MOST SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES SHARE A COMMON CHARACTERISTIC REGARDING COMMUNICATIONS. IN THOSE COMPANIES COMMUNICATIONS IS TWO WAY. IT INCLUDES LISTENING BY MANAGEMENT AND INPUT FROM ALL QUARTERS OF THE ORGANIZATION. IN THE TRADITIONAL COMPANIES, THE ADVERSARIAL POSITIONS OF MANAGEMENT AND LABOR MUST BE GREATLY DIMINISHED FOR THE FLOW OF INFORMATION TO GO BOTH WAYS.
THE TRANSITION IS USUALLY PAINFUL AND REQUIRES A GREAT DEAL OF PLANNING AND FACILITATION. LEADERS OF MANAGEMENT AND LABOR MUST FIRST CULTIVATE A CONSENSUS REGARDING NEED AND IMPLEMENTATION. THE LEADERS MUST BE TRAINED TO BE SENSITIVE TO WHAT BOTH WORKERS AND SUPERVISORS ARE FEELING AS THEIR WORKING ENVIRONMENT CHANGES. CHANGE, EVEN FOR THE BETTER, CAN BE AND USUALLY IS PAINFUL. AFTER ALL, THE WAY IT IS REPRESENTS THE WAY THEY HAVE SURVIVED AND ACHIEVED REAL OR PERCEIVED SUCCESS IN THE WORKPLACE. THE WAY IT IS, PROBABLY, REPRESENTS A DEGREE OF COMFORT. REMOVING EVEN THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF COMFORT IS USUALLY FRIGHTENING TO ANY OF US.
MY FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH ATTEMPTS TO HAVE LABOR AND SUPERVISION WORK TOGETHER TO SOLVE PROBLEMS WERE CHALLENGING TO SAY THE LEAST.. THE SUPERVISORS FELT VERY THREATENED BY THE POSSIBILITY OF HAVING UPPER MANAGEMENT LISTENED DIRECTLY TO THE WORKERS. AFTER ALL, ANGER NURTURED THE TRADITIONAL ADVERSARIAL RELATIONSHIPS. WE KNEW HOW TO OPERATE IN THAT ENVIRONMENT. THE WORKERS WERE FREQUENTLY SWEPT UP IN THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO VENT THEIR FRUSTRATIONS TOWARDS MANAGEMENT. THEY FELT THAT SINCE MANAGEMENT MADE ALL OF THE DECISIONS, THEY OBVIOUSLY OWNED ALL OF THE BLAME FOR ALL EXISTING PROBLEMS.
INITIALLY, THE FOCUS OF THE PROBLEM SOLVING GROUPS WAS ON THE INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED RATHER THAN ON PROBLEMS. IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE DID NOT KNOW HOW TO FUNCTION EFFECTIVELY WHILE WORKING TOGETHER. WE HAD TO REGROUP, DEVELOP A PLAN, INVENT APPLICABLE TRAINING APPROACHES AND CONCENSE ON HOW WE WOULD OVERCOME THE ROADBLOCKS TO THIS EFFORT.
WE DEVELOPED A FORMAT FOR GROUP TRAINING. IT INCLUDED INVOLVING SIMULTANEOUS TRAINING FOR MANAGEMENT STAFF AND LABOR LEADERS. WE WERE INVOLVED IN WORKSHOPS WHEREIN WE WORKED TOGETHER, AS PEERS, IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE FOCUS WAS ON UNDERSTANDING GROUP DYNAMICS AND STATISTICAL APPROACHES TO IDENTIFYING AND SOLVING PROBLEMS. THIS TRAINING WAS THEN JOINTLY PROVIDED TO LABOR AND SUPERVISION BY MANAGEMENT AND UNION TRAINER TEAMS.
THE EMPHASIS OF OUR TRAINING WAS TO STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING ASIDE THE ANGER OF THE PAST AND FOCUS ON THE PROBLEMS THAT WERE HAMPERING OUR ABILITY TO COMPETE. FOCUSING ON THE DATA RELEVANT TO THE PROBLEMS RATHER THAN OPINION WAS ALSO STRESSED. DATA IS MORE IMPERSONAL, UNEMOTIONAL AND CAN USUALLY BE AGREED UPON.
INSIDE THE PROBLEM SOLVING GROUPS ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE EQUAL AND ALL EFFORTS WERE MADE TO CREATE A NON THREATENING ENVIRONMENT. ALL WERE HEARD AND ALL CONTRIBUTED TO SOME DEGREE.
WE HAVE BEEN NURTURING AND DEVELOPING THIS APPROACH FOR FIFTEEN YEARS. I HAVE CONCLUDED THAT NO APPROACH TO WORKING TOGETHER WILL EVER BE PERFECT. I AM CONVINCED, BASED ON EXPERIENCE, THAT WE CAN AND WILL CONTINUALLY IMPROVE THIS PROCESS AND THAT THE NEXT GENERATION WILL FIND IT TO BE THE NORMAL WAY TO WORK AND SURVIVE.
THE EVOLUTION OF THIS APPROACH AND THE SUCCESSES THAT HAVE BEEN GENERATED FROM IT HAVE CONTRIBUTED GREATLY TO OUR CURRENT ABILITY TO COMPETE. I BELIEVE THAT THOSE COMPANIES WHO WILL SURVIVE THE TRANSITION TO A WORLD MARKET IN THE LONG TERM WILL FIND THAT THEIR SUCCESS WILL BE GREATLY ENHANCED BY IMPROVING THEIR ABILITY TO HAVE EFFECTIVE, ACROSS THE BOARD, COMMUNICATIONS .
DAN ROBLING©