It was a painful conversation to witness. I was meeting with Jennifer and Patrick. They are partners in a small professional service firm. We were discussing things that the business needed and trying to prioritize those needs.

Patrick was quite adamant that the accounting system needed to be overhauled. Now.

Jennifer was concerned that the firm needed to be developing its junior staff. Then she started thinking about more concerns.

“In addition to accounting and training, I’ve been concerned that we may be behind on our policies and procedures manuals,” Jennifer said.

Then she added: “What about that new product line we’ve planned? And then there’s . . .”

Patrick blew up. “You’re doing it again. You’re throwing more issues on the table than we can possibly deal with. We agreed to focus on one. And it’s the accounting system. And it needs to be done NOW.”

That’s when I had to step in.

Patrick is one of those folks who can focus intensely on one topic and deal with it right away. He wants closure. Jennifer is one of those folks who needs to explore lots of options before she decides anything.

What do you do when you find yourself in their situation?

You first, before you even start the conversation, state what outcome you want from the discussion.

Then you set a timeframe for the discussion. Patrick could do it in 2 minutes. Jennifer might want to take 2 hours. You agree on a compromise that gives Jennifer her “and another thing” time. And you agree that you will make a decision at the end of that compromise time.

It’s not perfect but Jennifer gets to do her thing and Patrick knows he will get a decision when they’re done.

]]> http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=251 http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=248 http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=248#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:51:45 +0000 admin http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=248 Talk about changing customers’ expectations. . .

I recently spent some time at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. Piedmont is a great facility and is always ranked among the top hospitals in the country.

The staff is exceptional. They always have a good attitude and are focused on helping their patients get well. I’ve been at Piedmont before, so I expected such high caliber service.

And, since I’ve been there before, I also expected the usual crappy, flavorless hospital food that I’ve experienced in the past.

But not this time.

Piedmont offers room service for all meals, where you get to pick what you want and when you want it. The menu has great variety, from peanut butter sandwiches to chicken kiev. If you want three desserts, you can have those, too.

You call your order in and, within a reasonable time, a room service waiter, in full room service dress, delivers your food to your bedside table.

And it actually has some flavor.

Talk about creating new expectations for your customers. What new expectations are you creating for your customers?

I had promised readers that I would post weekly mini case studies on how to manage people and on communications. I was very good at sticking to that schedule for more than a year.

Then the economy tanked, and my engineering buddies were hurting. And I became less rigorous about delivering those case studies.

But I’m back. After that friendly kick in the pants, I recommitted to posting something weekly. As we all know, one should “underpromise and overdeliver.”

I will close with this quick communication tip: Put yourself in the mind of your reader/listener. The other day, my husband was going to take a pill in our bathroom. I was in my office and asked him to bring me the yellow tablet next to my computer in the bedroom.

Sure enough, he did. Only he brought the yellow vitamin tablet I had left there. I was asking for the yellow writing tablet. He was thinking pills, I was thinking pens. So much for clear communication.

Talk about a communication conundrum. . .

Yesterday I was coaching a young woman (read “half my age”), and we were brainstorming ways to get her staff to take ownership of their work. We were exploring how to create a sense of urgency for them. (I hear this a lot from owners.)

We talked about playing some game with a timer—this is for an off-site retreat. We thought of Pictionary or maybe Charades. These didn’t excite me, but I know my kids liked Pictionary.

I thought back to games where I felt most pressured to win before time ran out. My mind went back to video games like Pac Man and Centipede.

They created that adrenalin rush that you had to move fast and smart or you would get eaten or whatever. (I was always an observer.)

She was aware of Pac Man, but had never heard of some of the others. She did not grow up in this country. Score 1 for “cultural differences.”

Then I got excited, remembering playing pre-video games, sometimes in drinking establishments. “We need a pinball machine!”

She looked at me with that “what are you talking about” look.

“Pinball, you know,” I said, reliving old memories, pantomiming pulling back the launcher and working the flippers. Still a blank look.

“Certainly you know of the rock opera ‘Tommy?’ Blind kid who’s a pinball wizard. . .”

Still a blank look. I was struggling here. Score 2 for “cultural differences.”

“Well, you do know who The Who is, don’t you?” I asked, looking for some shred of a way to relate.

“The Who. Yes, I know them.” Thank heavens!

Needless to say, my case for a pinball machine didn’t land on this young woman. They didn’t have pinball machines in her country. And she hadn’t taken a college course on great rock operas from the 1970s.

]]> http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=237 http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=233 http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=233#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:48:54 +0000 admin http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=233 Here’s another simple communication tip that’s a lot harder than it seems.

Ban the use of the word “but.”

For example, you’re in a team meeting and people are evaluating whether to open another office location. Paul says, “We’ve got a client in the area. It makes sense to set up an office there to give us a local presence.”

Natalie replies: “But that’s going to cost us for office space and all that.”

The “but” immediately discredits Paul’s idea. What if Natalie had just dropped the “but” and said, “That’s going to cost us for office space and all that.”

See what happens? The critical tone is gone. She is just stating a fact, rather than implying an opinion.

That leaves room for the conversation to continue.

Some people suggest using the word “and” where you would typically say “but.”

For example, “I would really like to see that movie, but tonight isn’t going to work for me.” What happens when you change it to “I would really like to see that movie, and tonight isn’t going to work for me.”

It’s weird and it’s awkward. But (I know) the awkwardness of it will make you realize how often you use the word “but.” Give it a try.

]]> http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=233 http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=229 http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=229#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:30:09 +0000 admin http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=229 Yesterday I had the privilege of kicking off a Future Leaders program for a professional association. It is such a joy seeing the enthusiasm and openness that the Future Leaders display as they position themselves to grow professionally and personally.

I found this message this morning:

“I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. I truly enjoyed your class last night and have already used the ‘Help me understand’ and ‘How can I help?’ tactics. No surprise, they worked! Thanks.”

For those who weren’t with us yesterday, here are some communication tools to always keep in your back pocket.

“Tell me more“–for when you didn’t understand or quite get what someone said. It keeps them talking and gives you time to listen for more information. Say this instead of asking a slew of questions that show you didn’t understand what the person said. Save yourself the embarrassment.

“Help me understand“–similar purpose. It may prod the other person to give you more in-depth information or to explain the logic behind their ideas or decisions.

“How can I help?” People like to help other people–it is part of what makes us different from other creatures. It gives you a chance to do a small favor for someone, and, in all likelihood, they will return that favor.

Armed with just those tools, you will grow in your ability to keep a conversation going, to understand what others need or want, and to gather the data you need to help your client.

So, how can you help me? Forward this blog post to friends who could also benefit from having these tools. And be sure to let me know how I can help you.

Have a great day.

]]> http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=229 http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=224 http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=224#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:02:58 +0000 admin http://weknowengineers.com/blog/?p=224 It is true that what once was old is now new again. The business buzz these days is about setting office hours.

You remember when you were in college. The professors had certain hours that they committed to being in their office and available for you to stop by. If you needed to talk to a professor, your best chance came during his office hours.

Now company execs are setting office hours for when they will be available for employees and office hours for when they are available for their customers.

The topic is hot enough that Harvard Business Review featured it in a guest blog by Bill Taylor, cofounder of Fast Company magazine.

Jason Fried, founder of Chicago productivity software firm 37 signals, is available for two hours on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. He sits in his office and takes calls from customers.

One person asked him how he handled the crush of calls. Fried replied that he took the calls as they came in and didn’t rely on call waiting.

Seems simple enough.

How old is this “new” idea?

George Goethals was one of the chief engineers on the Panama Canal, which opened in 1914. Supposedly, each Sunday Goethals would meet with anyone involved with the construction of the canal. He would sometimes see upwards of 100 people in a day.

As a footnote, the Canal was finished more than a year ahead of its target date. Let’s hear it for open communication.

But let’s look at the truth of the situation.

It’s not how you manage time. It’s about how you manage YOU.

We all have the same 24 hours a day. To my knowledge, nobody has found a way to squeeze another hour or two into a 24-hour day.

Here are some quotes from management guru Peter Drucker. I hope they get you thinking.

“Everything requires time. It is the only truly universal condition. All work takes place in time and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable, and necessary resource. Nothing else, perhaps, distinguishes effective executives as much as their tender loving care of time.”

“One cannot buy, rent or hire more time. The supply of time is totally inelastic. No matter how high the demand, the supply will not go up. There is no price for it. Time is totally perishable and cannot be stored. Yesterday’s time is gone forever, and will never come back. Time is always in short supply. There is no substitute for time. Everything requires time. All work takes place in, and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable and necessary resource.”

“Until we can manage TIME, we can manage nothing else.”

I was doing a lunch and learn for a firm recently on how to get referrals and repeat business. Just about everyone I know needs to spend time working on getting referrals and repeat business.

But not Arthur.

Arthur is one of the more experienced (i.e., older) professionals at this firm. He proudly told me he doesn’t need referrals because his client keeps him busy.

“My client just keeps calling me with more work,” Arthur said. “I don’t even have to ask for it.”

“Arthur,” I asked, “what are you going to do when your client gets run over by a bus at lunchtime? Do you know who would replace him?”

This stopped Arthur cold—made him think. He knows his client’s boss, but he doesn’t know others in the firm—the others that might step in after the lunchtime tragedy.

Don’t get cocky like Arthur. Spend time with your clients and the folks who work with them. Develop relationships that will keep your business alive after the rogue bus drivers of this world take out your clients.

I was stunned. My client, I’m sure, was much more so.

We had talked about how Randy had such great potential and what we saw in his future with the firm.

Problem was, apparently, Randy didn’t get the message. At least that’s what Randy told me.

I know people are often negligent in telling someone they’ve done a good job or that we appreciate them. In fact, the number one reason people give for leaving a job is that “my manager doesn’t appreciate me.”

That’s followed by “I don’t know what my future is with this firm” and “my manager doesn’t communicate with me.” Rarely is money the true reason someone leaves a job.

So, what are you doing to communicate to your future leaders what you see for them? Are you at risk of getting sucker-punched when one of your rising stars leaves?