Over the years I've implemented many methods of keeping my work teams working efficiently, feeling empowered, forward-thinking, innovative, engaged, connected, focused, hard working and other such things that lead to a happier team, better work environment and ultimately a productive and effective unit; that's the absolute minimum any reasonable leader should be doing and I believe it applies to any workplace team and other teams such as sporting teams for instance...but there's so many other aspects that have to combine for ultimate success.
One area I feel is very often neglected is systems, processes and procedures; the things people do in the course of the job or task that keeps the cogs turning and the output flowing - they're too often a set and forget thing.
I'm very process and procedure driven meaning I have a high regard for standard operating procedures (SOP's) and know that they produce better results. Take the military for instance; there's some very set processes, things that happen one way and one way only, and deviation can have catastrophic effects. So, in my teams there's set processes and I expect them followed. Or the team is put up against a wall and shot.
However, contrary to that mindset and ethos, I've also promoted individual thinking, the ability to find new and better ways, look outside the box, to innovate, adapt and adjust to what is an ever-changing environment. Again, think about the battlefield where no plan survives intact once contact with the enemy occurs - one needs to be fluid, flexible and ready to pivot and do things that may not quite stay within the lines. The same can be said for business.
One of the ways I've done this in the past, and will be implementing soon in my organisation, is Fuck off Friday which sounds funny but is in fact a critical concept that allows a team to discover inefficiencies, redundancies, ineffectiveness, time-wasting and other such progress-inhibiting things. Here's how it works.
I task my teams to investigate the systems, processes and procedures that are carried out daily, weekly and monthly and pick them apart, question what, why, how, when and who, I guess one could say and to find a reason to Fuck it off.
That's it. Ok, not really; there's far more to it but this isn't a tutorial and you've probably already tuned out of this post as it is.
The team, or even an individual, gets a month between one Fuck off Friday and the next to run the process and I provide all the help they need including time, my support and that of others, resources, required research and data and often even external experts or consultants if required and then on Fuck off Friday we gather, have some snacks, coffee, beers or what ever is appropriate, and we fuck that thing off. (There's often a process to fucking it off which has to roll out but the celebration of fucking that thing off is done on the Friday.)
I'm simplifying it all here of course, there's really quite a lot to it most times, but sometimes we find things that happen "because that's how we've always done it," not because it's the best way and it's those things I'm looking for as much as the big ticket items. Whether one is on the battlefield or in business it's the one-percenters that can make a difference, especially when there's many of them compounding. It's those one-percenters that are also usually more easy to find and implement...as long as there's a focus on finding them.
My teams are often (usually) incredibly productive and if not then they work towards it, happily empowered, using innovative methods and with the ultimate goal in mind; those who don't aren't around very long - they seem to drift away due to their inability to rise to their full potential in teams that are accustomed to seeking optimal performance collectively and individually. Oh, and my teams are among the most rewarded because of their results which makes me happy.
So that's Fuck off Friday in a very basic format; there's a lot more to it and depending on the organisations in which I've implemented it the process takes a slightly different shape but on every occasion it's identified inefficiency, ineffectiveness and turned weaknesses into strengths in the systems and processes used. Another thing it's done is to make the individuals in the team feel included, like they have a voice that is heard and that their experience and input is valid and required...I like them feeling like that as much as they do.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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Image(s) in this post are my own