The Power of Listening to Cause Breakthrough Results
I’m fascinated by how simple it can be to change the dynamic of interaction in an organization, from the misaligned and siloed environment, to an inclusive, broad thinking perspective. Creating a forum for intentional conversations in the workplace can change the whole dynamic in an instant. I’ve been working in the field of people relations (human resources and organization development) for my entire professional life; I love studying the impact of human interactions that lead to healthier workplace cultures.
Let me give an example of one such intentional conversation that had a positive impact. I worked as an independent consultant for a small specialty trades contractor for 18 months and during this time I discovered that the employees at this company rarely, if ever, took the time to understand what others in the company were doing and how their actions impacted the broader company operations. I primarily focused on the sales team as this was the area the CEO felt needed the most support. Individuals outside the sales team faced daily issues and spent much of their time putting out fires. The sales team members were focused on making sales as they were paid commissions for doing so. Many of the sales team members operated independently and because of that did not understand the perspective of the warehouse or how their own lack of planning impacted the operational productivity of the company.
Based on feedback I received during interviews, some of the sales staff members would repeatedly make a sale and then often forget to inform the warehouse until the day of the installation. The warehouse team members would scramble to find the materials needed for the job and then schedule their one delivery driver to get materials to the customer on time. This had a negative impact on overall company productivity as well as employee morale.
One way to help address these operational pain points was to schedule listening sessions. The sessions were intended to encourage widening the understanding of what each person needed in order to do their job effectively. It also enabled each person regardless of role to understand how their actions and behaviors contributed to the organization's results. These meetings involved individuals from sales, warehouse, and operations. During these sessions, it was rewarding to hear comments like “I never knew that and I’m sorry I didn’t realize the impact of my actions on your group”. These were comments coming from multi-decade veterans of the company.
From these sessions, the group came up with solutions for how to improve the operations. Because the members came up with these ideas, it was powerful, effective, and everyone took ownership. You could see the energy level of the group increase as these conversations continued. Many Individuals stated they felt heard and understood, in some cases for the first time.
The big lessons learned were the following:
We all have our own perspectives that drive our actions. Many times, we assume other people have the same understanding as us.
Setting up job descriptions and individual goals without including how each position impacts overall company operations can cause misalignment and inefficiencies.
Setting up a conversation with the intention of improving overall company results can eliminate the feeling of “us against them” and encourage a big picture solution oriented perspective.
Most problems in the workplace are caused by misunderstandings and incorrect assumptions. There is abundant research regarding the monetary cost of these misunderstandings.
Scheduling a meeting with the purpose of improving company operations and inviting employees from different departments is a recipe for success.
Creating an environment where individuals share their perspectives, listen to each other, and work collaboratively can cause breakthroughs to happen; often, this causes a fundamental shift in how the people in a company interact.
Hopefully, you can see opportunities in your workplace to facilitate some interactive listening conversations. These can be structured informally or be designed more formally depending on the size and complexity of the challenge(s).
I’d love to hear about your experiences with intentional conversations or ideas on specific challenges that might be solved through this process.
