Storyboard That Idea!

The storyboarding process actually started with Leonardo da Vinci but was revitalized and developed at the Walt Disney Studios in 1929 with the creation of Steamboat Willie. Since that time it has grown in popularity in movie and animation studios and has also moved into mainstream business.

Walt Disney World itself was planned exclusively via storyboarding in about 10 days. Walt Disney and Mike Vance saw that storyboarding could be adapted effectively for business planning in a mode they termed “displayed thinking.” Displayed thinking can be used for group problem-solving and strategic planning, such as in:

·         Decision Making

·         Strategic Planning

·         Decision Execution

·         Building Consensus and Buy-in

·         Processing Large Amounts of Information

·         Making the Plan Visible While it is Executed

There are 13 basic steps to the typical storyboarding process. You can just as easily go through this yourself for an individual project as you can with a group for a larger project. This is outlined well by the Iowa State University Extension:

1. State the Problem.

Be specific and concise.

2. Brainstorm and Post all Ideas.

Each idea is written in large letters on a separate card or piece of paper.

3. Share Ideas.

Participants talk about what they have written on the cards.

4. Review Each Card for Meaning.

Ask for clarification.

5. Sorting By Content.

In silence, participants begin sorting and grouping the items of similar content.

6. “Header Cards” Added.

Participants are given several “header cards” that are larger (and a different color) than the idea cards previously used.

7. Total Group Discusses the Groupings.

There may be a need to break some of the topics into smaller sub-topics.

8. “Symptoms” vs. “Causes.”

The focus should be on the root causes of the problem, not causes.

9. Vote for Consensus.

The group identifies the top three or four ideas.

10. Restate Header Cards Using A Verb.

Replace a noun with a verb.

11. Subtier Actions.

If subtier actions are necessary, post them under the header cards.

12. Assign Completion Date.

Assign a completion date to each item.

13. Post Dates and Name of Person Responsible.

Post dates and the name of the person responsible for each action item.

“Tell” instructions and half of them will be forgotten – tell a story and it will remembered.

Why Work Doesn't Happen At Work

If you want to understand the true feelings about office work at your organization - take a look at this video.

I came across this video, "Why Work Doesn't Happen at Work", by Jason Fried, through a post on the Disney Entrepreneur Center group on LinkedIn. I thought it sounded like it might be interesting so I clicked on it. I quickly found myself smiling and nodding my head in agreement while I watched . . . especially because here I am sitting in my "man cave" at home . . . working. *after watching, you'll know why that's humorous.

Take a look (click on the blog title) and think about what Jason is saying - it's so true. The office is basically, not a conducive place to do work. Those of you in "cube farms" know exactly where I'm coming from.

Maybe there are things that you can't change, for one reason or another. But after watching this video I think you'll have a brand new understanding of how things (people) actually "work".

Enjoy.

Meet Me Before Work

A good leader is going to provide a supportive environment for his staff. You have to encourage them to think (and act) like they belong to a team. In order to do this, you’ve got to give them the “time of day”. Provide staff adequate time for short pre-work meetings to start each day. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant. “But we don’t have time,” you say. A mere ten minutes a day will add up to more than 40 hours of free education a year! Imagine what that much training would cost if you sent staff to seminars for that long.

Pre-work meetings provide opportunities to:
- have two-way communication daily,
- tell staff what’s important,
- thank them for their great performance,
- answer any questions,
- provide product and service knowledge,
- find out what they need to perform properly, and
- inspire them.
And on top of everything else, demonstrate faith in their ability to succeed.

A common mistake leaders make is trying to cover too many issues in a pre-work meeting. With too many points to concentrate on the group learns "everything and nothing." The key to holding successful pre-work meetings is to stay focused on one or two short objectives. If it helps, think of your pre-work meeting as a pre-work “moment”. In a world of “too many meetings”, that’ll help you stay clear of the meeting “stigma” and you’ll be able to get everyone to focus in a more relaxed manner.

You want to be able to keep your teams attention so make the meetings interactive. Have questions ready so you can bounce them off your folks so they have to respond. Don’t ask “test questions” where everyone’s going to dread getting together before their shift. It should be an enjoyable interactive communication experience.

Remember that pre-work “moments” are opportunities to teach, inspire and pump up energy levels of your teams before they "go on stage." Your enthusiasm for both teaching and having FUN learning together will drive the day. Toni Kottom, Director of Training at Perkins (yum) puts in it perspective when he says that, "Attention goes where energy flows."

WHY, WHY, WHY??

THE root cause of a problem is seldom the first idea that you come up with. So you end up struggling with what types of problem-solving techniques to use (there are MANY). The 5 Whys is a simple technique that helps you get to the root of the problem quickly. It simply involves looking at any problem and asking, "Why?" The answer to the first "why" will prompt another "why", and the answer to the second "why" will prompt another, and so on. This is pretty much where the name 5 Whys comes from. Duh. Pretty simplistic.

Like I said, it’s easy. Start at the problem and work backwards to find the root cause, continually asking, "Why?" Repeat it over and over until the root cause of the problem becomes apparent. It’s kind of like trying to explain something to a kid – “You have to go to bed.” “Why?” “Because it’s time.” “Why?” Yadda-yadda-yadda. You get the picture.

Here’s an example:
1. Why is our client ready to drop us? Because we didn’t deliver our product when we said we would.
2. Why didn't we deliver our product when we said we would? The job took much longer than we thought it would.
3. Why did the job take so much longer? Because we underestimated the complexity of the job.
4. Why did we underestimate the complexity of the job? Because we made a quick estimate of the time needed to complete it, and didn’t list all the steps needed to get it done.
5. Why did we make such a quick estimate? Because we were running behind on other projects and didn’t clearly review our time estimation and procedures.

From there you can make plans to ensure that no matter how behind you’re running you have a process in place to properly plan and review time estimations and procedures.

The 5 Whys is an easy and quick tool for uncovering the root of a problem. Because it’s so elementary, it can be adapted quickly and applied to most any problem, AND by most ANYONE. Keep in mind though, that if it doesn't get you a decent answer, there are many other problem-solving techniques you can choose from. The 5 Whys just happens to be my personal favorite.

No One's Perfect

If you’re trying to be the perfect, complete leader – STOP. You’ll just wear yourself down. No one is perfect. No one’s got it all. You can still be a great leader though without knowing all the answers. That’s why you have a team of managers and supervisors.

In an article by John C. Maxwell in Success magazine, he says, “incomplete leaders differ from incompetent leaders in that they understand what they’re good at and what they’re not good at. And they have good judgment about how they can work with others to build on their strengths and offset their limitations”. No one’s perfect.

Use your resources. That includes people. Everyone who works for (with) you has some type of area of expertise. Part of your job, as the leader, consists of finding out what those areas are. They have the answers to your questions. There’s no need in reinventing the wheel. It already exists.

You and your entire team work off of the same mission and vision. Do you know what they say? Does your staff? The mission and vision puts you all on the same path to success. Use them in conjunction with your teams knowledge and you’ll be headed toward the top. Remember my brainstorming blog (Sep 29, 2009)? This is the perfect opportunity to put the two together. Get everyone involved. The more answers and ideas you have, the more decisions can be made and the more new products, services, and success you'll have.

You don't always have to have every answer. No one's perfect. But you can still be grrrrreat. (sorry, had to)

No "Blamestorming" Allowed

When was the last time you held a brainstorming session . . . a REAL brainstorming. Most people who hold group brainstorming do it wrong. “Huh”, you say? “All it is is throwing out ideas and weeding them out.” That’s pretty much true. However, most people go at it the wrong way. It's not the appropriate time for blame or criticism.

All comments on participant's ideas should be held until the end! Brainstorming is allowing participants to put out their ideas with no pressure to hold them back. Here’s what a good group session should look like:

• The facilitator presents the problem and gives further explanation if needed.
• The facilitator sets a time limit and asks the group for their ideas.
• All participants present their ideas, and the person documenting records them.
• Participants may elaborate on their ideas to ensure clarity.
• When time is up, the facilitator organizes the ideas based on the topic goal.
• Categorize ideas.
• Review the whole list to ensure that everyone understands the ideas.
• Remove duplicate ideas and obviously unfeasible solutions.
• THEN discuss.

If you want a more effective group brainstorming session – don’t make the boss the facilitator. In fact, don’t even let him in the room. That’s a sure way of intimidating your more timid participants.

The biggest reason group discussions don’t work is because participants feel too much pressure or are intimidated. Research at the University of Texas (Arlington) and Texas A&M University have found that traditional brainstorming is not as effective as other techniques because of social pressure – the fear of looking foolish among peers and superiors, or even being afraid of saying something that will offend someone.

The next time you want to brainstorm, try the individual approach. Most of the research performed shows us that people working by themselves will come up with more ideas than when they’re in a group. They just don’t have that group pressure. Individually, they can be more relaxed and take a little more time to think or maybe get ideas elsewhere, like books or the Internet.

Brainstorming IS a very effective technique of producing new ideas and solutions, IF you perform it properly. So next time you think of brainstorming, take a few minutes to plan it out.

What CAN You Change?

In many organizations, especially those under heavy regulation (banking, healthcare, etc), you just don’t have a lot of opportunity for change. For a gung ho leader, that can make a tough job even more though, not to mention more stressful.

There are actually some things that you CAN change in your environment to decrease your stress. The thing is, you’ve probably thought about some of them already, but just haven’t gotten around to implementing them. Now is the time. It’s on your mind. You have some time (you’re reading this, aren’t you). So Do It.

Learn to Have Some Fun. Business is business, but it doesn’t have to be all spit and polish all the time. Release that inner humor. Smile. Talk at the water cooler about what happened last night on “Two and a Half Men.”

Learn to Say NO. Remember this? – “You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” When you’re plate is already stuffed, you just have to respectfully say no. It's better to do fewer things well than to do more things half-a**ed.

You’ve got to Manage Your Own Schedule. Too often supervisors get so caught up in managing others that they forget that they need managing also. Don’t leave it up to your boss, do it yourself. Get a planner, PDA (my personal favorite), or a desk calendar (do they still sell these?). Record every meeting and event as soon as you find out about it. Do a little triage. Is it a meeting you actually NEED to go to?

Be Optimistic. It’s human nature to pick out the negative. Be conscious of that and look for the good in everything that you do AND everyone that you meet. People have good qualities. Look for that first. You’ll feel so much better about yourself, your staff and co-workers, and your job. Attitude reflects attitude.

You can’t change everything, but you can recognize the things that you CAN change and work on them. You may not be able to change the regulations, but you can always change yourself.

Meetings, Meetings, and More Meetings

Have you ever sat down at a meeting table and asked yourself, "why the heck are we even here?"? Me too - many times. I used to have a department head that held a basic "what's happening" meeting the last hour on Friday and again first thing Monday morning. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

According to the Wall Street Journal report on Wharton Centre For Applied Research, the average CEO in the United States spends 17 hours a week in meetings that costs the company $42,500 per year. Senior executives spend 23 hours a week in meetings and cost up to $46,000.00 per year each. Middle managers spend 11 hours a week in meetings and cost up to $20,000.00 a year each.

There are some things that you can do to counteract some of these expenses. First and foremost, ask yourself if the meeting is really a necessity. Look to see if there's a more cost-effective way to achieve your objective - by phone, email, or water cooler.

Speed up your meetings by supplying all participants with an agenda two to three days prior to the meeting. Include objectives, issues to be discussed, start and end times for each issue, a list of attendees and any preparations required. Assign someone as a time-keeper to keep things on track according to the set time limits.

When making out your participant list, be sure the people you're choosing really need to be there. If not, you're just completely wasting their time. Pretty soon everyone will be questioning their need to be at any of your meetings.

And by all means, manage your meetings. Keep discussions on track. Use the parking lot - if the group starts getting off track, write that issue on a sticky note and post it to discuss it more at the end of the meeting, if there's time, or at a later date.

Good meetings don't just happen. If you manage the process, the results will take care of themselves.