HOW DO WE DO IT?

GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER:

Our tendency as human beings is to want to fix problems or change situations. But as an old French proverb states, “The more things change, the more things stay the same”. In other words, moving things around on the organizational chart, or applying the latest and greatest system will produce a certain level of results. But to paraphrase Peter F. Drucker, let’s not confuse motion with action.

McCaffery Consulting’s approach involves first and foremost finding out what the organizational issue is. But beyond discerning issues, what is needed for substantial, effective change is getting to the actual source of the problem.

For example, continual missing of objectives and commitments may be a problem, but what underlying paradigm allows this behavior to occur in the first place?

We will work with you to articulate the issues and we will dialogue with you and your people to discover the dynamics that govern the presence of this problem in your company.

COMPLETING PAST WAYS OF DOING BUSINESS:

Every organization at some point drifts into “business as usual”. In some organizations, business as usual takes the form of bureaucratic procedures that were developed for an earlier time but which now are institutionalized as “the way we do things here”. In other cases, business as usual is high paced activity that masquerades as action but which in reality is moving the deck chairs on the Titanic at a high rate of speed.

In our consulting work with you, we will engage in dialogues that bring these past ways of doing business to the surface so that they can either be discarded or can be reformulated to meet the current needs of the business.

ESTABLISHING RESPECT AND TRUST:

It is very tough to work in an environment in which people don’t trust each other and/or have lost respect for each other. Even if most people on the team or in the department work well together, just one person seen as untrustworthy, manipulative and out only for his/her agenda can throw off the dynamics of the team. Often others grumble about this person but avoid the direct communication needed to solve the problem.

Our engagements make it safe to communicate straightforwardly and with respect. Our techniques are not designed to embarrass any one or to put anyone on the spot.

Our approach directs itself at humanity, not individuals. You and I have a need to be well thought of by our boss and peers. You and I have a need to “get ahead” and prove ourselves. When these tendencies in human beings are seen as “human” rather than individualized to specific people, it is much easier to take an honest look at ourselves and how we operate, especially in high-pressure situations.

Both during and following our work with your organization, your people will actually communicate straight with each other, eyeball to eyeball, with respect and with authenticity.

RESOLVING ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES:

Some organizational issues are not brought to senior management’s attention, either because someone in the reporting chain deems the issue to be unimportant or because dealing with the issue will make someone look bad.

Sometimes organizational issues have been brought to management’s attention, but the issue was ignored or dismissed as inconsequential.

In our work with you, organizational issues will be discussed. They will either be resolved or they will be put on someone’s calendar to be resolved at a specific time. The issues will not be swept under the rug.

During this process, people find out that they can present the issues not as a gripe, but as a way to move business forward. And most importantly, people find out that they can get rapid action from each other and from management.

HONORING COMMITMENTS

Did it get done or didn’t it? Is it on track or isn’t it? Things are seldom this straight regarding commitments.

Many organizations and teams live in a fog of justifications and reasons why something did not get done.

Pretty soon people start thinking that a good reason for not getting something done is the same as actually accomplishing the task. Pretty soon a person’s word doesn’t mean much.

We work with your people to differentiate between “trying their best” and making and keeping a solid commitment. We also work with people to design a system to keep their commitments up in front of them rather than in their memory (where lots of other stuff resides).