JDA

Welcome to JDA Insights

Welcome to our blog where members of the JDA team share insights and advice on improving corporate leadership, driving team performance and enhancing communication... based on our work with thousands of business professionals at Fortune 100 companies.

This blog is a team effort with posts authored by Jeff Dorman, Stephen Giordano and Joan T. Cook.  Visit often or subscribe to our blog's RSS feed here--or sign-up to receive posts directly to your inbox by adding your email to the form located in the middle of the sidebar on the right.  

We are constantly adding new content, with all posts beginning directly below this welcome message. We value the time you spend here, and look forward to engaging in conversation with you. For more information, please visit our Web site or follow us on Twitter.

Employee Engagement = Competitive Edge

by Joan Cook

Employee engagement seems to be a hot topic these days (along with talent management).  To our way of thinking, employee engagement is the key to having a competitive edge.  The Gallup Q12  survey and the Marcus Buckingham book based on it, First, Break All the Rules, distill what the best managers do to create an engaged organization.  It boils down to three simple needs on the part of all employees:

1.  The need for inclusion
2.  The need for significance
3.  The need for openness

Inclusion means:  Do I belong?  Am I in or out?  Am I known?  Significance means:  Do I matter?  Do I make a difference?  Am I important?  Openness means:  Is it ok to tell the truth?  Can I be honest in front of management/my boss?

When we work with organizations on employee engagement, we oftentimes approach getting answers to these questions by asking managers to list what they think they do that demotivates employees and causes them to feel NOT included, NOT significant, and NOT able to be open. Then we talk about what they need to do to rectify the situation. 

Inclusion means communicating information, including people in planning, involving them in decision making (particularly on those decisions that directly affect them) and as a manager, being available.  Significance means appreciating people, praising them, asking them for input, paying attention to what they say (no sending emails or shuffling papers while they're talking), and getting their buy-in.  Openness is created by showing appreciation, listening (without an agenda and without thinking about what you're going to say next while they're talking!), asking for feedback, being interested in people and not reacting negatively to mistakes or bad news, but using them as learning and/or coaching opportunities.  Creating an engaged team depends a great deal on these competencies; can you imagine an organization of engaged teams, all pulling in the same direction?

There's a lot of nuance to this work and we frame it differently, with different activities, depending on who we're working with.  But the essence is the same:  engagement = competitive edge.  Smart companies invest in engagement and reap the rewards.

Teams Need Skills as well as Process

by Joan Cook

Jeff and I are working with a number of different teams in organizations around the country.  After each teambuilding experience we debrief, usually on the plane home, and we've lately had one of those "duh" moments:  although we're working for the most part in sophisticated organizations (one of them a Fortune 50 company), their people lack some of the most basic Management 101 communication skills--which of course, holds back progress toward becoming a highly effective team.  If being able to give (and receive) feedback effectively, hold fellow team members accountable, handle difficult conversations and use effective listening skills are key, our experience is that most team members shy away from using these critical skills simply because they feel they aren't very good at them--or they've never learned them in the first place.  Understandable, since a.  they aren't taught in b-school and b. most people learn them--if they learn them at all--on the fly, by imitating what they see others do.  If they're lucky, they have good models.  If they're not, they perpetuate a culture that is likely weak in supporting the use of the very tools that enable effective working relationships, and effective teaming.

So in addition to team process skills and experiential team events, we're discovering that there's a third leg to this stool:  management communication skills that enable team members to engage in effective team processes in the first place.  We're now looking at how we structure the teambuilding experience and what we may need to include, in addition to team processes, in order to equip teams to be able to make good use of those processes.

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Teambuilding, Part 2

by Joan Cook

Returning to a favorite topic, here’s a key question from a previous post:  the work we do with teams takes place in the classroom, working on the fundamentals of becoming a highly effective team.  Having participated in numerous experiential teambuilding activities over the years myself (ropes courses, games, etc.), I appreciate the strong sense of camaraderie that develops over the course of the experience.  It would seem that a combination of the two:  classroom and experiential—would be ideal.  If all a group of people ever experiences in coming together as a team is a ropes course or a game, where/how do they learn the process skills for the long haul?  Similarly, I wonder if classroom team process training should be enhanced by or integrated with experiential exercises that drive home the learning and anchor the feeling of what it means to be a team, in order to produce optimal learning. My sense is the answer is probably yes.

Unfortunately, experiential teambuilding processes such as ropes courses, kayaking, riding horses, etc. are often seen as the "kumbaya" approach to fostering skillful teamwork.  Companies invest in them but then wonder why the effects don't last. Experience is indeed a great teacher, but it's got to be backed up by a solid commitment to team process and a deep understanding of what that means.  Everyone understands the tactical (getting the work done), but few understand team process (how it gets done).  It's relatively easy to work together when there's only two people involved, but when two become 6 or 7 or 8, suddenly the rules of the game change.  Teams need to know how to build trust, engage in productive conflict, create commitment, hold each other accountable, stay focused on results, create and sustain compelling meetings, and discipline themselves to apply these principles consistently, or teamwork ain't happening, ropes course or no.

Comments are welcome.

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When an assessment isn't called for

by Joan Cook

A client of ours recently called wanting a 360 assessment done on an individual who was "having problems." 

This is a good reason NOT to do one - at least, not without more information on the situation.

Upon further questioning, it turned out that the organization had made a mistake in promoting this individual, who was now struggling in a supervisory role for which he was ill-suited mainly because he lacked the skills for it (which was all too obvious to the people he was trying to manage).  Compounding the situation was the fact that he was originally from a foreign country and didn't have the nuances of English necessary to be effective in his new position.  As an individual contributor in the field for which he had trained he would be a valuable asset to the company, and an effort is being initiated to move him into such a position.

The bottom line is that assessments - particularly 360's - should not be used as a substitute for good performance management or a means of trying to rectify errors in judgment.  If an employee needs corrective feedback and isn't getting it, it isn't just the employee who needs to be held accountable, it's their manager as well.  Assessments are developmental tools, meant to be used to provide feedback to help those who are a fit (and who have the skill and the will) for the positions they hold to determine where to apply their efforts to increase effectiveness.  They can be diagnostic tools as well, but only within the context of talent management and/or career development.  The last thing we want to do with a 360 is inadvertently use it as a weapon, or apply it in situations where it isn't called for or will do more harm than good. 

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L&D at the crossroads of today and tomorrow...

by Joan Cook

Big Question: What new skills and knowledge are required for learning professionals?

This month's Big Question at the Learning Circuits blog asks, "What new skills and knowledge are required for learning professionals?"

At the intersection of the classroom, with all its traditional tools, and the web, with its new ones, stands the learning & development professional.  In a world seemingly gone mad for social media and new brain science research, how do we know what embrace and what to let go of, or indeed, what to develop and implement in terms of tools and skills? 

I've come to admire Clive Shepherd's blog, Clive on Learning, and his take on the question is that while we still have the same overarching goal (to enhance organizational performance through employee learning and development), those who have sidestepped new media in the hope that it will all blow over have done themselves a disservice.  Too many L&D professionals, in his opinion, have fallen behind in their development in regards to the contemporary tools of their profession in ways that would have been unimagineable back in the day.  I would also suggest that from what we've seen here at JDA, a great many L&D professionals aren't proficient at presenting, either, regardless of the tools they're using.  Lots of us fell into the profession and learned on the go, and the demands being created by new media and new tools are throwing those whose training skills are lacking into sharp relief. If you've never been trained as a trainer, you need to add that to your list of things to accomplish in this brave new world as well.

We're sufficiently interested in this question here that we're exploring the idea of adding social media training to our offerings.  More later.

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How coaching should be viewed

by Joan Cook

If an Olympic figure skater doesn't take to the ice without their coach, why should a senior exec (one of the "Olympic athletes" of his/her organization), someone who's out on that figurative "ice" every day and whose performance is critical to business success?

I have a colleague who's teaching in a coaching skills certificate program at a major university in New York.  She recently told me that when she suggested to her students that they should each hire a coach so they could experience what it's like to be coached (which in my opinion is as important as being trained), the class was taken aback, with the response being,  "Why would I need a coach?"

I've become aware over the last several years that coaching is increasingly being viewed as the tool you use for "people who need help," with the obvious connotation that if you wind up working with a coach you're somehow lacking or need "fixing."  I'm not sure how we got to this perception because nothing could be further from the truth, and it's an important distinction to understand.

How can financial advisors overcome increasing skepticism - particularly in a down economy? (Part 3)

by Jeff Dorman

The last post in this series--the first post is here and the second post is here-- is all about communication.

As discussed in the previous two posts, you can have the right consultative mindset, and a strong meeting process, but without being adept at balancing a set of crucial communication skills, an FA (financial advisor) will stumble.  FA’s talk more than anything else. It turns the client off. It’s that simple. The communication skills that distinguish an average FA from a great one are:

•    Listening – not just focusing and “getting what they’re saying”, but truly demonstrating to the client that you “got” what they’re telling you. We call this skill “reflecting”.

•    Questioning – being able to naturally lead the client to reveal all kinds of key information. Not just the financials, but their hopes, dreams, and fears. And, not making it an interrogation but a conversation.

•    Speaking – you can call this suggesting, advising, recommending, pitching, sharing or explaining. Whatever you call it, it needs to be clear, concise and relevant. And followed by checking and listening.

•    Flexing – the ability to FLEX (adapt) your communication style and build rapport based on the client’s communication style and preferences is one of the toughest, yet most high leverage skills you can have in your toolkit.

The best FA’s are incredibly “self-aware” of their behavior in front of clients and balance these four skills elegantly. They develop trust. They grow their share of wallet.

Happy to answer any questions about any of this, and would love comments as well.

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On “Why Teams DON’T Work” from the May 2009 HBR

by Joan Cook

Interesting article in HBR—an interview by Diane Coutu with J. Richard Hackman, a professor of social and organizational psychology at Harvard and a “leading expert on teams.” The title is somewhat misleading; turns out teams DO work, as long as they adhere to a set of 5 conditions Dr. Hackman’s research revealed, most of which anyone who’s ever been on a team will recognize from experience:
1.  Teams must be real – people have to know who’s on the team and who isn’t.
2.  Teams need a compelling direction – members need to know, and agree on, what it is they’re doing together.
3.  Teams need enabling structures – the right tasks, members, norms.
4.  Teams need a supportive organization – they can’t be effective or successful if the organizational context (reward system, HR system, info systems) is organized around individuals rather than teams.
5.  Teams need expert coaching – as a group, in team processes.

How can financial advisors overcome increasing skepticism - particularly in a down economy? (Part 2)

by Jeff Dorman

Last post we talked about the first of three key differentiators of a successful financial advisor (FA):  having the consultative mindset of a trusted advisor.

This week, we’ll look at the second of the three differentiators:  having an effective meeting process. 

The best FA’s, in addition to having developed a consultative mindset, have also adopted their own version of running a client meeting.  We call that process the “Client Meeting Path.” It consists of:

Leaving a Legacy

by Joan Cook

Marshall Goldsmith’s most recent post is about dealing with being a “lame duck” in an organization—those senior, influential leaders who are either retiring or moving on. As usual, he hits the nail on the head.  Rather than holding off on announcing a senior departure until the last minute (which can be operationally unnerving and is what tends to happen in a lot of organizations), announce with plenty of time for the exec to be a “happy and productive lame duck” – making decisions, aligning people around goals, coaching their successor, etc.  I posted a comment to the effect that, having coached a couple of “lame ducks” in my time (including the executive administrator of a large hospital), I’ve found that framing the conversation about leaving around the concept of leaving a legacy has been both useful and helpful in keeping the exec on track as they move towards the exit.

I got a nice comment back from Dr. Goldsmith, and thought no more about it until I got an email from a colleague who was very much struck by the idea of “focusing on one’s legacy” (she called it an “amazing point”)—and encouraged me to blog about it.