BC Business
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Once upon a time, there was a workplace where everyone who sent a fax had to fill out a form detailing the time of transmission, the number dialed and the number of pages sent. Finally, someone pointed out that the fax machine automatically kept a log with all that information on it. Chances are, there’s something you wish you could change in your workplace too. Here’s how to make yourself heard.
There’s power in numbers, so, before you run to your supervisor, seek peer support, advises Andrew Horlick, principal of Navigo Consulting and Coaching Inc. “If you can get a critical mass of people who believe similarly to yourself that this change would be helpful, it’s going to be easier for you to get support than if you’re seen to be pushing your own agenda,” he says. Build your case Whether it’s bringing in a new software system or organizing a recycling program, don’t bank on management automatically seeing things your way. “Managers have to make all kinds of decisions about how to allocate time and resources and money,” Horlick points out. “If you’re part of a department and by changing this work practice it will improve the standing of the department or the performance of the department as a whole, there’s a benefit that you can sell.” Don’t whine Nobody, least of all management, likes a complainer. If you’ve got a problem, come prepared to offer solutions, says Dag Furst, principal of Furst Consulting Ltd. He suggests opening a dialogue: “Say, ‘This is what we think the problems are, and here is what we think are some solutions that will solve it. What do you think the problems are? What do you think would be a good solution?’” And watch your language. Remember, managers are people too and won’t take kindly to feeling attacked. Agree on a follow-up plan There’s nothing worse than coming out of a constructive meeting only to find nothing’s changed a few weeks later. Have an action plan in hand when you leave, and make sure everyone knows their role in implementing it. Furst suggests sending an email after the meeting outlining the following: “This is what we discussed, this is our action plan as I understand it and this is what each one of us has individually committed to do.” Know when to quit “Organizations are terribly imperfect,” notes Furst. “The fact that things are at times unclear, that certain things don’t get solved, that’s just the nature of the beast.” If you find that you’re constantly fighting losing battles, consider moving on to a firm that encourages input from its employees. Remember the workplace with the manual fax-machine log? According to Horlick, “People shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘That’s just the way we do things around here.’” It makes you wonder, he says: “If they put up with that kind of stuff, what else do they put up with?”