by Peter A. Arthur-Smith, Leadership Solutions, Inc.®

“Saving time on communication now – the short-cut approach – only requires BIG TIME attention later.”  

Now Christine had encouraged Joy, the car dealer Visionist, to get everyone’s attention on where their dealership was headed; she wanted Joy to maximize everyone’s commitment level going forward. It would put particular focus on the dealership’s Promotionist (Max); the strategic leader for team vehicle sales, weekly dealer promotion activities, community sales events, and in-community marketing. His Strategist colleague was Leslie, the Operationist: the strategic leader for showroom up-keep, car servicing workshops, spare parts inventories, warehouse productivity, building cleanliness and maintenance, and admin support.

Under Christine’s watchful eye and advice, Joy pulled these two together along with her Humanist, Patty. Patty was there to provide input on staffing levels, competence and commitment; among her other people-related, strategist activities. Joy was advised to hold a fully two-way discussion session, rather than pursue a traditional tell-them-what-to-do briefing.

Based upon their value-proposition-Brand Marketing Strategy discussions, they realized the importance of a uniform approach in order to reap the best staff response across the dealership – it couldn’t be one focus for sales and another for servicing. Frontline team members do talk to each other: so, if one team misses a beat, it’s noticed by others and creates confusion…apart from the fact that any potential nay-sayers will exploit any gaps that emerge. Besides, when everyone is on the same page, it bolsters enthusiasm and commitment.

Between the four of them – Joy, Max, Leslie and Patty – they agreed on a format for Max and Leslie to utilize with their respective team leaders. They concurred that Patty should be present in each case to assist with any team leader meeting questions, provide encouragement and watch for possible gaps in team leader understanding.  By listening-in on team leader discussions, she could pick-up cues on where participants may need further leadership development – to be discussed with Max or Leslie at another time.

The session format that they reached consensus on, based upon a two-way communication approach – that is, really listening and exchanging with each other – was as follows:

» Setting the Stage: Provide an overview of the updated Brand Marketing Strategy and the dealership’s    Value Proposition – to include answering Team Leader questions on these issues.

» Current State of Play: Max had four Team Leaders, Leslie had five: so for their separate domain sessions, Max split his into two complementary “pairs” and Leslie split hers into one complementary “pair” and one “threesome.” These pairings/threesome were then set to answer two questions: 1) What’s going right in their domain? and 2) What could go that much better? They were allowed 45-60 minutes for this, where Max/Leslie and Patty were expected to quietly but separately rotate and listen-in on the Team Leader discussions to offer “quiet” advice or suggestions where necessary.

»Team Leader Consensus: At each separate domain session, the pairs or pair-threesome combination  eventually came back together to compare notes and randomly list all items for “going right” and “go better” in their respective columns. They were then required to reach a consensus on the “top two” items for each column.

» Pairings/Threesome Initiatives: Over the remaining morning session (1hr plus), minus 15 mins for wrap-up time, they were now tasked with brainstorming-preparing two complete “breakthrough initiatives” for their top two priorities. Each pair or threesome assigned itself one of the four denoted topics, and figured out how to resolve it through:

           – WHAT item are we focused on?

           – HOW can we best break it into sequenced actions to address it?

           – WHO will address those sequenced actions – pair/threesome members or others?

          – WHEN will we aim to complete that action by a specific, realistic date?

          – WHERE will we go – either internally or externally – for other input or advice?

     (NOTE:  A) The last item in the HOW column will denote, ‘MOMENT for prudent CELEBRATION.’ That date will also cross-reflect WHO, WHEN and WHERE…and should include Patty and Joy. B) They will honor the 15 min. wrap-up time to share each other’s breakthrough initiatives and allow for questions and suggestions.)

» Inclusion and Sustaining Momentum: Each pair/threesome will be expected to share their breakthrough initiative with affected frontline staff within their domain and invite any volunteers to join them. Max/Leslie will call for regular updates to provide encouragement, offer advice and show continued interest for success.

» Updates and Conclusion: Depending on the duration of the initiatives involved, Joy, the dealer-leader Visionist, ought to be requesting reasonably regular updates on progress. Are we meeting our milestones? Sometimes she should bring as many people together that can be spared within the dealership to hear from pair Team Leaders about their progress. Quarterly all-hands meetings can prove particularly helpful in this regard. The trick being: not to let follow-through fall through the cracks…it becomes a good habit after a while.

With the right prudent follow-through and celebrations, not only will some highly valuable breakthroughs be made but you will also find people looking forward to the next challenge. People feel more empowered that way and want to be involved. By using this approach, it means full two-way communication versus just one way. One-way may save you time today but will cost you BIG TIME tomorrow, because your people will not be fully on-board and your venture will be dysfunctional.

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Author, Peter A. Arthur-Smith, Founding Principal with Leadership Solutions, Inc., is based in New York, and author of Smart Decisions: Goodbye Problems, Hello Options. He has drafted a potential new publication, Constructive Leadership Disruption: Embrace Five ‘New Organization World’ Opportunities! that offers a slew of fresh leadership concepts and practical models. Feel free to follow author at: Linkedin.com/in/peter-arthur-smith-2115722/