Reflections by Susie Wee

I’ve been in a number of fun and productive brainstorming meetings at work this past week. The people in the meetings are from different parts of the organization, so some people know each other well and some are meeting for the first time. There has been a lot of energy in the room and people are openly contributing their ideas. At the end of each meeting, I discuss our next steps and ask people if we should have another meeting. The answer keeps being “Yes!”. A few people have even said “This is fun!”.

This makes me think about what is making these meetings so productive and fun. My mind keeps going back to one explanation- it’s the people. People are coming to the meetings with open minds, and they are also coming to the meetings “ready to have a good time”. Since these are brainstorming meetings, the success of these meetings really depends on the people, their attitudes, and their ideas.

I put together a list of the top 10 things you can do to make a meeting successful. These tips apply to brainstorming meetings, but to meetings in general. These are extracted from the behaviors I’m seeing from my colleagues. Thank you, team!

1. Be ready to talk. Be ready to listen.
2. Be ready to contribute, both during and between meetings.
3. Be ready to create a great result.
4. Be ready to collaborate.
5. Be ready to meet team objectives and goals. Be ready to go with team decisions.
6. Be ready to share your best ideas. Be ready to accept and build on other people’s ideas.
7. Be ready to have your ideas supported. Be ready to have your ideas shut down.
8. Be ready to argue politely. Be ready to concede.
9. Be ready to be positive. Be ready to have a good time.
10. Be ready to energize yourself. Be ready to energize others.

Note that the last two tips are perhaps the most important. When you come to a meeting with a positive attitude and ready to have a good time, you not only bring your own positive energy to the group, but you also have the effect of energizing others. This energy builds and helps create the dynamic collaborative environment needed for new ideas to flow and for the meeting to be successful.

Have you been in dynamic, creative meetings?
What were the key factors for success?
What do you think of the items on my top 10 list?
Which ones do you agree or disagree with?
Which ones are the most meaningful to you?
Do you have any to add?

Tags: career tips, successful meetings, brainstorming, creativity, collaborative dynamic environment, energizing others, HP

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You know the person… the person who is always looking at their cell phone or PDA, checking for new messages, stepping out for phone calls, busily pounding on their laptops responding to their emails, even when they’re in small meetings. The person is very busy, always moving, and always has so much to do, actually, too much to do. The person is very important and juggling many things. I’m sure you know the person I’m talking about. Maybe it’s a colleague. Maybe it’s a friend. Maybe it’s you. I know that often times it’s me.

We spend so much time being connected and building close relationships with people who are far away. Then, we go to the effort of reserving time to be with them and traveling to see them. And when we finally get there, instead of focusing on them, we dive into our connected mobile devices and start communicating with the other people who are now far away from us, those who we’re virtually connected to.

In other words, instead of focusing on the people who are HERE, we focus on the people who are THERE. And, when we get THERE, that becomes our new HERE, and instead of focusing on the people who are in our new HERE, we focus on the people in our new THERE. It’s a vicious cycle!

Perhaps you have figured out that I’m a big fan of being connected. I love the new communication experiences that technology has enabled. I love creating the technologies that enable them. I love the fact that I can communicate with people by email, phone, video conferencing, blogging, social networking, and instant messaging. I think the experiences and technologies are immensely valuable and that we should keep developing them as fast as we can.

But, as people, we have to learn how to manage ourselves in a world where these technologies exist.

Do you know someone who is stuck in the HERE-THERE cycle? Are you?
Where do you live? HERE or THERE?
How do we manage ourselves in a world of communication technologies?

Tags: communication experience, communication technology, multitasking, work-life balance, overload, focus on people, build relationships, HP

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Management guru David Maister has an interesting post on the effectiveness of the strategy of hiring “laterals” into an organization. David’s premise is that hiring laterals can only work if they are properly integrated into the company. I agree.

This got me thinking about the relationship between the “new guy at work” who has to get integrated in the company and the “new guy on the ice” who has to get integrated in with a sports team, and about what does and doesn’t work in these situations. More generally, the question is how does a new person get integrated with an established group, and what factors make this a success or failure? In other words, how does an “outsider” (the lateral) turn into an “insider” in an established organization?

Let’s take the example of a “new guy” joining a weekly ice hockey pickup game with a bunch of “regulars”. (Yes, I thought of this analogy on my way home from hockey practice over the weekend. And, yes, last night there was a “new guy” at my weekly Monday night skate.) When you’re reading this, think about the analogy with work.

During warmups: When a new guy comes out to a regular weekly skate, the first thing that happens is you (the regular) consciously or subconsciously make a little mental note based on the superficials- what kind of equipment is he wearing and how does he skate during warmups?

During the game, between shifts: Then, the game starts and when you’re on the bench between shifts you might lean over to another regular and ask: “Who’s the new guy? Where’s he from? Who brought him? What team does he play on?”

During the game, on the ice: Then, you start playing (with or against each other, depending on how the pickup teams are set) and different things happen during the game- a good play, a bad play, a pass, a goal, a little contact, a body check, a fight, and so on.

It certainly helps if the new guy can play his position well and if he can score some goals. Goals build credibility pretty fast. It also really helps if he is a playmaker and he gets some assists- setting up others to score goals goes a long way in building relationships with the regulars!

Note that the new guy actually gets many chances during a game, so even if he makes a bad play, he can make up for it with a good play later in the game. So, the new guy is allowed to make mistakes, but over the course of the game he has to make more contributions than mistakes.

During the game, between shifts: When you’re on the bench together between shifts, if you’re not shy (but most people are!) you may introduce yourself and ask “Are you playing on a team? Who do you play for? How did you find out about the skate?” Also, there may be little exchanges on the bench like “Nice shift” or “Nice play”.

During the game, a fight! Let’s say the new guy gets into a fight during his first skate! (No, this did not happen last night, but I have seen it happen a number of times.) In general, this is not a good thing to do on your first skate with the team. But even this may or may not be a show stopper. For example, if the new guy started a fight with a highly respected player, then it’s pretty much Game Over… unless he makes an apology. An apology can go a long way. Also, if he got into a fight with a jerk, then he may end up a hero. An apology goes a long way here, too. (By the way, I don’t recommend this approach to get integrated into a team.)

After the game, in the locker room: After the skate, everyone is in the locker room changing. If the new guy gets involved in a little locker room chat, then that can help him get integrated. (If he brings beer, he’s IN!)

Then the question is does anyone say anything to him? In reality, he’ll only get feedback if he was really awesome, if he was really terrible, if there is an unusually social regular, or if there is a really good team leader/manager. But in general, people don’t give feedback. So, the new guy shouldn’t be discouraged if he doesn’t hear anything.

Getting integrated = Building credibility and relationships

All these things factor into how the new guy gets integrated with the team. The main thing is that from the first skate the new guy is building his credibility and relationships with the regulars.

Note that a little “nice skate” or “thanks for coming out” from a regular goes a long way with the new guy, since the new guy was a little nervous about his first time playing with the group and even the slightest bit of feedback is really appreciated. But, the new guy should note that in general people are shy and don’t give feedback. So, even if noone says anything, he can still come back next week to continue to build his credibility and integrate himself with the team.

How does this relate to the new guy at work?

I’d say that warmups is analogous to when the new guy is meeting people in the company for the first time and making his first impressions. This may be through hallway introductions or at the first group events. The post-game locker room chat is similar to hanging out after meetings to continue discussions and socialize a bit.

The first game is analogous to the new guy’s first project at work. What is important is what happens during project meetings (on the ice), and what happens between project meetings (between shifts). Note that over the course of the project, there will be successes and there will be mistakes, but the mistakes are surmountable. The key is having more successes than mistakes over the course of the project.

My recommendations for the new guy

During warmups and beyond

• Be respectful of the regulars.
• Build credibility.
• Be respectful of the team culture.
• Let others know who you are. Learn who others are. Have a decent answer when someone asks you about yourself.

On the ice / During a project

• Be a playmaker. Make good passes.
• Score some goals. Better yet, get some assists!
• Don’t worry about making a mistake. Instead, get fired up to follow up with a good play.
• Skate hard. / Work hard.
• Help out with the little tasks, e.g., Fill water bottles. / Take meeting notes and share them.
• Try not to get into a fight. If you do to get into a fight, make sure its against a jerk. If you do get into a fight with a well-respected guy, then apologize! Actually, apologize to the jerk, too.
• Follow the culture of the team. If the regulars don’t check during the pickup, then don’t check.
• Don’t play dirty.

After the game

• Hang out in the locker room for a bit after the game. Chat, have a beer, and get to know people.

Questions

Do you think this analogy relates to the new guy at work and how he gets integrated into an organization?

Do we have any management lessons to learn from this?

Do you have any other group experiences that are analogous to “the new guy at work”?

Tags: David Maister, new guy, lateral hire, integration, management, teamwork, hockey, HP

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This morning I had practice with my women’s ice hockey team. We were discussing plays that we can use in our upcoming games and tournaments, including plays for how to work in the offensive zone, in the defensive zone, on a power play, and on a penalty kill. Since you are often in a 5-on-5, 5-on-4 (a power play), or 4-on-5 (a penalty kill) situation, these plays require everyone on the ice to do the right thing, not just the people closest to the puck. In other words, everyone has to play position.

A very interesting discussion came up about ”trusting your teammates to do the right thing”.

If you don’t trust your teammates to do the right thing, then when you are on defense you will start chasing the puck and when you are on offense you won’t pass the puck (and you will get very tired!). It then becomes an individual game– everything breaks down and everyone falls out of the position, and the other team will dominate.

If you do trust your teammates to do the right thing, then each player can play position so that when you are on defense the team can work collectively to cover the opposing team and when you are on offense the team can work collectively to get open for each other and work the puck up the ice to create scoring opportunities. It then becomes a team game– each person plays position and the team can execute team plays, and your team can dominate.

This applies to sports, work, and life. Can you think of situations where you are “not trusting you teammates” and as a result everyone is “falling out of position” and your team play is “breaking down”? Can you think of situations where you are “trusting your teammates” and everyone is “playing position” and you are “executing team plays”? I’d love to hear your experiences with this in sports, work, or life.

I just spent a day in Tokyo with my research team in Japan. The researchers in Japan have very interesting perspectives, some of which are quite different from those of the researchers in the US and Europe. Whenever I visit the team, they give me updates and I learn something new about technology and the industry. Also, one of the managers has been on a mission to create a more expressive and collaborative culture in the lab, and he’s been having some success. So, we’ve had some very interesting team discussions that are helping me learn more about the culture too.

One of the topics we discussed on this visit was how the broader lab could make contributions in Japan and how the in-Japan researchers could make contributions outside of Japan. Needless to say, both of these require collaboration between the inside-Japan researchers and the outside-Japan researchers and business partners.

If you worked with some Japanese people, you will know that their culture is such that many people are quiet and modest, so the idea of “working globally” can cause a tinge of excitement for some. Actually, the idea of “working globally” can cause a tinge of excitement for anyone doing it for the first time.

We discussed what could make this difficult for the people who hadn’t done much of it to date. One of the researchers very carefully and articulately told me about “how difficult it is for Japanese people to express their thoughts”. I smiled and pointed out that he just “expressed his own thought very well”. He lit up said, “I know! I’m trying!” I was very pleased.

We went into more conversation about the benefits and difficulties. I assured them that I didn’t want them to “turn into Americans”! Some of them were surprised and relieved. I also told them that many of the researchers in the US were very quiet and shy, too. To this, I got a lightbulb “Oh really?!”.

Overall, the researchers in Japan found it both scary and exciting and were ready to give it a shot. They understand the importance of globalization and are willing to work towards it despite the cultural challenges!  I’m excited about this, because I think their perspectives and insights will be immensely valuable to the rest of the world!

This raises the question about learning how to work with people with different backgrounds and cultures. A first step is to get to know the people and learn about the cultural differences, and there has been much work around this. But what next? Do you have to become the same as them or can you keep your own identity? I want our worldwide teams to collaborate, but it would be a real shame if we all became the same. In fact, if we did we wouldn’t need to work together anymore!

What do you think about “working globally”? If you’ve never done it before, do you find it scary… or exciting…? If you have done it before, what were your a-ha’s?

Managing research sounds like an oxymoron. How do you manage creativity? How do you manage the creativity of N researchers, where N=1,10,100,…? How do you manage people so that their total output is not just the sum of the individual contributions, but reaches the full potential of the team?

Managing research is not easy and it has many dimensions, so these are difficult questions to answer. But I find an important guiding principle for managing research is aligning passions. Specifically:

• Align the passions of researchers with an important need… which in industrial research is an important business need.
• Align the passions of researchers with their teammates… to get the full potential of the team.

How do you achieve this? First of all, you need to discover what your researchers’ passions are. If you know your researchers’ passions, then you can be on the lookout for opportunities that match.
Managers: Begin the dialogue. Ask them!
Researchers: Begin the dialogue. Express them! Please don’t force your managers to guess, as we’ll probably guess wrong.

I found that it’s important to let people know that it’s okay to bring their passions to work. I have seen employees who are hesitant about bringing their passions to work. They seem to feel guilty about it, thinking that somehow it’s wrong.
Managers: Create an environment that encourages researchers to express and align their passions.

Passion may take on different forms, as some people are passionate about a specific topic but flexible about how to achieve it, while others may be flexible on the topic but passionate about how to achieve it. Also, some researchers may not know what his/her passion is, but will be energized by the passion of others. This flexibility and diversity is very good, as it takes many different roles to accomplish a big project so it is important to have people who are flexible on what topic to work on or what role to play. So, by understanding your team members’ passions well you can align their work for bigger results.

Passion comes from exposure. So in order to align passion with important (business) needs, it is important for researchers learn what the needs are and the environment in which they can deliver a solution. I think this is best done by giving researchers direct exposure to the business. This allows researchers to creatively figure out how to solve the needs and how to apply their own passions in the solution. Researchers will be more passionate about a solution they helped create.

You can give researchers business exposure by bringing business people to the lab. You can invite them to give talks and have researchers show them their work to get feedback. You can also bring researchers to the business so they can see how the business operates and understand the business pressures and priorities. Then, they will be able to develop solutions that fit within the business’ operating environment.

In order to get the benefit of the team, it’s also important for researchers to align their passions with their teammates and business partners. This alignment happens by giving people exposure in groups. When researchers are exposed to things at the same time, they can hear each other’s questions and gauge each other’s interest in solving them. Then, they can help identify solutions that involve the broader team and in turn will lead to greater impact. Once again, researchers will be more passionate about the broader solution if they helped create it.

Closing thoughts: Passion is contagious. Passion aligned with a need is critical. Group passion aligned with an important need is immensely powerful.

So, what do you think about managing research by aligning passions?