Are you seeking ways to improve performance and achieve sustainable success? Your people have the answer - here is how to help them help you!
One powerful tool for shifting performance is simply helpfulness.
At OrgTree.Me, we believe that being helpful is not only a virtue but also a catalyst for positive change within organizations. In this blog post, we will explore the transformative power of helpfulness and how it can lead to a thriving culture, increased profitability, and a resilient reputation.
Step 1: Understand if you're helpful.
Revealing the hidden roots of an organization's performance starts with who helps who on purpose. Think of your organization as a whole, interdepartmental helpfulness not up and down the line management orgchart, but across your entire OrgTree.
Being helpful goes beyond simply assisting others with their tasks. It is about actively designing your business interactions to help other departments succeed. Ask yourself, does your department control how we work, or enable how we want to work?
In the eyes of our internal customers, do they think we help or hinder? Silence or low engagement is a symptom of services not adding value, not being helpful, or someone else has a better idea that is either unwelcome, or not OK to share.
Consider this. If department A is not viewed as being helpful, then will department B ask for A's help to solve B's problem? If department keeps A finding fault or mistakes that B can help with if only they were asked, then the question is not one of your capability or knowledge, it is a question of your perceived style in solving problems, rooted in helpfulness.
Let us take that further. The CEO must balance the equation of influences over shared decisions on shared purpose. There is a little bit of everyone in the equation, context only creates variability, but if you are not perceived as helpful, then you don't get invited to influence decisions. To one degree or another, the decision taken is not balanced, it maybe ill-informed, missing your knowledge and influence, so outcomes are impacted!
Silos are founded in unhelpful relationships, if one group believes their purpose is more important, their goals more beneficial, your influence not valued, decisions become siloed. Outcomes and performance diminish the more unhelpful we are with each other.
Step 2: Work out your value.
Common phrases like "we're not on the same page", "we aren't aligned" are indications of wasted time, energy, and loss of value. Here is how to gauge the distance between us.
On a scale of 1-5 rate the importance of your top 3/5 business practices, then using the same 1-5 scale to rate the value you get from those practices.
Now ask your internal customers to do the same. Do you see things the same, or are you misaligned? It's a good start to understanding why we don't help each other.
Step 3: Work on shared value: mutual benefit to shared purpose.
We can now see alignment or misalignment in importance or value, or both. The workshop that follows should focus on shared perspectives, context and growth. Good facilitation with the participants focused on being open and not defensive, helpful not harmful is essential to success. There maybe a lot if history in the room! So allow each other to influence and share their why while all participants have the same open mindset. We learn by including diverse perspectives, so listen!
The whole idea is to help each other co-create more value. The process of collaboration and co-creation not only generates a better, more informed business practice, but it also generates ownership of the outcome.
Do not underestimate the power that comes from the process of working it out together - you now have a relationship from a shared helpful experience. Participants who understand someone else's why and see how that creates mutual benefit end up with a better relationship. We don't solve problems, problems solve us!
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2: see what happens next.
We can help you! Please contact us via www.orgtree.me or via curious@orgtree.me
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