Lessons From the Whiteboard (1-3)

LESSONS FROM THE WHITEBOARD (1-3)

Welcome to the Lessons From The Whiteboard newsletter!

In this newsletter you will find an expansion of the thoughts previously expressed in Lessons 1-3, as well as some quotes, which should prove helpful. You will find this newsletter to be rather spartan in nature. There is a reason for that approach. My goal is to simply present truths, thoughts and principles in their purest form. That is why I utilize the simplicity of a Whiteboard. Your mind focuses on the information, not the presentation. You will not necessarily find answers here, but you will be led to the questions you need to be asking yourself, your management team and your staff. Answers come after questions get asked.

So, lets get started!

Lesson 1: The New Normal

·     No matter how much you wish and hope for the post-pandemic adventure to be docile and painless, it is not going to be. Your staff has no clue as to what work life is going to look like on a long-term basis. They just feel that it will probably be chaotic – and it will be. You and your efforts to defuse the chaos will be the tipping point. Act awkwardly and the chaos is exacerbated.

·     No matter how entrenched your company has been in your arena of endeavor, a great deal of the gravitas you have built will be gone, both with staff and customers. Do not waste time trying to debate whether this statement is true, spend time deciding how to win your customers back. Spend time creating better ways to attract new customers. Use the ideas of your staff to help fast track this effort.

·     You will create the New Normal for your group OR you will allow someone else to create it for you. Do not wait, take charge immediately and create the normal that you WANT. You must be deliberate, you do not have the luxury of unlimited trial and error.

·     You will lose staff and that can actually be a positive thing, if you keep your advocates. Be warned, your best staff can go most anywhere, leaving you with the employees that will require the most hand holding throughout the comeback process.

·     Embrace mistakes, good honest mistakes – this means that you are pushing for the absolute best answer. Brainstorming has to become one of your company’s strongest practices. The more ideas floating around, the more mistakes are possible. However, the more ideas floating around, the better chance that the winning idea will become a reality.

Lesson 2: Expectations of Your Staff

·     Your staff is anxious to see what new things you have up your sleeve. They know that change is necessary, they will be shocked if they do not see it. Hoping that problem areas may somehow be eradicated when they come back, your staff will feel so much more confident in their future, if indeed those problem areas have been addressed.

·     Making matters even more complicated, your staff will also be looking for things to be very similar to the past. Be careful not to totally upend routines, but find ways to significantly improve the old routines. You want the early days of the New Normal to be exciting, not scary, for your staff. Communication with all parties at this point needs to be the best your company has ever seen.

·     Now is when you pull out the new methods, the new culture builders. You want to be real, caring and nurturing to your group. You better not try to slide things past your staff. Share the new, embrace the new, explain the new, promote the new.

·     Spread the post-pandemic message fast and often. Be sure that you have the correct message to inspire your group. Do not be heavy handed, do not act like you will not survive, do not come across as insensitive or conceited. Just be honest, open minded and for goodness sakes – be enthusiastic!

Lesson 3: Why Southwest Airlines Will Survive

·     You cannot deter this group, they are relentless! They will come out of this pandemic with a stronger determination to be the best. Having built a Southwest-type culture at my former companies, I am really familiar with what this group is capable of achieving. They did it after 9/11 and I highly anticipate their ability to do it again.

·     The people at Southwest totally believe that they are living out a mission, not just showing up for a paycheck. You really need to re-think what motivates your staff. If their motivation is mainly to just pick up a paycheck, you will never achieve outstanding, long-term success.

·     Southwest has spent 40 years building up loyalty and trust among their staff and customers. As a result, when calamity befalls their industry, the advocates known as Southwest customers, not only will come back to fly again, but can’t wait to fly again. I know this for a fact, because I am personally one of those advocates. I have really missed flying with them, being around their employees, and listening to their zany flight instructions. What are you doing on a regular basis, every day, every week, every month, every year, every decade, to build such loyalty?

·     No one predicted the pandemic’s effect for 2020 on your company’s bottom line. But Southwest builds toward the possibilities of major disruptions by doing a lot of “scenario planning” and an absolute minimum of long term strategy. Just for fun, at your next management meeting, ask your group this question – “If we come to work Monday and half our staff is gone and unavailable for the next 8 weeks, what do we do to insure that we not only meet our profitability forecasts, but we exceed them?” I have done this exercise in the past with my senior management teams. It makes for a fantastically lively management meeting!

I promised you a few quotes/sayings:

“The best way to predict your future, is to create it”

“You only get one chance to make a first impression”

“If you don’t have time to do it right the first time, where are you getting the time to do it right the second time?”

“I don’t know the word “quit””

“Forget past mistakes. Forget past failures. Forget everything except what you are going to do now and do it”