Are you wasting your time in the field?

Spending time in the field as a Leader can be a lonely job.

For as far back as I can recall, the requirement to go out and spend time at the sharp end of the operation (where the real work gets done) has been considered an essential part of a leader's responsibilities, and whilst you might agree that this may well be an important part of the role, if every time you get there everyone else has gone for a coffee break or buggered off for breakfast or found some other convenient 'hiding place', you are probably thinking it's a waste of valuable time that you could be spending on the other 60+ hours of desk work and meetings you have to do every week!

You might guess correctly that I have also lost many hours searching for teams of railway workers, road workers and utility workers who aren't where they said they were going to be when I left the office that morning. Vague directions, 'last minute' changes of location, the sudden need to nip to the nearest hire centre or DIY store have all been repeated again and again over the years; anything to avoid the dreaded 'safety inspection' or 'site audit' that its anticipated I will be conducting; and let's be honest - who can blame them? It's usually a tick-box bullshit exercise of absolutely no value for them, their supervisors or indeed us! We can go back to the office smug in the knowledge that we can tick one 'item' off our list of "shite we have to do to get our annual bonus". Plus when we hand in our inspection sheet, or enter it onto the database, the safety team get to believe, for the briefest of moments, that we actually give a damn about what they do. For the most part - a complete waste of time and effort and probably the reason that many of us avoid it like the plague or put it off until as late in the month as we possibly can, and the workers we are going to show our 'support' to, do everything they can to escape or get it over and done with as quickly and painlessly as possible. Ever get sick of the smell of wet paint? Or blinded by the brightness of all that hi-vis PPE?

If you are starting to panic that I'm about to tell you to stop wasting your time, you would be correct. However, I'm not going to tell you to stop spending time in the field; instead I'm going to suggest that you start LEADING IN THE FIELD instead. What does this mean and how do you do it? Pin your ears back - I'm about to explain more.

I have never maintained the P-way, excavated a trench to install a 132kV cable, installed ducting for a fibre-optic cable, poured bases for relocatable equipment buildings, operated a crane or tested and commissioned electrical equipment. I've managed projects where all of those things happened, I've priced contracts, I've done 'snagging' inspections with clients, I've negotiated changes to contracts and haggled over payment for additional works; I've recruited men and women who can do those jobs, I've rewarded many for doing it to the highest standard and sacked a few for the opposite but I am not the expert in the physical, tactical work that has been done in my relevant 'fields' over the years. When I was a lot younger and a lot less experienced and confident I used to believe that there was nothing I could 'add' by being out there - holding up the job, asking stupid questions and generally being a distraction which meant that the workers were probably going to be half an hour late for their lunch or their 'job and knock'. They would (mostly) be polite and accommodating, answering my questions and giving me the requisite information to complete my bullshit checklist, whilst throwing me a few bones of 'incorrect PPE', 'out of date fire extinguisher' or (heaven forbid) 'no hard hat'! I would leave the site feeling, well to be completely honest, embarrassed, unhelpful and a little bit conscious that they were probably calling me all the latest curse words under the sun for wasting their time in my shiny boots. I also usually left with a sense of dread and foreboding - "What if I missed something obvious?" "What if there's an accident later and I could have prevented it?" "What if I've just walked away from the next major catastrophe?" It was never a nice experience, definitely not for me and I'm pretty sure not for them either.

Now many years, lots more hard-earned lessons, a whole load of good and bad experiences and a few greys and wrinkles later, I take a different view.

I finally managed to get over myself and now the first thing I do when I go to visit any workplace is lock my ego in the car (usually along with the shitty checklist). If the people I'm going to see are having breakfast at the local greasy spoon - great! I'm in and usually buying the bacon rolls. If they are in a busy, noisy work environment, I will ask them to stand down so we can go somewhere quiet to talk, perhaps grab a coffee. I don't want to be 'all up in their personal space' trying to hold a conversation that none of us can hear or engage in properly. The act of removing workers from the jobsite to a place where we can talk properly and be heard has huge benefits:

• For one, I am demonstrating that it is ok to stop work and not just when the shit is about to hit the fan. I am requiring them to stand down to reflect on and discuss what they're doing, how they're doing it and giving them an opportunity to take stock and think about the work from a different perspective.
• Two, I am treating them with respect, acknowledging their subject matter expertise and helping them to realise that their knowledge and experience is of great value to me; I'm learning and they are usually keen to teach.
• Three, I am sharing my time and expertise with them, allowing them to ask me questions or to discuss any issues they might have or support they might need.

I accept that I'm not the expert 'in the field' and I don't need to be. In fact the less I know about the work being done, the better! I ask more in-depth (some may say stupid) questions, and because I'm not testing or second guessing the people I'm talking to, I actually listen to their answers. This then inevitably leads to more detailed questions. When I get to the questions that make them stop and think, or discuss between themselves I know I'm in a place of real learning - not just for me but for them too. Even when I (rarely these days) visit a workplace where I might know something about the work at hand, I play dumb. Just because it was done a certain way 5, 10 or 20 years ago doesn't mean it's done that way today, in fact I hope nothing is being done as it was 10 years ago!

Taking some time to prepare your visit is well worthwhile.

Use the reams of business intelligence at hand from work orders, logistic schedules, corrective action databases, quality audits, health and safety inspections, accident and incident trends, etc and go where and when there is a chance you will see something of real interest. Too often I hear Leaders saying things like 'Oh we can't go to see that team today, they are really busy' or 'we can't go into that area, it's restricted' or 'they're on a rush job so we can't get in the way'. Excuse me?! Screw that! That's exactly where we need to be going! It's an even better opportunity to demonstrate our 'Stop Work' rule - when the pressure is on! That's when things can really go tits up. Why the hell would we not want to see that?! It's also worth remembering that in some workplaces the most hazardous, risky, shitty and downright dangerous stuff goes on after 5pm or at the weekend when managers have left site. Understand what those jobs are and get your ass there, regardless of whether it's 8pm on a Friday night or 6am on a Sunday morning! When you only ever get out to the floor during the hours of 9-5 Monday to Friday and observe the usual routines you are unlikely to see or learn anything different or new.

Another thing to think about for your time in the field is how you will observe, converse and learn from your contractors.

In the industries I spent my career in, contractors were typically treated like low-life second rate citizens (I know because I was one!). Sad to say that experience tells me that not much has changed in those sectors and so it can add an additional layer of complexity to the situation, if you allow it to! I think it is important to build a relationship of trust with our contract partners and so there should be no reason why I wouldn't make arrangements in advance with the contract supervisor or manager to do the visit together. Of course the first few times might be a bit forced and the stage might be set for me but after a while the boundaries relax, the conversation flows better and the opportunities to learn expand way beyond 'what we know'. I treat contractors in exactly the same way as my own people; if I don't feel I can do that - they shouldn't be there, that's on me. They are either the wrong contractor or I have set them up to fail and I now have a decision to make.

Adopting one or two of these strategies will not only make your time in the field more valuable for all concerned, they become a damn sight more enjoyable and enlightening. If you leave the conversation having not learned anything new, you haven't asked enough questions so stay until you do. When I leave a site visit or factory floor conversation my head is usually buzzing and I'm brimming with ideas and new information to share - let that be your emotional 'spidey-sense' too!

OK, ok, I can hear you fretting about your quota's, checklists and database entries but don't panic - I've got you covered.

If you work for an organisation that still thinks numbers like these are important (no. of site observations, no. of safety inspections, etc.) you will have more than enough information to complete any checklist or database entry they throw at you but if you're worried you'll forget you might want to use a simple method of capturing information. My 'go to' is a mind-map. I start off with the task, location, date and time, etc and I ALWAYS capture the names of the people I am talking to, usually so that I can give them positive recognition for their contribution to our conversation. I then scribble topics we discuss and connect them with lines and arrows and I 'star' anything I want to follow up on during or after the visit. I clearly capture any actions that I agree to take and I capture anything they have decided to do as their own recommendations (not actions). Even though most people will never understand my spiders web of scribbles I always take them through it before I leave, to make sure I've captured everything they think is important. After my visit I will always send an email, make a telephone call or get a thank you message to them for their time, I have even sent the odd box of biscuits as a thank you for an enjoyable visit!

The final thing I want to cover here is when the visit, conversation or observation goes badly; it doesn't happen often but it can and inevitably will.

You'll be treated with disrespect, you'll observe something unsafe, you'll witness horseplay, or poor workmanship, etc. You CANNOT ignore or walk away from unsafe practices, unacceptable behaviour or poor standards of work. You must be direct and deal with it immediately, even if you're unsure. You are a Leader in the business and this is the time for you to earn and be worthy of your title. Question what you are seeing or experiencing and ask why it is happening and if and why the team / individuals believe it is acceptable. Explain your opinion and perspective. If you need to seek further advice or guidance stand the team down and/or stop the work immediately whilst you do that. Do not leave a site or field visit with unresolved issues. Do not resort to anger or arguments, hold your ground and enforce the company standard or policy. Don't make anything personal, you are there as an officer of the company and that is all there is to it. If you are unsure of your level of authority in the situation, contact somebody more senior for advice and guidance. Remain calm, professional and if you need to remove yourself from an unsafe or threatening situation do so immediately. I promise you that these situations are rare and can be more common when dealing with members of the public, for example in a retail or healthcare setting. Hopefully you will never encounter anything like this from your own people.

So there you have it. My guide to making your time in the field less lonely and more valuable, of course that is not to say I haven't spent time wandering around a coal-fired power station that looks like the Marie-Celeste despite being in the middle of a major outage (those 1500 outage guys and girls sure know how to 'do one' when the management team is on tour!) but today, time spent at the sharp end of my clients' operations is some of my favourite work!

Let me know your thoughts on this - have you got any top tips for those with less experience? Are you going to adopt any of the approaches discussed and if you do, let me know how it goes and of course, if you need help and support to get your Leaders getting out there more please drop me a line, I'm happy to help!

Teresa Mullen

CEO of G.R.I.T.

Host of The Leading Factor Podcast