We’ve recently been working with a client who are, let’s say in the public sector and deliver healthcare…
Working with them has been an education. Having said that there have been absolutely no surprises – it is EXACTLY as you would imagine.
But, three things hit me yesterday as I was trying to use the photocopier - in between being quizzed on how many copies I was making. Quite how me not using a couple of reams of paper would rescue the organisation from a multi-million pound deficit I’m not sure. However, at least someone was carrying out one of the tasks in their job description by asking me…..I wonder what the copier police would have done though if I had said I planned to use 100 reams of paper? Or if I had asked them to do the copying for me so they could then count each individual page used…? Maybe I would have then seen the true power that they hold… Mind you they weren’t equipped with a high visibility vest so they couldn’t have been that important. Speaking of which I went to Silverstone a couple of weeks ago for the Grand Prix. Best weekend I’ve had there in several years. Apart from the high-viz. Tickets were checked four times on the way to our seat, but the most impressive moment came when we went to sit down at the top of the grandstand. Someone had place a flag on the railings behind us. I know that sounds serious, but wait until you hear what happened as a result of this outrage. We were approached by a high-viz who asked us if the flag was ours. No. Why? Well, the flag was also behind where he had to sit. For ‘security reasons’ the flag needed to be removed. Fair enough, not our flag, but why? Because the high-vizs on the ground needed to be able to view the high-viz in the stand at all times. Oh, of course, that makes perfect sense…
Anyway back to my (main) points. First. As I was stood at the copier I noticed that the place was full of stuff. Piles of paper towels, medical equipment not being used, rubber gloves etc., etc., No cups near the water cooler of course, but stuff all over. Stuff all over, but no resources to deliver the service?!?! Water water everywhere nor any drop to drink (there you go Mr Lakeland, the first time since the age of 14 that I’ve referred to The tale of the Ancient Mariner!!).
The second observation….no-one smiles. At all. Everyone looks down, dour and grumpy. Ask a question (where are the cups for the water cooler kept?) and no-one knows the answer. It’s almost as if people are being forced to work there against their will! To compound this everyone seems to get used to the fact that there are never any cups near the water cooler. So do we need a cooler? If not we could maybe save the cost of its upkeep? If we do value it then presumably the people who do get thirsty either die of dehydration before the cups arrive or they are too scared to approach whoever is Vice President of water coolers for fear of catching grumpiness? Someone take responsibility to improve the situation!!
Third. Everyone is mega mega busy (especially the people who monitor how many photocopies are being made throughout the day), but producing what? It seems that being late for meetings and over-running on meetings is a good thing. It means you must be really busy and important. Surely? Couple that to the fact that no-one ever knows where the meetings are or where the people who are supposed to be in the meetings are and it becomes chaos. Everyone communicates via mobile phone because of this, but someone must be picking up the cost of that. I have not attended a single meeting that started on time, where everyone had pre-prepared (or even knew why they were there), did not get disrupted in some way or had to finish before everything was covered. I deliberately avoid saying meetings that finished early because they never do. They over-run to the point where it becomes unbearable and everyone runs to the next meeting. We’ll arrange another meeting to review what we were supposed to have done in this meeting….
The lesson? Stop and take stock. Please. Break the cycle.
1) set some meetings rules - everyone turn up on time having read the information needed, discuss, make decision, leave, act.
2) get organised. Focus on what’s important and urgent. The latest request is not always the most important/urgent request.
3) take responsibility. Question why, take the initiative to investigate, just do change.
4) if it’s that unbearable then leave. Please.
Paul Everitt
http://www.rworld.co.uk/
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