Sometimes you have to ask Why five times to get to the truth.
What you hear at first is not always the truth. Or not the whole truth, anyway.
At first, people put the best story up front. They hope it will be enough and you won't go deeper.
Ask Why. Go deeper. Get down to the truth and get all the details.
If you want to prevent the problem from happening again, you have to understand what happened.
Be relentless. Don't accept what you hear at first. Dig deeper. Ask Why five times to uncover what really happened.
Without the truth, you will not be able to make proper decisions. You asking Why also helps staff think deeper when a problem arises.
If you want to learn more, read this Entrepreneur article about asking Why.
When you are searching for people to add to your staff, you have to have a wide approach.
Don't just post a job opening and hope the right person applies.
Finding the right person starts long before you have a job opening. Having the right contacts and relationships with a wide variety of people can lead you to the right person, so it is a good idea to meet people across different industries and professions.
At Disney World, we would carry a card to give to people we think would be a good fit at Disney.
Focus on getting well known in your community. Have a good relationship with high schools and colleges.
One of the best sources of new employees is right in front of you. Good people bring good people into the organization. If you have good employees already, turn to them to get referrals.
When it comes to hiring the right people, create obstacles in your interview process. Never judge the size of the obstacle. Consider their thinking process and the motivation behind their actions. Carol Quinn is the authority when it comes to hiring. Check out her book Don't Hire Anyone Without Me.
You may also consider including a scenario or a task in the interview process. For example, you may want to have a chef make a hamburger as part of the interview process.
Emergencies are the extreme example of finding out how well you have done in delegating authority.
When you have an emergency you have no time for anyone to wonder what they should do and what responsibility they have. You have to sort it out before you have a problem.
You don't plan what to do in a tornado when you hear the tornado siren.
Think about what could go wrong. Work through the scenarios and determine who will do what task. Part of the planning for handling an emergency is to talk to people so they know what they will be doing. Everyone needs to know their role ahead of time. And don't delegate a responsibility to someone who won't be able to handle it.
Gather your team in a room and discuss different emergencies you could face. If you need inspiration, pull out a recent newspaper and pull headline to talk through it. What would you do if that situation happened to your organization?
Anticipate what can happen and then have your team work through the scenario. Reflect what other organizations have done to minimize the emergency.
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If you don't plan where you are going, how are you going to get there?
Just like putting coordinates in your GPS. Know where you are going so you can get there.
No matter how big or small your organization is, your customers all have the same expectations;
Make me feel special
Treat me as an individual
Respect me
Have knowledgeable employees
Now, go through these four expectations with your team and figure out how you can master them. You will have to be deliberate to master these four areas. Discuss each expectation individually and figure out what it means for you and your organization.
If you master these four expectations you will stand out from the competition. Customers will become so loyal they won't even think about going to the competition.
Have you ever been in a situation at work where it seemed like it was Us versus Them?
When you find this situation it often comes in the form of field staff vs. office staff.
The problem comes from the top. This happens because the CEO lets it happen. Or, in a public agency, the Director or CEO equivalent.
Al Weiss used to say there would not be any silos at Disney World. And if there were, someone would not be in their silo anymore because he would remove them.
It is the responsibility of the leader to create a culture where everyone works together, appreciates each other, and realizes everyone has a hard job.
If an organization has let Us vs. Them creep into a culture, one way to address the situation is to have the office staff work in operations. Give people the exposure and experience to understand what happens in other jobs. Once you understand the work other people are doing you will begin to appreciate them more.
When your people begin not working together the focus shifts away from the customer. Everyone needs to work towards the same purpose.
Every day this situation continues it chips away at the culture of your organization. There is a lot at stake. Great people will leave the organization to work at a place with a better culture. Over time you are left with average.
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