Role modelling large scale change is tough

Sometimes getting the big stuff done means finding a way to manage the little stuff. I find when I’m trying to work on a big project, designing large scale change programs, developing spreading good practice interventions and other activities which require a complex set of activities, I am easily distracted from my leadership role unless I employ a few tactics.

I have been wondering whether one of the reasons large scale change doesn’t get implemented is because we may project our own disorganisation and unproductiveness onto the systems, processes and people who are intended to be part of that change. Namely, is there a large scale change we need to adopt ourselves before we can scale up any change process to teams, organisations and systems?

It’s all well and good saying the big things are the priority and therefore I should spend most of my time on them. However, no-one has told that to all other small requests, queries and information despatching that usually ends up in my email inbox.

Now I am very cautious about treating the small stuff as not important. It was Dame Anita Roddick who once said that “anyone who ever doubts that small things can have a big impact has never spent the night in a tent with a mosquito”. So I treat the “small stuff” with care. But how does this help with creating, managing and delivering on the big stuff and priority projects?

I employ a few specific tactics to keep me focused and on track. My consultancy role has me working at two polar opposites; virtually, attached to a computer, and face-to-face with clients. (There is a twilight world in between called “travel” but we’ll leave that for now.)

I am in charge of my computer. I am the head that organises how best to use it and I work hard not to let the computer-tail wag my dog.
- I aim to complete one task in the morning before I turn on the computer
- Then I complete one task, such as reviewing a document, before opening my email inbox
When I do open my email, I delete without opening anything where the subject line looks like the message has little to do with me, then I read them. If I can reply in 2 mins then I do so. If not I drag the mail to the tasks or calendar button in Outlook and allocate some other time to handle it.
- Then I get on with the priority tasks, which I may or may not have allocated time for…
- I allocate one hour a week, usually Fridays if I am in the office then, to a swift check around all my online team working systems.
So, before I can work on the big stuff I need to find a way to more productively manage the smaller stuff. This reminds me of the NHS Institute’s Productive Wards http://www.institute.nhs.uk/ system where an investment in getting yourself, your ward, organised means you have more time to care (big stuff).

When face-to-face with other people, at a single or multiple day event, at meetings etc., my singular contribution is that of my presence. I know that physical presence needs to be combined with my emotional and intellectual presence.

- I aim not to take calls, look at or answer emails while I am F2F. (This did take about 6 months to wean myself off the habit as well as enable my email-senders to gain the trust that I do still value what they email and I will respond, fully and care-fully, when I can focus on them.)
- I avoid travelling with other people’s business to do. This means I am not preparing next week’s presentation for another client in the breaks between working with the F2F client. (This is a capacity / demand issue and I have employed the same techniques used in healthcare service delivery. It has been a tough learning curve).

My own experiences leave me with the feeling that practising and implementing some of the changes we require of others provides some salutary lessons. It’s hard to encourage role modelling as part of a change strategy unless you also see yourself as a role model. Maybe that is one of the toughest challenges about spreading good practice and implementing large scale change? Namely, we have to change ourselves before we can ask other to change themselves.

Managing email: 51 hints and tips

Some individuals and organisations use email as a marketing method. The same people then complain about being overwhelmed by their email. As part of some work I'm doing on helping individuals live and work in their virtual world I've compiled a non-prioritised list of hints and tips on dealing with email.

1. You get back about as much as you send (think about it…)
2. Make sure your signature is set up and includes your contact details. If you are a company you may need to include other details for legal reasons
3. Know how to use the advanced features of your email software, they are there to make your more productive and efficient
4. In Outlook, use the Rules option to send types of messages to folders e.g. messages from distribution groups can go directly to certain folders.
5. Ensure the subject line is pertinent (alter it if replying and changing the topic)
6. Use the subject line as a summary for the whole email; think what it will look like in the recipient’s inbox
7. When scheduling a mtg or a call put all the details into the subject line including the reason for the meeting
8. Cover only one subject per email and make your point succinctly
9. Read the email more than once before responding to make sure you comprehend it
10. Make action requests clear
11. When you copy someone, make it clear in the email what action you wish each person copied is expected to do (else don’t copy them)
12. Provide a context in every email; don’t assume forwarded or replied messages can be understood without this
13. Proofread your reply
14. If your email is printed make sure it will be one page or less and well formatted
15. If you know your recipient is using wireless technology to receive emails, like a Blackberry, then keep your emails very short
16. It is difficult to express your emotions in writing and remember the reader may not understand or “hear” what you mean
17. Praise in public, criticise in private
18. Show respect and restraint
19. Remember email is never confidential and can be forwarded on to anyone
20. Distinguish between formal and informal situations and adjust your language and use of abbreviations and icons accordingly
21. Long emails do not necessarily need long replies
22. Not all email needs to be responded to immediately. Use the “do not deliver before” function or reply when most appropriate
23. Avoid attachments. Better to put attachments on a webspace and link to them in your email
24. Better still, ask before you send an attachment or a large number of attachments. In some cases, good old fashioned print at your end and put in the post might really be appreciated as a time saver for the recipient
25. Be careful opening attachments from people you do not know or where the attachment looks strange, especially if it is an executable file
26. If you end up with a group of individuals regularly discussing a number of topics under a heading then start an online threaded group to manage the process
27. Get on the phone if you start a get-and-forth process; email is not an instant messenger product. A string of max 4 messages = a phone call.
28. If an email angers you, pick up the phone. Chances are you are misinterpreting it.
29. If you keep answering the same sort of questions from different people, consider starting a blog or using an FAQ sheet on the intra/extranet
30. To cut down on repeated distribution of the same document, such as agenda generation, use shared document and collaboration sites
31. For generating complex sets of information in collaborative ways that avoid endless attachments and update emails, use wikis.
32. Delete what you’re not going to deal with or delegate. (If nervous then file in a “delegated” folder). Get it out of your inbox.
33. Avoid being a “grey spammer” by copying irrelevant people
34. Send personal emails rather than sending “to” a 1000 and expecting a response (this is also akin to spam)
35. Send along the jokes and photos only in very exceptional circumstances and to people you know incredibly well.
36. If someone sends you jokes and things you don’t want to receive then ask them to stop
37. Stop sending emails that just say “thank you” or “responses that say “you’re welcome”, and ask others to leave you off the “thank you list”
38. Never forward on a “this is the latest virus” message” as it is nearly always a hoax and will often suggest the recipient take action that may cause damage to their system
39. Check your spam folder and junk e-mail daily to ensure you’re not getting proper email diverted there. If so, add the email address to your safe senders list.
40. Don’t forward mail to someone else unless you feel you have permission to do so
41. If you get email you don’t want in your in-box, use the blocking functions and other functions to have it automatically removed. Don’t allow it to continually waste your time
42. Get off as many email lists as you can, or have the newsletters you’ve signed up to be directed to a specific folder (use the email software rules function) and read them once a month.
43. Use the unsubscribe button to get yourself off the email lists you no longer want to be on (except never do this for spam)
44. DON’T TYPE IN CAPITALS! IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE YELLING.
45. don’t type all in lower case or use txtspk in emails.
46. There is no rule that everything needs to look like it is filed in a filing cabinet with folders. Use your computer and email software search function and file everything in one folder.
47. Move messages out of your inbox as fast as you can. Avoid using your inbox as your to-do list (in Outlook, use the Tasks option as your to-do list)
48. Process your email in batches and certain times of the day
49. Know how to turn the email function off and on on your Blackberry so you can receive email when you want it (also useful for not incurring large roaming charges when out of country)
50. When you read it – answer it (or delegate it), then delete it, or file it – remove it from the inbox
51. Archive your inbox or your main filing cabinet regularly so you have a backup if that is important to you if you lose your data