How quickly do you like things to go? In the morning, I move at rapid pace and by the afternoon…meh, not so much. Therefore, I have different personal speed expectations. What about you? What about the speed of business…your business? Or change?
I believe, with mild exception, we all really like our people. We like their spirit or friendly nature or their ability to get a task done. Sometimes, we just wish they would pay a little closer attention to time. Ever had this feeling, “Umm, could you put a fire under it?!” Frustration, table for one. In retail customers pay very close attention to speed of service. They want things to happen not just orderly and properly, but also with a certain amount of “Come on, let’s get it done…now.” Managers want a similar thing from their team.
Part seven is about speed…Lindsay and Tricia.
Headline: How quickly does stuff need to happen?
Lindsay is laid back. She understands things need to happen, just not this second. When she is on task, impressive. She just needs to be reminded from time to time. She has such a positive outlook on everything. Almost to a point where you might even question her sincerity or degree of commitment to the business. I know that may seem odd to say. I have known team members who have a smile on their face and complete apathy about the job or the seriousness of the job. There is the smile and then the question of commitment to getting it done…now.
Tricia is a control freak. She wants everyone to know what she is doing, how she is doing it and to what extent everyone else needs to do it to her (perceived) ability of perfection. She wants so badly to please, and while that is so, it seems your coaching falls on deaf ears. She doesn’t hear what you need because she is so busy doing. She does want to get it done fast and furious and with a lot of attention attached to it. In a way, her doing-ness validates her. She not doing anything wrong per se other than not slowing down to hear what really needs to happen or change.
Let’s be real, people bring such a range of perspective and ability into our team dynamic. Some have it so figured out we …well, we sigh. We celebrate things are good. Others need guidance. Some more than others and that is OK. No one is perfect and no one brings an “A game” each and every day.
Speed of understanding or speed of getting things done does matter. It does. We have to get things done. The challenge is the team member’s ability to accomplish that. What about a team member who needs to improve a sales behavior or hit a certain target? They do hit it, but it just takes two weeks, not one day. Are you OK with that? Some people need more coaching time than others. I take feedback well and move very, very quickly. Someone else make also take feedback well, they just need to think about the change and may end up moving a lot slower. Goals still hit, right?
Lindsay has a slower pace and this suggests she needs the what, why, how and to what extent more than just once. She needs a pulse check immediately after coaching and then a couple of days later. She is OK with the message, it’s just that she may have some noise or distraction that needs to be addressed. I know team members who are nails on with their tasks AND incredibly easily distracted. While others focus so well and completely on the task, you can just walk away and it all gets done. Lindsay just needs a little extra time and push to help her stay on task.
Tricia needs to stop and reflect on what is actually happening. Yes, she is eager to please…to a fault. She needs to hear how she is doing outside of the thing she is trying so hard to accomplish. Take her outside the store, get her to reflect on what she is doing and share your thoughts. She needs that. She needs validation. Slowing her down helps her hear what she needs to hear. It is one thing to empower a team member like this and NOT micromanage them. It is another to stop the process and evaluate. This both recognizes the effort and course corrects it if necessary.
Some days, I can get it done in lightning spewed and other days, I will sit for hours before getting to it. The bottom line, I do care about the task, about getting it done, especially if it benefits others. I just may not think it needs to happen at the speed of another’s expectation. Lindsay and Tricia have great value, they just have a different view of speed. Even a well-trained Porsche driver knows when to apply the gas. They were coached.
Cheers