About a week ago, my department, (Client Services for those of you filling out your org. charts at home) had an “offsite”. No, there were no trust falls or hilarious team cheers (although I was hoping for some…). We actually booked a lovely conference room at Boston’s Museum of Science, sat in a room most of the day, and talked about what has been going on in the business, what is going on now, and what should go on in the future.
Sounds painful right?
Well, yes, it did drag at times (particularly during my presentation) but it turns out it was pretty valuable (and we got to see a sweet indoor lightning storm). Almost everyone gave a presentation and there was plenty of good discussion, lots of interesting ideas, hilarious moments, etc. All in all, it was a good day.
But… now what?
Lots of innovative ideas came from these types of meetings (and even more great questions), but now we have to actually do something about it. First of all we have to separate out which ideas we can actually put into use now, and which ones we just need to keep around for when the time comes. Then we need to put the “currently useful” ideas into action. The days of “yeah let’s do that, make Kurt build it” are largely over at BzzAgent, as most decisions now affect several departments (and heaven knows I don’t want to cross Network… last guy who did that ended up a Pest).
So what do we do? Committees? Meetings? Elaborate PowerPoint presentations with tons of colorful charts and superfluous animation? How do we go through the proper channels without getting bogged down in bureaucracy?
Right now we’re in the process of forming committees of about 3 people for each idea with one person in charge. They will meet with anyone at the company who might be affected, present the ideas, get suggestions and blessings, and then we execute. Formal, but not cumbersome, right?
A lot to think about… especially since I really just went there to see the T-Rex.
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Could you toss us a (T-Rex) bone with some of the ideas?
Personally, I like the 3-man attack-style for rapidly moving ideas thru. Small teams like that give various opinions, but not so many as to stall the process. Anxious to see what is to come.
All of which brings to mind the old saw about a committee is an animal with multiple legs and no brain.
Bah dum dum…
I have to agree with the fears of too much bureaucracy bogging down the process of actually getting things done. Having spent way too many hours sitting in dull, boring, time-wasting meetings, I know from experience there is nothing that will kill good ideas quicker than having to sit through yet another meeting. Even color slides or movies don’t help.
Your three-person committee sounds like a move in the right direction, although even those can bog down if not led by a go-getter who can prioritize and keep the spirit of the idea moving. But what happens then? Do you have a procedure in place for when the small committee is actually finished with their fact-finding and studies? Does it then go to yet another committee or study group, or is someone designated that can finalize the decisions?
And I’m with you. I would have wanted to see the T-Rex too!
Arm wrestling?
You could always rally the troops with bzzagent cheers like Wal-mart does to motivate their personnel lol…nah please don’t do that because as a customer it’s disconcerting hearing that when one is shopping. Team leaders , color coordinated for each thought or idea???? Forget the charts to much work, instead do polls, throw confetti, pass out spa passes, give away free trip…what am I talking, I think that was as dream once……Okay so charts, list, paperclips, staplers, copy machines, sounds great.. Whens the next meeting and where. lol