April 2010
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| Learn the purpose behind the chart and the Blackberry. |
Ah-Ha! Moment – The April "Adding Value To The People" item centers on several disruptions – which I permitted to happen – to our normal weekly and monthly routines. And while the events were all important, I learned an important lesson about how many disruptions my firm could successfully absorb without driving people crazy.
Each March, I hold a firm meeting to cover prior year results and outline key goals and challenges for the upcoming year. Earlier this year, primarily because of hiring a new Manager of Business Development, I decided to push the meeting from March to April. Also, as part of the firm's Twentieth Anniversary celebration, I had committed at least 100 hours of our time to help with a Habitat project, requiring two workdays from the firm members. The project was scheduled to start in late March, with weekday work dates in April and May. "Perfect!" I thought. "We can do the first Habitat workday in the beginning of April, the firm meeting later in April, and the second Habitat workday sometime in May. This will be, at most, two special events per month, and my folks should be able to plan around this."
Well, reality has a way of turning well-laid plans upside down. An unexpected situation occurred with a client's major customer, which in turn required several of my staff to alter their plans to pitch in and spend many unanticipated hours servicing our client's changed needs. I also learned the new online signup process for our two Habitat workdays did not match the actual work schedule, and the real day they needed us was the last Thursday in April.
The outcome? While everyone appreciated the firm meeting and enjoyed the two Habitat workdays, three special events three weeks in a row proved to be hard for us to digest. Everyone (myself included) seemed a little out of sync for most of April, and will likely need the first half of May for things to settle down.
The positives? These three special events are now behind us! The firm meeting was a success, and the Habitat Town Home looks great!
The lesson learned? I need to listen to my inner voice, respect the firm's capacity to absorb special events, and look for alternative ways to honor commitments – whether internal or external – so as to not burden my people with excessive disruptions to their schedules and plans.
