Change Management.

What if I told you your community justice system could lower adult recidivism by 10%, juvenile recidivism by 20%, and would need to send only 1% of defendants to jail? It might be as simple as changing the courtroom.

Judge Alex Calabrese did just that. He decided to reform the criminal justice system with a new objective: “Improve behavior rather than punish it.” In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker describes his innovative approach. He thought about the courtroom itself. A defendant encountered a dark, unfamiliar room, where a judge decided his fate from on high – literally. The towering judge’s bench and the layout of the courtroom seemed designed to make the defendant feel small, isolated, and hopeless. Instead, Judge Calabrese set Brooklyn’s Red Hook Community Justice Center in a former high school, with big windows that bathed the space with light and a judge’s bench at eye level. Red Hook made other changes to the process too, but the physical environment played a crucial role in their results.

There are many findings that tell us environment affects our behavior. For example, researchers found that the very presence of a number on a classroom door can influence a student’s choice of a number in an estimating exercise. Williams Sonoma found that placing an expensive bread maker next to mid-range priced bread maker improved sales of the cheaper version. People in theatre know that emotion is contagious, so they choose venues where audiences sit close together.

Scientists call this priming – cues in our environment affect how we perceive or interpret information that follows. Priming changes what things mean to us and how much attention we give them, which changes our behavior.

For example, companies that want their teams to collaborate often use open seating arrangements – removing physical barriers and signaling a lack of emotional barriers. The dotcoms that want their people to stay and work long hours prime the environment with free food, foosball tables, and in-house dry cleaning – they are signaling “home” and “community,” which is where people live. Starbucks used its warm colors and small tables to create their famous “third space,” encouraging people to linger over pricy coffee.

We see the effects of environment often, in our change management work. When we were helping a Chicago hospital implement a new process for approving IT projects, we realized the pagers the IT team carried symbolized an automatic “Yes!” to every request. In order to get people to use the new approval approach, we explored the idea of taking away the pagers. That was too big an interruption to the process, so we came up with Plan B: we changed employees’ pager numbers. This made the requestors stop and pay attention to every request. The new numbers were also a symbol of the new way of working – both for people asking for help and for the service-oriented IT team.

This is a question we should always ask ourselves: How are we using the work environment to frame our change and support the right behaviors? We want people to enable – even embrace — the change and shift behavior. How is their environment defining the change? Is it good? Is it safe? Where is the environment focusing their attention? What are we triggering in those we want to succeed?

Dr. Brian Gunia, of Johns Hopkins University, studied environment-influenced deception during negotiation. He believes it can impact the outcomes of mergers and acquisitions. In summarizing work by Kay, Wheeler, Bargh, and Ross, he writes, “objects …help people make sense of ambiguous situations and determine how to act.”

Dr. Gunia’s findings give us some tips for constructing the work environment to support a business change:

Money

• The science: If you make people think about money, they will put their own interests first. In fact, symbols representing extreme wealth cause some people to justify cheating. They are driven to somehow make things fairer. And cheating is more likely if it costs an organization, as opposed to a person. It’s just business, after all.
• The application: Take money off the table. Don’t use images of cash, wallets, status, or wealth. For example, promising big bonuses for hitting milestones might be a mistake. And don’t brand your initiative with dollar signs or glitzy imagery.

Identity

• The science: Certain objects and images remind people of their identities. Mirrors and video or audio content promote self-awareness. They also discourage cheating.
• The application: If you’re remote, insist on video conferencing. Seeing each other’s faces and hearing their voices reminds people they are dealing with human beings. And seeing one’s own face on a video share is like the mirror – a reminder of identity. You’ll promote the best behavior from team members.

The Senses

• The science: The senses are critical in interpreting our environment.
  • Gunia suggests that disgust drives our sense of what’s good or bad. There’s a subconscious moral overlay that comes from religious rituals such as baptism. Our desire to clean can represent making amends. Clean spaces are seen as morally better. Cleaning products can represent taking higher ground.Dark spaces seem threatening. Dark colors feel more hostile and aggressive. People associate bright lighting and white spaces with moral behavior.People who smell fish oil view situations more suspiciously, those “exposed to ‘fart smells’ made harsher moral judgments about others.” Pleasant smells (the researchers used citrus Windex) prompt generosity.People who drank bitter drinks were more judgmental than those who drank sweet drinks
• The application: Prime the project team workspace. Project war rooms are famously windowless and littered. Put your team in a large room with windows. Keep it meticulously clean. Whip out the citrus Windex if you must. Townhall, kick-off or workshop? Treat the senses. Put the group in a light room. Wear light colors and avoid flashy accessories. Splurge on delicious food. Make sure there are sweet drinks. Definitely avoid anything that smells bad. Whatever the research, you probably should keep the coffee!

Time

• The science: Using the concept of time causes people to consider their actions more carefully.
• The application: What’s on the walls? A large clock? Good. You’re conveying that what happens now fits in a longer-term experience. A statement about your values? Excellent. You’re reminding people of a higher calling.

When we lead through change, we have a powerful tool in our arsenal: the physical environment. Science teaches us that spaces, symbols, and materials can work for us or against us. Design the environment to promote your change.

For fun, take a look at this video and count the number of times you see the ball passed. Environmental cues and priming impact all of us, even when we’re aware of and looking for them.

In Hero of the Empire, Candice Millard writes that the British were so accustomed to world domination that they knew the 1899 Boer war in South Africa would be easy. The generals didn’t prepare. In fact, they planned parties. They saw the war as a no-brainer career move to achieve fame and political power.

They made errors that, in hindsight, are shockingly arrogant and naïve. For example, they moved troops in open-roofed train cars with no doors. To get in and out, the men had to climb over the train car walls carrying heavy armory and equipment. As they traveled, the tops of their pointed hats were visible to the enemy; the Boers saw slow-moving train cars stuffed with British troops who couldn’t easily climb out. The Boers derailed the train, slaughtered the trapped men and captured Winston Churchill.

When you are accustomed to winning, take a look around. Are you waiting for a traumatic loss to reveal your weakness? Don’t wait. Proactively refresh your team.

Here are three signs that it’s time.

1. Your leadership is complacent.

They ride on the company’s reputation. This shows up as arrogance and disrespect. Is there chatter about how your company is the best? Do they make snarky comments about your customers or belittle the competition? Are they cocky during negotiation? Such disrespectful behavior, often disguised as humor, comes from a belief that customers need you more than you need them.

They spend. They take their team, clients and “network” out to expensive restaurants. They stay in fine hotels. They lease fancy cars. I’ve seen several cases where executives have relocated entire companies or divisions to be close to their own homes. Their focus on status shows a disregard for the money’s source and the company’s well-being.

They blame outside forces for missed objectives. Watch how the team responds to weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals. Do they take responsibility for the results or do they play the victim? At one point in my company’s development, my executive team told me they were not responsible for how much our consultants were working on client projects (what we call in the services industry “utilization”). That showed me they were resting on our company’s momentum rather than taking ownership of our future.

2. Your team focuses on internal operations.

Respondents to Workfront’s 2019 State of Work survey reported they spend 60% of the work week on time-wasting tasks. Those tasks become the mission rather than the mission itself. You’ll see it in the following:

• You have complicated administration, reports, and approvals.
• Your executives are working overtime to get work done because they spend their days in meetings. Look for signs of meeting overload: the volume of meetings, the duration, and also large numbers of people attending.
• Allocated costs make it cheaper to work with outside vendors than to use your own employees. And internal costs inflate your pricing.

3. Your team’s strategies openly signal weakness to your competition.

The pointed hats showing over the boxcar walls include:

• Differentiation. If you can slap someone else’s logo over your differentiators and it’s not jarring, you are no longer different.
• Dominance. You don’t have to be a good aim to hit a large target. The more you win, the more your competition will look for ways to exploit your blind spots.
• Innovation. Are your big ideas only small improvements to your main product or service? Competitors will find a way to win doing what you are not.

So how do you refresh your team? Well, when you’re fighting inertia, you have to break glass. You must capture attention, be utterly clear and unequivocal on what you want, and deeply disruptive. This is hard, especially because – if you’re doing this proactively – your company is doing well. People won’t understand why change is essential.

Here’s a game plan for your reboot:

Be direct. What do you want? What is broken and what does the opposite look like? Write down the ideal outcome and keep it under five words. If you can’t state it clearly, people can’t act on it. The turning point in my company was when I began an executive meeting with a slide that said: “Trish Emerson is responsible for utilization.” I had a single slide for each executive, repeating that sentence but using their name. I concluded with “If you are not comfortable with this, I need your resignation.” I received one. The executive team effectively rebooted.

Design from scratch. What if you started the company fresh, today? How would you organize if you had no constraints? Draw that. Then figure out what’s the highest value and easiest to implement; use that to create stages for the transformation. Starting with a blank sheet of paper helps you avoid two traps: designing around people and wasting time fixing small problems.

Separate innovation from daily operations. You need the company to continue to function while you change it. Operations and innovation are so different that Geoffrey Moore advocates separating them. This allows your teams to focus – one team creating the profit you need to fund innovation and another inventing the next idea that will sell and scale. He advises dedicating a third team to scaling the organization. This structure helps you move forward without disrupting your profitable business.

Hire audaciously. Bring in talent based on where you are going, not where you are. If you hire to your current state, you cement a plateau. A few of my advisors told me my recruits were overqualified and worried they’d get bored and turn over. Some of my team told me we didn’t have the work to justify some recruits — that they might get laid off and that would be cruel. These advisors operated from fear. The right hires have the experience to clearly see what you are addressing and create the opportunity for growth.

Reward to keep people focused. You might need to bridge bonuses and guarantee salaries for a short time while you change direction. This helps people to focus on the goal rather than on themselves. Then create a disincentive for staying in the current state. Geoffrey Moore believes half of everyone’s compensation should depend on the success of the company transformation. He says too many people earn their pay by doing work the old way, which sends the wrong signal.

But money isn’t your only tool. Changing a job title can elevate status for those who are creating the future. Your team will assign meaning to your every move during this time, so be intentional about the messages you send.

Millard quotes Churchill, “’Nothing looks more formidable and impressive than an armoured train, but nothing is in fact more vulnerable and helpless.” Are you winning? This might be a good time to reboot.

In an earlier post, we introduced you to a book that helps us improve both behavior change programs and our personal workdays. Today, we’re talking about The Trusted Advisor by David Maister, Charles Green, and Robert Galford. We love this book because it’s right in line with our values.

Emerson exists to help organizations get business results using the power of their people.  We know a lot about how to do that – we have methodology, tools and company best practices. But, as Maister and his co-authors preach, technical mastery is only one part of the solution. We can’t help our clients until we earn their trust.

We do that by following three principles: shift the possible, share the experience, and connect to what matters. Shift the possible means helping clients imagine a future built on solutions they didn’t even think were doable. Share the experience means rolling up our sleeves and working on those solutions, side by side with the client. Connect to what matters means figuring out what our client wants and needs, and making that our focus.

Our third principle reminds us of our favorite quotes from the book, “If you’re going to succeed as a consultant, you have to move from being perceived as a ‘hired gun’ to being viewed as a trusted advisor. In short, that means the client has absolute confidence that you are looking out for their best interest – not yours.”

Here’s why some of our consultants love and recommend this book:

Rory McKenna, Director of Change Management, says, “The Trusted Advisor is an entertaining, quick read with powerful advice on building strong business relationships. I first read the book years ago, but refer back to it as a reminder to stay intentional.”

Client Director Kenny Simon says, “I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of the traits described in The Trusted Advisor come naturally to me. For example: ‘Give before looking to get.’ ‘Give clients options and let them choose.’ ‘Don’t patronize the client – speak to them as if you were speaking to your parents.’ Some of this is fundamental, golden rule stuff that we’ve forgotten over the years, but much of it will enlighten you to things you do well and things you don’t do so well; things to continue, and things you should probably stop. Great book for anyone looking to move into deeper relationships with their clients.”

As we discover more inspiring reads, we’ll share them with you so you can add to your professional library.

From the first few pages of When, Daniel Pink seized my attention and refused to let it go. He opens his book with the suspenseful story of the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner sunk by a German torpedo on its route from New York to Liverpool, England, in the midst of World War One. Pink poses a provocative question: did Captain William Thomas Turner make bad decisions that ultimately contributed to the vessel’s demise because he made those decisions in the afternoon?

And so the book introduces its central theme: timing is everything. Pink and his researchers spent two years analyzing over seven hundred studies to demonstrate the value of when. At Emerson, we’re constantly thinking about behavior change; Pink’s book gives us a new way to approach behavior, backed by scientific evidence.

Pink divides his book into three parts: The Day; Beginnings, Endings, and In Between; and Syncing and Thinking. Each chapter gives readers research-based advice on “how to best live, work, and succeed.” Each chapter has a “Time Hacker’s Handbook” with actionable steps to improve your life, from work to home.

For me, some of the most impactful advice came in the first chapter, “The Hidden Pattern of Everyday Life.” Pink introduced me to my “chronotype.” Most of us have heard about circadian rhythm, but Pink explains that every individual has his or her own pattern. In other words, the circadian rhythm is not one-size-fits-all. There are quizzes in the book to help you figure out your personal pattern. Once you determine your chronotype, you can optimize your day. If you’re like me, a “third bird,” you should schedule analytic tasks in the morning and insightful ones in the late afternoon. And, because most of us don’t control our schedules all the time, Pink tells us how to prepare for events that don’t fit our natural circadian rhythms.

I work remotely from home, but I used to work in an office setting. Every afternoon, sometime between two and three, my energy would wane. My eyes would droop and I’d lose motivation. Around that time, a coworker would send me an IM, “CVS?” I’d readily agree. A ten-minute trip to the convenience store was all it took to revive my energy. That’s probably why the second chapter of When resonated. “Afternoons and Coffee Spoons” describes the scientifically proven value of a break. What is a “vigilance break” and how can it enhance team performance? What is the most effective way to take a nap? (During work? Absolutely!) Believe it or not, a pause from work or studying will help you focus. While Pink encourages leaving your work space, there are other ways to give your brain a rest to reenergize.

What I found the most engaging were the real-life examples that transcend culture and nation. For example, Pink connects the experiences of a Washington, DC-based choir to the dabbawala deliverymen in India and explains how their experiences can improve your life. There are also insights from successful individuals like Jerry Seinfeld to Warren Buffett.

My biggest takeaway? Small changes in behavior and timing can make big positive impacts on my everyday life.

A few weeks ago I gave you some scientific tips to help you achieve your New Year’s resolution. Consider using those five social science tricks and stay out of the 40 percent of Americans who don’t fulfill their goals.

Typically we use this space to share our favorite lessons learned in behavior change, learning and development, and digital transformation. But this time we’re sharing our 2019 resolutions. This is how we’re trying to change things; maybe it will inspire you.

Randi: Schedule and commit daily time with dogs and books. (I find I’m missing them.)

Kenny: My “resolution” is to embrace more of what is going well instead of what I don’t have or what isn’t going well. Focus is a choice…and I plan to be intentional with it next year!

Garrett: Become more of a minimalist.

Lisa: Read more. And walk my dogs more because nothing makes me happier than seeing their excitement to go on a walk.

Ryan: My NY resolution centers around reducing my carbon footprint. I call it my “2019 Less List” – using the dishwasher less, using less electricity in my home, less vehicle dependency (more biking or public transportation), buying less plastic, and reusing/repurposing plastic packaging (like takeout cartons and produce bags). Let’s save the Earth while we still can!

Samantha: I’m planning on two resolutions next year. First, I’m going to eat less dairy. My second goal is to participate in at least one community service event per month.

It’s that magical time of year. Holiday decorations illuminate yards. Businesses, television shows, and radio stations play seasonal music on repeat. A new year looms, and we’re starting to think about ways to better ourselves. Well, I’ve decided 2019 is my chance for a successful New Year’s resolution.

I know what you’re thinking. About 40 percent of Americans make resolutions and don’t fulfill them. In the past, I’ve been one of those people who promise to hit the gym or save a little more each month. But it doesn’t work out. Research on human behavior finds that the allure of self-improvement entices us to pursue these resolutions. But we all know, it’s not easy to keep them.

How do we maintain our New Year’s resolutions? There are social science tricks to keep us on track.

Make the beginning meaningful.

The name suggests that a resolution should begin on the first day of the new year. Well, you may not be ready to launch a plan to exercise more often or eat less sugar on January 1st. Research suggests you should start on a day that holds significance to you. If the beginning of January is out of reach, pick a notable date or another holiday, like Presidents’ Day, to get things going.

Speaking of the beginning, start strong.

Don’t let your resolution start with a whimper. Some research shows that intensity matters. Plan concrete ways to keep that resolution from the jump. For example, if I want to eat less dairy, I’ll make a grocery list that doesn’t include milk and yogurt. I’ll plan an entire month of homemade dinners and lunches that avoid cheese. When I’m ready to start my resolution, I’ve got a map to guide me.

Set the timer for one month.

Habits don’t form overnight. It can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to change behavior. Give yourself a full 31 days to test the new routine. No cheat days. No hiccups. At the end of the month, it’s time for reflection. How do you feel about the change? Is it sustainable? Is this bettering your life? You’ll need that full month to decide whether you want to continue pursuing the change.

Replace the old with the new.

Back to the dairy example. One way to eat less dairy is to find a replacement for it. Instead of buying cow’s milk for cereal, I might try almond or soy milk. Once you’ve decided on a resolution, find a substitute for the old behavior. Let’s say you want to get rid of nail biting. Research suggests you should find something to put in place of the old habit as you try to break it.

Set little wins.

Plan small, obtainable goals during that first month of resolution-ing. For example, if I make it through the first week of the month without milk, I’ll treat myself to a new book. Think about how to encourage yourself one day or one week at a time. Often, resolutions are large, lofty goals that seem like too far a stretch. If you plan small victories along the way, you’ll have some instant gratification to push you along.

Go into the upcoming year with a plan for your resolution. If you try to wing it, you’ll most likely join the millions of Americans who don’t meet their goals.

We believe behavior change is the key to any important outcome, and we love sharing our favorite reads. Behavior changes some in all sizes – they can transform a company or simply help someone work a little smarter. Recently we’ve been talking about how to be more productive at work. We hope these three productivity tips will make you a little less distracted, a little more focused, and a bit more self-assured.

Step away from the cell phone. Literally.

Texting and driving is dangerous. Walking through a crosswalk while reading a phone can get you hurt. Hearing a cell phone ring in the middle of a task can cause anxiety. These consequences are well known, but there’s another risk to keeping your phone close.

Recent research found that participants who completed math problems while their phones were in another room performed the best, followed by those who left their phones in their pockets. In last place were individuals whose phones were out on their desks. Give it a try right now. Put your phone away for the next 30 minutes and see what happens.

Consolidate your lists.

How many note-taking apps do you have on your phone? Desktop? I can count at least five in my workspace right now. It’s overwhelming! This Wall Street Journal list – ahem, article – asks us to consider merging all those lists onto one single piece of paper. This week I’m giving the one-list approach a shot.

Exude confidence by changing the way you talk.

I just wanted readers of this blog post to consider a new way of communicating. Could you maybe read The Ladders selection of four phrases that make you sound less confident?

Reading the two sentences above might have been a little painful, but I wrote that way to illustrate a point: the words and style you choose can undermine your authority. The Ladders identifies four phrases to eliminate from your business communications. Simple behavior changes like these can help you craft a professional identity. Whether you’re emailing a supervisor or speaking up during a meeting, this is one way to project confidence.

Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Emerson’s favorite productivity tips! We’ll be back soon with freshly curated advice.

If you’re new around these parts, you might not know that we’ve written a series of books. They capture our favorite principles, tips and lessons learned gathered from our collective decades (centuries?) of experience in change management, learning and development, and technology change. We’ll give you a quick rundown of each book in this blog. First, we’re pleased to introduce you to The Change Book.

Sound boring? Well, we wrote this book because we believe learning to manage change doesn’t have to be boring. We used a twist on The Golden Rule: Write unto others as you’d have them write to you. We took pity on the reader and minimized the consultanty, businessy language. (Pro tip: It’s a lot more fun to write this way too.)

Fear of commitment? No problem — you don’t have to read the whole thing. Each chapter stands alone. Flip it open to any page and start reading from there. You’ll find powerful, concise and easy advice from battle-tested practitioners.

The Change Book covers topics like sponsorship, resistance, project branding and messaging, and employee impacts.

We love it, but we’re biased. Listen to some of our fans:

“The Change Book has been invaluable in helping us influence change within our leadership group and I would highly recommend it to all those who wish to progressively implement and successfully lead into the future.” — Thomas Klein, Regional Vice President — California, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts

“The Change Book takes the daunting subject of change management and makes it accessible, understandable, and even fun.” — Rick Barsotti, Partner, Groove 11

Get to know our book – and let us know what you think! We’d love to hear your review.

I have a 16-year-old male child. (I call him “The Boy.”) He is a great kid, but like many teens, he needs parental guidance so he doesn’t eat seven bowls of cereal every morning or ride his hoverboard into traffic. I often ask The Boy, after he has engaged in some goofball activity, why he did what he did. I get the blank teenage stare that says I had no idea at the time, and now that I’m reflecting on it – nope, I still don’t have a clue. I’ve sort of already forgotten your question. Where’s the cereal?  Many of you parents know that look.

I use these interactions to nurture his ability to think proactively – to consider his options before he acts and to pay attention to what matters. It’s fair to say I still have a lot of work to do. It doesn’t help that his frontal lobe – the rational part — won’t be fully developed until he is 25, but I digress. Without fail, a few times each week, I find myself asking The Boy, “Why did you do that?” He never knows.

Sounds ridiculous and kid-like, right? Maybe not! Even adults run into trouble with this. We don’t fully understand the situation before we act, and then we fail to solve the problem. Our work days are layered with examples of this hard truth. Every day, in the name of being agile (no shade), nimble, efficient, risk-taking, or entrepreneurial, we do a disservice to our teams and organization. We define a solution without responsibly considering the nature of the issue.

As a consultant who has worked with many organizations, I see it often. For example, when employees cannot execute, the solution must be training. A deeper look might tie the failure to things like incentives (I don’t get paid for that), culture (no one really does that), or lack of tools (I have to open seven windows to do that). Or how about an organization implementing great new technology? Suddenly, everything looks like a technical problem. Technology can solve it – let’s just add that new thing to our project.

So…do you know why you are doing what you are doing? I’ll list a few non-rocket-science tips to help you begin today.

Don’t start with the answer. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone, and no matter what you say – their response is hyper-focused on something that currently has their attention? “Suzie, my ankle is killing me. I think I hurt it playing softball last night.” Suzie’s response: “I have this new juicer, and it’s amazing. Juice has so many nutrients – I’m sure it will help your ankle heal faster. Because, you know…nutrition.” We do this often. We force tools, methodologies, and new ways of thinking down people’s throats because it’s the latest and greatest thing – or the company has invested in it — so it must be the answer.

Start with the problem. Before assuming you know what the solution is, ask yourself and your team a lot of questions. Where is your organization going? What does it need to get there? What obstacles are in your way? How do problems present themselves? Do they happen at a certain place or time? What is the magnitude of the problem to your business? Which employee behaviors seem to affect problems? How does your organizational culture influence those behaviors? Questions like these help you take those blinders off, assess the need holistically, and get to the root cause. Once you’re there, the right solution will be easier to find.

Focus on the solution. Sounds simple enough right? Well, there’s seldom a straight line between a problem and solution. Successful solutions require focused attention. Contrary to common belief, humans are not good multi-taskers – this is a myth passed along with very little push-back or common-sense reflection. Many studies demonstrate our failure at multi-tasking (e.g., texting and driving, or trying to pay off multiple debts at once). Focus is important. It sends all your brain power and energy toward what’s most important. It sounds simple, but with all the things competing for our attention today (inside and outside of the workplace), it’s difficult to execute. If you want to solve the problem, clear the decks and focus.

Much like my interactions with The Boy, I wanted to keep this advice simple. Think before you act. Don’t ride your corporate hoverboard into traffic by rushing to a solution. And definitely don’t do it while texting.  Problem – Solution – Focus. No new methodology or tool beats this common-sense approach.

When my client – let’s call him John – hired a new president to run his company he expected his stress level to go down. He thought he’d be free to focus on strategic issues and long-range plans. He was wrong.

Within a few months, the president – I’ll call him Paul – started holding meetings without including John. Paul unraveled John’s decision to move their customer service center to a new location. He invested in new products without considering the complexity and the impact on the rest of the business. He couldn’t provide data or detail to support his decisions. The rest of the executive team worked long hours to prepare for key meetings; Paul left at 5:00. This new guy didn’t reduce John’s stress – he was the source of it.

When John confronted Paul with these issues, Paul told him to “Get out of the detail,” and, “Trust me.” Paul understood correctly that John did not trust him. And, following this conversation, John trusted him even less.

How much do you trust the people who report to you? Does trusting them mean not getting into the details of their work? How do you balance trust and effective management?

Robert Solomon and Fernando Flores write in their book Building Trust: In Business, Politics, Relationships, and Life  that “…the key to trust is action, and, in particular, commitment: commitments made and commitments honored.” So how do you create a pattern of honored commitments with your team?

Before you trust, ask for these commitments.

There are three commitments that create trust, and one of them is not to demonstrate psychic powers. People can’t deliver on something that’s stored securely in your head. You must articulate the commitments you want. Tell your direct reports that is up to them to:

1. Manage expectations. You expect a certain level of performance from the people who report to you. However, it is their responsibility to manage your expectations. They should tell you what to expect regarding their results, their timing, and their teams. They should keep you up to speed on the fundamentals of their work: what, where, when, how, why, how often, and to what extent.
2. Keep promises. Executive coach Chalmers Brothers describes conversations as a series of promises that are essential to building trust. If you tell me you will meet me for coffee today at 3:00 and don’t show, that moment will inform what I think of you. A person’s word is a promise — a reflection of stewardship and character. You must be able to count on your people to do what they say.
3. Eliminate surprises. Establish a zero-tolerance policy for surprises. The minute somebody on your team knows they are taking a new strategy, they’ll miss a deadline, that there’s problem with quality, someone is quitting…they have an obligation to inform you. You cannot manage without crucial information. You must never be caught off-guard by the very people who should help you be an effective leader.

When they fail, have this conversation.

Nobody’s perfect. Inevitably, even your most reliable team member will do something that challenges your trust. Where do you go from there? That depends on what happened.

Solomon and Flores tell us, “Breaches of trust do not mark the end of trust but are part of the process of trusting. (There are many kinds of breaches, from mistakes to betrayal and treachery. It is important not to confuse them or assume that all breaches are betrayals.)” How will you know which one it is? You have to talk it out.

A productive conversation requires preparation. Steve Giondomenica, CEO of technology strategy firm CMI, recommends you get a pen and paper. Here’s his process:

Before the meeting:

• Identify the headline. Distill the problem into one sentence. Don’t worry about others reading it – write down the essential issue. For example, John’s headline might have been, “I am out of the loop” or “You and I are making conflicting decisions.” This exercise forces you to be direct. It will create clarity and prevent misunderstandings.
• Define the ideal outcome. What do you hope will happen as a result of this conversation? John’s ideal outcome might be “We discuss each major decision before you make it.” You are applying the Covey principle: “Begin with the end in mind.”
• List examples and the impact they had. Most of us know we should be prepared with examples, but Steve emphasizes the impact. Both elements — the example and the impact — are essential so that the person you speak to understands why the issue matters. For example, John’s decision not to move the call center cost the company money and made people wonder who was in charge.

I asked Steve, “What if you don’t have an example? What if you just sense that something is off?” In these situations, Steve advises that you set up the conversation by saying, “I don’t have enough data, but this caught my attention.”

During the meeting:

It’s at this point Steve advises you to draw on the power of your relationship. “Ideally, you create a win-win situation, to build the relationship and strengthen mutual trust. When I assume the best of you, the conversation changes entirely.” To this, he uses the following process:

• Confirm good will. This matters most for difficult conversations. In these situations, Steve will ask if the other person believes he has their best interest at heart. “If they answer with an authentic, ‘yes,’ I know they can hear this conversation as constructive rather than threatening. If they hesitate, I then focus on where our trust is broken. This creates a foundation for the rest of the conversation.”
• Frame the conversation. Admit that the conversation is not easy, but that you’re committed to a positive outcome. Steve emphasizes his commitment to strengthening the relationship moving forward. Steve often brings the notes he prepared to the meeting. When the conversation is difficult, he’ll say, “This is a tough conversation, and I want to get it right. This is why I brought notes.”
• Ask, “Were you aware you did this, and was this your intent?” There are two points to this question: awareness and intent. It’s possible the issue was inadvertent. This question allows the person to share their experience, and to address your perception.
• Conclude with agreements. Steve believes this is the most important part of your conversation because it creates commitment to action. He often follows up with a thank you note that summarizes the mutual agreements from the conversation. According to Steve, “This is incredibly powerful. If the person doesn’t honor the commitment, you can move straight to the agreement. You can say, ‘Hey, didn’t we agree to X?’ instead of dredging up the whole conversation.”

Trust is based on commitments made and commitments honored. When you create clarity about what those commitments are, and your people deliver what you expect, you become more comfortable letting go of the detail.  You’ve effectively balanced trust and accountability.

Click here to download a tool to help you conduct your own trust-building conversations.