#106 speak the truth

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, Dive Lunches are about more than the food.  For years, I have been using non-traditional methods of meeting with staff as a way of building relationships and trust.  The aim of these conversations is to create candor, not best friends.

In their book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan are big advocates for promoting informality as a vehicle to achieve candor.  As they present it, informality encourages questioning, allows for more direct conversations, supports risk taking and "gets the truth out."

Think about ways that you currently meet with your employees or teams and see if there aren't other vehicles or venues for doing so.  Some examples include:
> Walking (even directly after work hours) with one employee.  Trust me, many robust conversations ensue and coaching is easier on a trail than across from a desk.
> Several offices in the division each fielded a bowling team and competed against each other in just-for-fun leagues.
> Eating in the cafeteria provides exposure to many who may just serendipitously join you for a meal and conversation.
> A large table in the cafeteria can establish a routine where colleagues know to gather for lunch as they are able.  We had many "Seinfeld-type" discussions about "nothing" at those tables that led to many laughs and on-going jokes.  This included such outcomes as a taste test of red licorice vs. cherry vines vs. twizzlers, and other such frivolity.
> Off-site lunches with just one other person are a great listening tool.  Take a staff member to lunch and learn more than you ever would inside the confines of the office.
> I know of offices that are participating in a weight-loss competition as teams -- including the requisite "trash talking" and providing temptations to the opposing squads.  In addition to the slimming down, it is providing great bonding for the employees.
> Include a "VIP Food Pass" as part of a holiday raffle, where the winner is invited to all the food events (birthdays and other celebrations) in another office. 
> Participate in community service and do a project as a mixed team. 

Whatever your strategy, try to create an environment where informality is encouraged, then listen to what it has to say.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com