In a recent workshop I was facilitating for an Organisation, the topic of acknowledgement came up as a common themes in many strands of feedback to the Leadership Team.
A new hybrid ways of working model was being rolled out and the top team were looking for everyone’s buy-in. It soon became clear in the room the model was not getting the buy in they expected.
After some break out sessions and listening to different feedback on the tables it became clear no one really understood the new ways of working model, it had been poorly communicated and the middle manager group were of the view- isn’t this what we do every day anyway!
It was a great example of a business accelerating the change process without any acknowledgement of what people have been through in the past two years. Every business loves a structure, a model, a system to simplify the change process.
In facilitating many of these sessions down through the years, it is clear to me that we focus too much on getting the model right while less on the implications of how this plays out in the real world context of doing my day job.
Humans are complex, change is challenging but one thing is constant. People want to be acknowledged for the work they do, for the unique challenges they have overcome (like working remotely for the past two years). In our rush to accelerate the next change project we are failing to acknowledge our people.
Take the time to listen without rushing in with the answer, empathise instead of criticizing and acknowledge instead of accelerating. These leadership skills are undervalued in the constant striving for more.
As in nature change takes time and cannot be forced.
Processed Fast Foods are bad for us, yet we gobble them down each day. Organic Slow Foods take more time to grow, are less perfect but are much better for us longer term.
Take the time to acknowledge someone on your team today.
