I was nervous, shaking, ready to get a move on with the whole thing. Moving the precious books to the conference room, getting the all-but-horribly-wrong framed picture down there also. Claiming my spot. My colleague set up a camcorder. We really wanted to record this so we could watch it back later and see the look on everyone's faces. (or is it everyones'?) I will try my best to recount it here although I'm certain I don't remember, nor did I actually comprehend a large portion of it due to my excitement. The video will tell it all!
We went through the normal routine - reviewing the monthly financials, running through the sales pipeline. And then the intro into Company X 3.0 - reiterating what we had stated last month. And the next thing I knew, the boss was passing the baton to me. His preview yesterday led me to believe his prelude would be about 20 minutes long. But it wasn't - it was only about 2 minutes long and then I heard him say he wouldn't mention the name, the culture or anything else - and that he was passing the baton to ME. So, I quickly glanced at the notes I had made last night and just started in - with a series of questions:
Who feels flex schedules are conditional?
Who is tired of endless meetings that are not well defined nor do you understnad why you are there?
Who feels stressed from trying to juggle home/work schedules & demands?
Who is tired of spending their weekends running errands?
Who is tired of asking permission to take time off & who feel like a child when they do this?
With each question I posed, the number of hands that rose grew and I could sense people were letting their guard down and answering honestly.
And while I do not remember (although, again, the video will tell), my notes indicate that I next asked them to imagine an environment where these things are no longer an issue - where they have the freedome to work any way they want. They no longer will feel guilty, stressed, overworked - they OWN THEIR time - the company does NOT. I think I got a "woo hoo" from the crowd. But maybe that was at a different time in the meeting...
And what IF at the same time:
There is an increase in productivity
We create talent retention & attraction
Optimize our space
Eliminate wasteful processes
Staff is autonomous & accountable
What IF you were treated like a trusted professional and ADULT?
I have no clue what happened at that point. None. I know at some point I explained this is an adaptive change and defined/described that term. I talked about how I heard about this and the strange series of serendipitous events that led up to this point. I thanked my boss. I thanked my colleague. For their open-minds. I named companies that were under ROWE, provided the website, Facebook address and twitter and handed out the books. I recall one person thanked me on the spot for the book.
Then there was a long discussion - which, again - I need to watch back on the video - but people were FOR IT. On board. GETTING IT. And yet, I also recall I continued to "sell it" to them. I guess I was just so excited that I wanted to make 100% certain everyone heard, understood and embraced, despite the fact they know very little at this point. I loved how well it was received.
And then there was more discussion and everyone had a bunch of questions and and we answered what we could. And encouraged them to write their questions down so we could get them answers. The rest of that conversation is a total blur.
And then we went to the new office space - and they loved it - and had a million questions. But were still positive and enthusiastic and energetic. And I was on cloud 9. And this part is also on video. (please tell me the video worked?) And one of my direct reports pulled me to the side and said, "If I thought it was even ONE bit appropriate - I would hug you RIGHT now." And I was delighted. He again came and thanked me personally later in the day.
And then I left and returned the picture to Claudio the framer and explained it was NOT right and he thanked ME for telling me and agreed to fix it within the hour!!! And I was glad I handled it this way. I thank our customers when we are given the opportunity to right the wrong - why on earth would I have assumed others would not want the same opportunity? Shame on me.
And then for my staff meeting this afternoon, I decided we would go to a local sports bar. Well live and learn. NOT a good choice considering we were trying to remote in two other staff members. We tried it. It doesn't work. Lesson learned. It was loud, we couldn't hear them and they couldn't hear us. I won't make that mistake again. BUT - I did ask everyone to state their initial "gut" reaction and here are the responses:
- I feel as though I've made a career change without changing jobs.
- This opens up so many possibilities for me at home in terms of how to juggle responsibilities.
- This embraces technology which is good because we are a technology company and we've never "worked" that way.
- This will definitely help the finances of the company and I can see how it impacts that.
- This give me a whole new outlook
- THIS IS LIKE CHRISTMAS MORNING!!
- Communication will need to improve - but THAT is a positive thing
- Remote workers will no longer harbor guilt because they are "free" and the others are not
- Work can be better scheduled - focus on meeting goals will actually be easier
- Many will still use the office
- This change energizes the company
- There will be some kinks to work out
- Remote employees felt the energy through the phone during the morning meeting and they felt a part of it!
- I feel back in control
- I am able to make adult decisions about what needs to be done when and how
I'm not naive - as they read the book - they will start to realize it's not ALL a bed of roses - but for them to ALL go into the book with this attitude is so pleasing to me!!! Oh - the next few weeks will crazy - but I'm so very much looking forward to it!!!
ROCK & ROWE!!!!
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