Whilst attending a superb NLP Course a few years ago with PegasusNLP, Reg Connolly, the core trainer shared a concept that really resonated
with me and has been a principle that I share with all my clients; “None of us
is as smart as all of us”.
Sometimes a business can get a little bit stuck and the owner
can be struck with the, ‘I’m expected to know everything disease,’ when in
actual fact, this isn’t true; nobody knows everything. Yet, because some think
of it as a weakness, they will not show vulnerability in front of their team in
case they get ridiculed, they never ask for suggestions to fix problems and so
the business stays stuck.
As individuals we have knowledge, maybe a lot of knowledge. As
a team, we multiply that knowledge, so together we definitely have way more
knowledge than one individual. We are also able to tap into different
perspectives. Other members of your team will be looking at a problem through a
different set of eyes and that means they may see things that you may not have.
There are numerous ways of tapping into this valuable resource,
but the one I would like to concentrate on today is the use of a Suggestion
Box.
When I have put forward this idea to clients, some, have been
quick to point out that previously a suggestion box didn’t really work, mainly
because there were few suggestions in the
box that had anything to do with business and most would require them need to be some kind of
contortionist for them to be achieved.
The problem is that there has been no 'buy in' from the team.
So, how do you get 'buy in?' You keep things fresh by changing the criteria,
and the rewards.
For instance
how about you have something that captures the attention with a different
business challenge and different form of recognition every month:
January:
Submit
your best ideas for welcoming all new clients. Winner celebrates with dinner for two at a top
restaurant.
February:
Submit
your best ideas for how we can eliminate bottlenecks at the till. Winner receives
a one year subscription to a gym of their choice.
March:
Submit
your best ideas for improving service between two or more departments. Winner
from both departments get a trip to Alton Towers.
April:
Submit
your best ideas for speeding up a service process. Winner gets a voucher from a
local sports shop.
May: Submit your best ideas for
winning back the trust of clients when we get it wrong. Winner gets an extra
day off.
June:
Submit
your best ideas for reducing costs whilst maintaining or improving our service.
Winner takes home a percentage of the savings.
July:
Submit
your best ideas for increasing our sales through better service. Winner gets a
day’s corporate package at Chester Races.
August:
Submit
your best ideas for recruiting new team members who live our values and are
motivated by our vision. Winner enjoys a day of adventure at Zip World.
September:
Submit
your best ideas for benchmarking other organisations. Who should we visit and
why? Winner gets to drive an Austin Martin at Silverstone.
October:
Submit
your best ideas for reducing costs by 10%. Winner gets a day out at a Spa.
November: Submit
your best ideas for how we can sell higher margin goods. Winner gets a day at a
sporting event of their choice.
December:
Submit
your best ideas for new topics for our monthly suggestion program. Winners get
to see their ideas put into action next year.
Do you think you would get more buy in with this type of scheme
in place?
Consider some of your top challenges and ask yourself the
questions, "What would I gain if that challenge was fixed? What would it
be worth to the business to fix this? What impact would it have on the team if
it were fixed? What impact would it have on me if it were fixed?" You will
now have an idea on how much you might be willing to invest in prizes for the
winner.
Just imagine what your business and your life would
be like if in a years’ time you achieved twelve major fixes in your business.
If you decide to give this a go and why wouldn’t you drop me a
line and let me know how it works for you and the improved results you have
achieved from implementing it. Or for
some further reading, try Ron Kaufman who also writes about the potential of this
and other strategies in his brilliant book Uplifting Service.
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