Employing Differences, Episode 133: What can we get done?

Karen: 0:08

Welcome to Employing Differences, conversation about exploring the collaborative space between individuals.

Paul: 0:15

I'm Paul Tevis.

Karen: 0:16

And I'm Karen Gimnig.

Paul: 0:18

Each episode, we start with a question and we see where it takes us. This week's question is, "What can we get done?"

Karen: 0:28

So if you're listening to this episode as it gets published, we'll be right between the Thanksgiving holiday and the winter holiday time. And it's the time that we're proposing we might want to give some thought to what makes sense to expect, what makes sense to focus on, what makes sense to try to accomplish? And I think we want to talk about both this particular season – where this happens for most everyone every year – but also, what are other times that we might expect the unexpected? That we might expect it not to be business as usual? Thinking about how to make use of what is rather than trying to pretend that all of those other distractions or absences or other focuses aren't happening.

Paul: 1:24

I think there's a tendency– particularly in corporate America, but in the corporate world generally – to think about time as being uniform. That every Tuesday is equivalent to every other Tuesday. That any given week is the same as any other week. And that just isn't true. In fact, ignoring that there is a seasonality and a cyclicality to things can cause us a lot of problems, because we have expectations that can't be met. And honestly it feels like we ought to know better. I worked in an organization once where we joked that we had only a few productive periods of time. Because starting about June 1, lots of people would be out of the office at various non-overlapping times for for summer holidays. To go and enjoy the lovely upper Midwestern weather; to spend time with their families; those who had children, their kids were out of school, so they were doing stuff with them; or just whatever it was. And so there was a period of time from about June 1, to the end of summer – to Labor Day here in the United States – we would probably be operating with about 75% of the people who would normally be on the team at any given time. And that just changed what we could do. And then we would have a period of time in the fall, when we could really get stuff done, would could really focus. Although we had a couple of avid hunters, so when deer season started, we would lose a couple of folks as well. But by the time we got to Thanksgiving, things would really kind of fall off again, where we couldn't really get much done, because, again, vacation, people being out. The other thing that would happen around that time of year is that they would announce the big corporate restructuring, the new plans and initiatives and strategies for the year that would go into effect January 1. So people would be kind of in this state of, "Oh, okay, that's coming, like, what are we going to do?" And then come the beginning of the year, it would take us six weeks or so, maybe eight weeks, to really get that working. So about March 1, we'd be ready to really get work done again, until June 1 when it all starts over again. So what was interesting, I worked there for seven years, and we saw this cycle happen every year. And what was weird was that people didn't expect that we wouldn't be as productive at the same types of things in the middle of summer that we would be in the middle of April. And so I think that it's those expectations that can get out of whack. And that when we have mismatches around those can that can really cause problems for us. Because not every week is the same, not every month is the same. And there's some degree to which I think we can expect how they're going to be different and plan appropriately.

Karen: 4:25

Yeah, and I think that planning thing is really important. And even in things as simple as setting meeting schedules. If you normally meet twice a month, I'm going to take it as a guess you're not going to meet the second time in November or December. In my teaching schedule, I have a program that I teach this much class every month and I do it in months. November/December is one month of program because that's what's gonna fit. I add a few extra little things in between to fill in, but basically, I just acknowledge that's going to be a different time for me. And it's going to be a different time for people who are signing up for classes. Yes, I'm doing it in part around what works for me and my schedule and my calendar, but it's also just acknowledging I'm not going to get folks signing up to take classes in the middle of the holidays. Or if they do, they won't show up for those classes. That's just one example. Similar things happens in the summer. It actually doesn't make sense to run a full program in the summer for all the reasons you said. And then I think we want to be thoughtful about what's unique to our communities, to our space. So your strategic planning example is unique to that – maybe maybe not unique, but it's a thing that happens there and doesn't happen in every organization. One of my clients is a community focused on Jewish life. So for them, the fall holidays are going to be a time that's probably more impactful than might be true of the Christian holidays that tend to be what a lot of the world works around. So they're going to have a rhythm around that that's going to be different than what I would necessarily expect. Just having that awareness of what's likely to be good time. Marketing – depending on what you're doing, I mean, if you're marketing things that people buy as Christmas gifts, that's different. But if you're marketing – as many of my communities are – houses for sale, probably it's going to be quiet in certain seasons. And it's pretty reliably that way. And so if you can notice the patterns, all of them for all of the many reasons, but if you've got the cyclic pattern, then you can start thinking about both,"What's the kind of stuff we don't want to do there? What's the kind of stuff we do want to do there? And also, what does that tell us about what we need to make sure we get done in the more productive times?" I mean, you can put some deadlines in place, even if they're not real deadlines. If it's due at the end of the year, and we want to really be thoughtful about it, maybe it's due on the 15th of November, in terms of the way we want to work with it. So I think that ability to look ahead and just stay peaceful about it's going to be different. That doesn't mean it's bad. It doesn't mean we're lazy. It doesn't mean people are misbehaving. It just means that it is going to be different, nd the more that we can sort of settle into "Yep, it's gonna be different," the better we can make use of that difference.

Paul: 7:34

The acknowledgement, the acceptance of it, this is what it is. It's the struggling against it, I think, that's really where it gets us in trouble. My brain always goes to Ecclesiastes when we think about this, that there is a time for every purpose. And I think what's useful to do is to think about, well, given that this is going to be a slightly different period of time for us – for whatever reason, our focus is going to be over here, or a bunch of people are going to be gone, or we're going to have these non- overlapping schedules. For me, that's usually a lot of it, because a lot of the work that I do is in teams, and when a third of your team is or isn't there, it really changes what you're able to do. I think there is a piece of just recognizing that and going well, "What are things that we don't do as much of during other parts of the year that we could do now, hat might make more sense?" So oftentimes, in those periods of the year where the team was not as intact, where we could not make as much progress on things that really did require everybody, we would have a tendency to focus on things people could do on their own. Or in small groups that that were temporary. So we actually did a lot – in that particular organization in the November/December timeframes – we were often doing a lot of learning and personal development, often in small ad hoc groups. "Hey, we've got all this stuff that we said we're going to do in our development plans. Maybe we should do that before the end of the year. And oh, you know, normally I don't work with Tim and with Michelle, but they're around and the people are normally would aren't." So I could form a small learning group with them and kind of focus on that. And do more sort of independent or differently structured work that was important but that was a different kind of thing than we would do normally during the other times of year. And so that was a thing where we could figure out, "Well, we can't make as much progress on what we would normally do because we don't have the people or we've run out of budget and so we don't have access to these resources or sorts of things. But what can we do?" And I think that's a really useful question to be asking, "Given this what what is a productive use of our time?"

Karen: 10:03

Yeah, and I like the idea there of looking toward what are we otherwise neglecting. So I think of cleaning out email boxes or files or whatever. Clearing clutter that's accumulated. Look at the to do list of what's been dropped off or not gotten to or the housekeeping kinds of skills. What are the things that can refresh us so that when we get back together all as a team, we're all sort of primed and ready? And some of that clutter that bogs us down has been cleared out. I think that that's often an individual task. It may not be, but it can be. It can be a really good time for those kinds of tasks. "Okay, it's quiet. I don't have a barrage of emails coming in. I don't have things I have to respond to right away, because the people who would be sending me those requests or whatever aren't around." And so this can be a really good time to just sort of look at a reset. Catching up. Taking out the trash. And, even establishing, you know, "Oh, we wanted a new system for this thing. And while it's quiet, I was asked to put that thing together, I can get that thing done." What are those individual tasks that others aren't necessarily waiting on me for but will sure like it when I have them done. That kind of thing, I think, fits really well into spaces like this.

Paul: 11:35

Yeah. I remember one year, again, working at that same company, near the end of the year – and just because of my particular schedule, I was taking very little time off at the end of the year – and so there were like six people in the office sort. But we had we had a robotics lab. We were doing all kinds of motion control stuff. And one of the other employees there, who I never really got a chance to work with, he and I went in and we reorganized the lab. It was a thing that needed to happen. He and I worked together for basically the first time while we we're doing that. And it was actually really nice, because we got to do something that was useful and of value. When everybody came back, the lab was in much better shape, and people were really excited about that, and were able to make progress. But he and I were also able to work on a project together and build more of a relationship, that then we were able to leverage. And that wouldn't have happened in normal times of year, where we're really focused on optimizing for the tasks that we do all the time. And so that was really nice. It was great little little moment that I look back on even 10 years later as being really nice. And then I think the other piece that you're talking to, or alluding at least a little bit, is that making time for reflection. That's often a thing that that we do in those down moments, particularly when the calendar starts becoming significant. When we get to the ends of things, there's the sort of natural built in, "Hmm, well, what did we want to accomplish this year?" Or if we if we're in the middle of summer, "What did we hope to accomplish in the first half of this year? Where are we?" Reflection, in individually or in small groups, is something that can be really useful to have happen when there aren't other people around who we ordinarily would be doing things with.

Karen: 13:33

And that, I think, is then just a small step from another thing I want to point out here, which is: All those people who aren't there, when you're in that category, I think it's really important to be not there. That rest piece, that focus on life where it needs to be. You know, for some people work is like, "Okay, I'm off the clock, I'm off the clock." I think it can be sometimes harder– not everybody does that, I know – but I think it can be even harder sometimes to take time off of our volunteer agreements. And of course, my clients are mostly in that category. And so there's a sense of, "I'm taking time off of work. Can I also take time off of the the work that I'm doing in an organization that I care about and that matters to me?" And I really want to encourage us to say even more so for our volunteer things that having downtime –having real actual downtime – that says, "You know what? If something comes up, somebody else will handle it." And and that doesn't mean that there can't be an emergency contact. But maybe don't read the emails thread or the Slack or whatever for that period of time. I think it's healthy for organizations, actually, to function without even their key people. To say, "Yep, that person's just not here, and we can manage." And I actually think that it's more dangerous for any organization to have someone who is truly indispensable. "We simply can't function without them," is a pretty dangerous space for an organization to be. And I think it helps balance relationships, too. We get in these ruts that certain people are doing the same things and holding – often there's power dynamics resulting in in the roles that people are holding. And when somebody steps away for a week, or two, or a month, depending, and isn't there, it makes space for other people to step in, and take things on and do things. It gives a resetting potential and I think it's really important. So I just want to name that in addition to thinking about what are we doing, when we're the ones still present? Also, let's think about what we're doing when we're the one who's absent.

Paul: 15:58

Yeah. Well, just to track where we've been here today, we talked about the fact that in any organization, in any community, in any human lives, there is going to be a cyclical nature to things. Or just a time that isn't necessarily cyclical– something that comes up – where our normal routine gets disrupted. And so we feel like we aren't necessarily able to do the things that we normally would be doing. What we want to focus on with this is just the idea that being aware of that, being attentive to that, and then making sure that we have appropriate expectations about what we can and can't really get done given that situation is important. An acknowledgement and acceptance of it. We may not like it, but it is what it is and not liking it doesn't change it necessarily. So first kind of acknowledging and accepting that. And then getting really thoughtful about "Okay, given this the situation, often with a lot of people maybe not present, what could we do? How could we make good use of this time, given what we have? And so we've talked about, particularly, when we have lots of people with non-overlapping times together, that we might do some more individual work. We might focus on some learning or some reflection. We might pair up or group up with people who we don't normally work with and find ways to get things done with them or build relationships with them. We might focus on some sort of things that have accumulated, some housekeeping, some things that are going to make it smoother when everybody gets back together. And also, if we're the one who's not there, to let that happen. We sometimes get pulled back in because we feel like, "People need to be able to make just as much progress on this work when I'm not there as when I am there, so I still need to be present, even though I'm not there." And that, in fact, if we can accept that things are going to be different when we're out of the space, out of the office, out of that group that actually can make room for people to find ways of working that are more sustainable, that allows them to step into the roles we normally inhabit. Maybe not as skillful as we are, but that's okay. And just accepting that different times are different. And that working with them differently, helps us to actually move forward in more effective ways.

Karen: 18:41

I think that's going to do it for us today. Until next time, I'm Karen Gimnig.

Paul: 18:45

And I'm Paul Tevis. And this has been Employing Differences.