CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Covey, Leadership Communications
Listening, Discovery, Strategic Resource
Executive Mind Set
Feel Good Management v. SDS
Leadership & Change, 930119
Feel Good Management
Communications, Meetings

1409 -    ..
1410 - Summary/Objective
1411 -
141101 - Follow up ref SDS 30 0000.
141102 -
141103 - The article in the Wall Street Journal ...
141104 -
141105 -                     Lead by Listening
141106 -
141107 - ...says listening improves productivty of meetings. ref OF 5 0000, but
141108 - fails to explain how to accomplish it. per below. ref SDS 0 0900
141109 -
141110 - On 921205 Covey suggests "empathic" listening. ref SDS 1 5903
141111 -
141112 - The article reflects popular executive training and a mindset that
141113 - conversation, i.e., to speak glibly, participate and listen provides
141114 - effective leadership, as shown on 960227, ref SDS 15 2004, and on
141115 - 950426. ref SDS 5 4392
141116 -
141117 - "Leadership" under this view occurs simply by showing up and "pulling
141118 - the trigger" -- saying whatever pops into the mind, without
141119 - preparation, without reading and writing, without research, without
141120 - follow up to verify that what is said and heard is either accurate or
141121 - in conflict with commitments, law, contracts, budgets, schedules and
141122 - so on, as reported by the Associated Press on 960205. ref SDS 11 5902
141123 - ..
141124 - Henry Kissinger worries that leadership without analysis is
141125 - "Alice in Wonderland" management, reviewed on 940609. ref SDS 3 4238
141126 -
141127 - Communication Metrics uses intelligence, ref OF 1 0582, to ensure
141128 - listening, understanding and follow up. ref OF 1 1106
141129 -
141130 -     [On 980504 explained role of "intelligence" to support effective
141131 -     listening, as a benefit of Communication Metrics. ref SDS 32 7905]
141132 -
141133 - The role of listening described in the Wall Street Journal article is
141134 - addressed in the Asilomar agenda on improving leadership, per analysis
141135 - on 960317, ref SDS 28 6870, ref SDS 28 4385, and also on 960319. see
141136 - ref SDS 31 8830
141137 -
141138 -
141139 -
141140 -
141141 -  ..
1412 -
1413 -
1414 - Progress
1415 -
141501 - Article in Wall Street Journal (WSJ) offers case study on making
141502 - meetings more productive -- says to lead by listening, ref OF 10 0000,
141503 - which Newt Gingrich has made popular with his phrase...
141504 -
141505 -                      Listen, Learn and Lead
141506 -
141507 -
141508 - The article does not explain why productivity improved under the
141509 - changes instituted by Ms. Biering, i.e., was it because ...
141510 -
141511 -       •  <AU7L Faster solutions could be provided by supervisors
141512 -          nearby?
141513 -
141514 -       •  Higher morale from everyone working together; supervisors can
141515 -          appreciate the pressures and nunaced challenges of telephone
141516 -          mail order work.
141517 -
141518 -       •  <6U52 Telephone operators worked harder, more consistently,
141519 -          and were less prone to become angry with customers which
141520 -          would lose business, if the supervisor is standing nearby.
141521 -
141522 -     The author does not explain how Ms. Biering's approach differs
141523 -     from the sweatshop environment that was tried in the 19th century
141524 -     where bosses roamed around the factory floor hovering over "team
141525 -     members" to provide the support Ms. Biering has devised.
141526 -
141527 -
141528 - TQM
141529 - ----
141530 - Ms. Biering's success is attributed in the article to "nurturing a
141531 - culture" in which employees identify problems and come up with the
141532 - solutions. ref OF 5 7121 and ref OF 5 5628
141533 - ..
141534 - The author reports Ms. Biering's employees perform better as a
141535 - result of the sense of belonging they experience when management acts
141536 - on their cues. ref OF 5 7222
141537 -
141538 - The author discloses Ms. Biering's method works especially well where
141539 - the pay is low and the work is numbingly routine. ref OF 5 7222
141540 -
141541 -     There is no information in the article on how effective these
141542 -     ideas are after employees move up to high paying jobs that require
141543 -     imagination and self-direction, for example a project manager.
141544 -
141545 -     Bottom up design reflects Deming's TQM ideas from the review on
141546 -     950909 comparing TQM and Reengineering in Wired magazine.
141547 -     ref SDS 7 7499
141548 -     ..
141549 -     The hope that a feminine "nurturing" culture, ref OF 5 5628,
141550 -     works better than command and control is central to the "New Age
141551 -     Self-Actualization" movement of the 60's, reviewed on 940509, see
141552 -     ref SDS 2 7499, and described as "New Age Empowerment" in the
141553 -     review on 950911 of the Toffler's vision of effective management
141554 -     methods at ref SDS 8 0581
141555 -
141556 -
141557 -  ..
141558 - Listening from Endless Meetings - Information Highway
141559 -
141560 - The article says better productivity results from nurturing through
141561 - "endless" meetings, ref OF 5 8488, where management listens to
141562 - employee ideas about improving work. ref OF 5 7499, and ref OF 5 5628
141563 -
141564 - These meetings improve upon using a "suggestion box" and special
141565 - parking priveleges for employee of the month. ref OF 5 7489
141566 -
141567 - Ms. Biering's meetings are productive because:
141568 -
141569 -     •  She provides buoyantly open-minded leadership and the
141570 -        eradication of intimidation. ref OF 5 7499
141571 -
141572 -     •  <6V36 She encourages employees at all job levels to sound off
141573 -        while she dangles her legs from the edge of a folding table,
141574 -        see at ref OF 5 5835, ref OF 5 8488.
141575 -
141576 -     •  Employees feel there is no nervousness in dealing with Jane.
141577 -        ref OF 5 5838
141578 -
141579 - There is nothing in the article on what is produced by these meetings
141580 - and how it is implemented, as considered in reviewing executive
141581 - training at ref SDS 19 line 170.
141582 -
141583 - How do attendees prepare; who sets the agenda to solve problems that
141584 - cause managers to waste 70% of the day, per review in the record on
141585 - 960205. ref SDS 11 5902.
141586 - ..
141587 - What is the process to evaluate ideas and implement the good
141588 - ones? How are the results of each meeting integrated into the workflow
141589 - of affected employees and managers?  How are the diverse
141590 - understandings of each employee molded into coherent organizational
141591 - learning and knowledge?  What tests individual understanding.  What
141592 - metrics are used for follow up?  How are communications aligned with
141593 - prior understandings, organizational policy, customer input,
141594 - correspondence, contracts and commitments?
141595 - ..
141596 - With so many meetings, this organization must generate a lot of
141597 - intellectual capital.  How is it invested each day to improve
141598 - earnings?
141599 -
141600 - Getting everybody together to talk is initially cathartic, people feel
141601 - good about taking time off to visit with the boss and colleagues. But,
141602 - soon people begin to feel these meetings are wasting their time. How
141603 - does Ms. Biering avoid wasting up to 70% of the day in meetings, as
141604 - reported by the AP last month?  ref SDS 11 5902.
141605 -
141606 -
141607 -
1417 -

SUBJECTS
Personnel Management
Peer Review of Peers

1605 -
160501 -  ..
160502 - Peer Review & Recognition
160503 -
160504 - The author cites unusual recognition program Ms. Biering instituted
160505 - where peers nominate peers for exceptional customer service.  The
160506 - author reports this structure encourages employees to seek out the
160507 - best in one other. ref OF 5 line 120.
160508 -
160509 -     Peer review is common among writers and research settings,
160510 -     ref SDS 6 line 39.
160511 -
160512 -     Ms. Biering's insight in applying this method to employee morale
160513 -     in the businesss environment seems to have worked well.  There is
160514 -     no mention of this method elsewhere in the record, so I created a
160515 -     new Subject for it.
160516 - ..
160517 - A corallary idea was suggested to resolve growing problems in
160518 - the workplace where resentment arises because certain employees are
160519 - perceived by their peers as contributing below the norm for the group,
160520 - or are not following organizational policies for breaks, overtime,
160521 - sick days, and so on, ref SDS 12 line 73.
160522 -
160523 -
160524 -
160525 -
160526 -
160527 -