July 16, 2018

How Operational Level Staff Can Get Involved

As operational staff, your role is to influence new ways of thinking and doing which may require the acceptance of some members of the managerial or executive staff. On the other hand, you may control a domain that you can exert control over, such as at the program level. You could follow the same exercises and consider improving or restructuring your program according to outcomes or cross-functional areas."

While the previous articles in the educational article series were explained for the executive and managerial levels, this article leverages the content from the articles but orients it at a different and extremely impactful audience - operational level staff. To that end, make sure to review those articles first as a primer. Operational level staff are those in support functions to executive and managerial staff. They tend to be specialists in a given area and could function as project managers, program managers, and/or analysts. Their roles are wide-ranging and serve any number of functions. 

How to get started horizontally 
As operational staff, your role is to influence new ways of thinking and doing which may require the acceptance of some members of the managerial or executive staff. On the other hand, you may control a domain that you can exert control over, such as at the program level. You could follow the same exercises and consider improving or restructuring your program according to outcomes or cross-functional areas. To do so, you’ll likely end up needing to work horizontally with peers in adjacent programs with connecting functions or outcomes. If you follow these steps, you’ll see there is a way to begin from your own domain.

1. Complete the exercises - Take a look at the other articles in the series and complete the same exercises with a special vantage point from your work. From there, identify the key takeaways and insights you learned to influence your work domain. 
2. Identify adjacent peers and hold work sessions - Now that you know the “what,” identify the “who.” Who are the peers in the adjacent areas whose work may also be impacted? Consider those you know to be open-minded and flexible in their thinking, because they may end up being the most receptive. At the same time, don’t dismiss anyone you perceive to think in a certain way. Oftentimes, we perceive people incorrectly. Try and give them a chance, such as chatting informally with them to test the waters. Start off with “I’ve been thinking about this new idea, can I can bounce it off of you? I’d really appreciate your thoughts.” When you treat people with respect and show you truly value their opinion, they tend to respond positively. We instinctively know when we are respected and appreciated, and that fosters being receptive to new ideas from others. Next, think about “how” for the work session. How will you brief them on your thinking to date (feel free to reference the educational article series, of course), and how should the work session be navigated? Perhaps you offer for them to complete an exercise with you. Your group could modify your draft or begin a fresh one from the group perspective. This could easily be done on a flip chart with you as the scribe. There may be other ways you’d like to approach the work session; be open to a variety of ways to have this discussion with your peers. 
3. Implement new ways of working - By the end of the work session, you should land on a few new ways of working. Once you put them into action, keep each other updated. This can be as simple as sending a follow-up email after the work session with the items you each agreed to do and the timeline. Then, each time you reach a new step, send a quick email to all saying, “Hey, I did this, and this is how it went. I'll keep you posted!” The same can be done during staff meetings, if you happen to be together. Be an example of keeping people in the loop, and it is more likely they will do the same. 
4. Test and refine - Don’t let your new ways of working remain stagnant. Sometimes they’ll go great, other times, not so much. That is just the way it goes. Check in on how it goes to remove or adapt what does not go well, and build up what does go well. You’ll then make this a creative learning process, which is exactly what it should be. It is not about being right or wrong; it is about thinking differently and learning by doing. 

Working with managerial or executive staff vertically
Let’s say you don’t control a certain domain, or you do, but believe any changes or improvements you’d like to make require acceptance of some members of the managerial or executive staff. This involves another set of steps.

1. Gain clarity on what you’d like to pursue - After completing the exercises through the lens of your work, consider what your first steps should be and be very clear about them. You may have learned a lot in the process, but you’ll need to start at a key point and work outwards.
2. Strategize who to speak with and what to say - You may have existing relationships to leverage or a staff member who you think would be receptive. Consider who this might be and initiate contact.
3. Discuss in-person and identify paths forward - Set up a time to speak with them, and feel free to reference these articles to give yourself a base. Explain why you think the changes are important and how you suggest they might be implemented. Don’t go too far without gaining their feedback first. Let them respond and share their own insights to make it a true dialogue. 
4. Implement new and agreed-upon ways of working - By the end of the meeting, a few ways to move ahead should be identified. Go ahead and get to work on them and update the staff members with interest periodically either in-person or via email.
5. Test and refine - See “test and refine” above.

 
Keep in mind, you may end up completing both processes, one horizontally (with peers) and another vertically (with management or executives). They are not mutually exclusive, and it could end up that both are needed to a certain extent to institutionalize the changes you identified. The important thing is to keep an open mind, because even in small increments, institutional change can be a long and challenging process. The more convinced you are that the change is important, the more drive you’ll have to collaborate and convince your way to new way of working and doing.