I have been back at work for a week, which now gives me the chance to reflect on various new things!
The previous high volume of ideas that I was noting down, seems to have dropped quite a bit, probably as I now have more structure to my time, I have less scope to pursue whatever particular intellectual windmill I might happen to be tilting at. However the volume of ideas that I am generating still comfortably exceeds the time that I have available to pursue them.
I have found the continued application of Getting Things Done useful at work. Even although my first day back did not seem like a good application of the theory, as the week unfolded, the ranking of tasks into do immediately, do today, schedule for this week, put onto wishlist, was very successful in keeping an unmanageable workload organised and less worrisome. I feel that I have changed the way that I work for the better. Truth be told this was a week where I came in with a week’s work sitting on my desk, but got little interruptions during the week, and by the end of the week, I still had most of the work I started with still sitting on my desk. Accordingly the major difference was in that I felt more in control, rather than that I magically managed to do everything.
I am also trying to be more realistic about what I can and cannot do, so that I am putting my energies into things that are achievable, rather than disipating them worrying about things.
On Friday I was out of the office, making a presentation. I always like to take up any invitations to do presentations, it is a key skill. I am not a natural presenter, and initially I hated it, but I am gradually building up confidence, so that now I only hate it some of the time. Because I don’t do it that often, and I am keen to find and develop my own style, I put a lot of effort into preparation and like to consider what went well and what did not, so that I can do better.
The presentation on Friday was not too bad, though certainly some lessons learnt. The bit that I was unhappy about was the question and answer session afterwards. If you are speaking to someone on a one to one basis there is a different way of responding, you make more responses, but shorter responses. In a question and answer session you need to make one considered response, which is a very different approach. The nature of these sessions is that people will often have personal stories or strong views that they want to get across. I am not in a position where I can fix these problems, or implement these suggestions, I can certainly listen, and whether I happen to agree or disagree personally is imaterial, I am simply there to explain our organisational policy.
Having taken up the invitation, you should always behave with courtesy and respect, something which the audience may or may not choose to do themselves, but equally you should not simply roll over and agree with everything, or run away without speaking to anyone.
I tend to have quite a light informal approach, jokey and self deprecating, but this runs the risk of appearing disrespectful.
One possible result of the question and answer session would be for me to fully convince them all that our organisational view was correct, or was fully consistent with what they were saying. However in most cases this would be impractical, and the size of the gap in views, would make any attempt insensitive. Another technique is to say that “I hear what you say” which I always take to mean “I hear what you say, but don’t agree with a word of it” so it is an option that I tend to find insulting. There is no point in promising to do stuff if you clearly have no intention of doing it either.
The whole point of the exercise in going out of the office to speak to people, is that they will listen to what I have to say, and that I will listen to what they have to say. Often these people have very little contact with people that they deem to be in authority, but they would like more contact, but are unsure about how to do it. Often the formats where they do have such contact, are organised in a very confrontational format, and they then want to maximise the opportunities they have by “winning the argument” and getting their point across. This means that these sessions become pretty bruising, with a series of people aggresively getting their points across, harrowing personal stories, attacks on the effectiveness and integrity of pretty much anyone, including yourself. Because of the artificiality of the situation, people feel empowered to behave in a way that they never would to someone’s face in a one to one conversation.
I have to find a way of responding that is both respectful of their views, that is supportive of the views of my organisation, and that I personally feel comfortable with. Also to be sustainable it has to be possible to feel reasonably comfortable with these sessions, if they are too bruising, you simply stop accepting the invitations.
One possible approach would be to set out ground rules at the start of the question and answer session, a rough list off the top of my head
It is probably helpful for me to say a few words before this session, I’ve been in the audience far more often than I’ve been standing here, but wherever you are sitting these sessions can be frustrating.
I do not have the power to change the entire policy of my organisation
I do not have the power to give anyone substantial funds on the spot
I am delighted that you gave me the opportunity to speak to you, but that is only half my reason for being here, I also want to hear what you have to say
I realise that not everyone feels comfortable speaking at these events, so I am not rushing away after this event is finished, I am delighted to speak to people afterwards, or you can get my contact details from myself or the organisers
Although this session is called a question and answer session, in my experience there are various types of questions
factual questions that I can answer immediately
factual questions or requests for action that I can take away with me
experiences or views that you want to share
you have done me the courtesy of listening to what I have to say, I am happy to do the same, for ease I would simply propose,
answering what questions I can,
I’ll promise to take away anything I think that I can do for you,
but while it is valuable to listen to our each others views and share our experiences, I did not come here to get into a shouting match with any of you, but I will offer what factual information I can.
Therefore, I’ll probably not respond to every question, but be assured I will listen to them all, lodge away what you say, try and influence others, or act where I can to deal with any issues that you might raise.
I certainly don’t think that everything is perfect, and unfortunately I cannot go back to the office and sort out everything you raise,
but I firmly believe that by talking, listening, trying to understand, trying to think about issues, we will make things better.
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