When things don't go to plan

By Paula Jones-Hunt

The Olympic Games have caused more than a bleary eye in the workplace and for many of us it is an opportunity to watch sports we don’t normally get to see, to see champions rise to the challenge, witness a ‘come from behind’ win and cheer on the best athletes from all around the world.

The athletes have trained hard, they have prepared themselves physically and mentally and for some, all that hard work accumulates into hundreds of a second or minutes in their events.

It is no wonder that when things don’t go to plan, like the Australian 4 x 100 mens swimming relay team missing out on a medal, that emotions are high and there is great disappointment from not only the athletes, but also the families, the rest of the team and the Australian public.

There has been a lot of focus and discussion on how James Magnussen and others reacted after their loss, now lets remember that the relay team finished their race and within five minutes were speaking with a reporter about what went wrong. James found it difficult to comprehend what had just happened, to access his words and articulate what went wrong. For this he, and other members of the Olympic team, have been criticised by the media and vocal talk back radio (experts).

How do you react when things don’t go to plan? How might you react if instantly there was a microphone in front of you asking for answers?

Think about how you react when your colleagues don’t perform as well as they should. Do you jump on them right away expecting an answer? Do you identify what has happened and give them an opportunity to first reflect and then respond?

Whilst James is an elite athlete, we have to appreciate that he, like all of us, may need time to reflect before he can articulate what went wrong.

We need to acknowledge in the workplace that mistakes happen and give people time to reflect so that we can ask great coaching questions in order to move forward.

What great coaching questions can you ask yourself to improve your performance when things don’t quite go to plan?

What great coaching questions can you ask to help individuals gain awareness about what went wrong and to find a new way to move forward to greater success?

Luckily for most of us we don’t have the world watching when we make a mistake or our plans don’t work out. Perhaps we should forgive James, and others, for their reactions immediately after their events and continue to support them in the Australian way.

If we do this in the workplace, then we build a culture that we can be proud of.

Returning to Base Camp

By Paula Jones-Hunt

I recently heard a story about the journey of climbing Mount Everest. As this story was told to me, it takes a massive effort to reach the first milestone that climbers call “base camp”. From here they will attempt the next level. In most cases they attempt this next level a number of times, before successfully completing it. After each attempt to climb the next level they return to “base camp” to assess their options.

When businesses and managers introduce change, whether that be a cultural change, process improvement or new program, the success of the program can be linked to a number of factors including: the planning involved, the implementation plan and ensuring that the momentum you have created, continues.

What if during the implementation there was the opportunity to return to base camp to regroup and continuing the momentum?

Returning to base camp gives you an opportunity to take stock of what has already occurred, what challenges have been faced, opportunities to make changes and improvements. A chance to see the forest for the trees! A chance to acknowledge that not everything has gone to plan and an opportunity for stakeholders to have further input to the way forward.

Even if you are a manager who is wanting to try something different. Sometimes the every day gets overwhelming and whatever you are trying to do differently or implement gets lost along the way. Don’t give up on it. Take a moment to breathe and return to base camp!

Ask yourself the following questions:

When it was working well, what was I doing?

What wasn’t working well and what could I change to make it work better?

What could I stop doing in order to focus on what I want to achieve?

What is the best way to move forward from here?

Whilst momentum may have slowed, by returning to base camp you will re-engage your team/stakeholders, re-energise everyone involved and allow the momentum to gain speed once again!

What initiatives/projects/changes are you working on that would benefit from a return to base camp?