Effective Teams: It All Starts With Me

Yes I know we have all heard this before right? But when I talk about starting with “me” I am referring to the fact that I really need to understand “me”. I know you are thinking I do know “me” but not to sound philosophical, can we really know all there is to know about ourselves? The reason I believe that we need to start with “me” is because that is the only member of the team we can truly understand and control.

I am not by any means a young person (I can remember the plate spinners and life before cell phones) but I believe I have learned more about myself in the last 10 years than I did up to then. I have learned about what motivates me, what I want to achieve, and what makes me happy. 

When I work with people I have to check on “me” so I know what I need to do for an effective conversation. This check includes answering the following list of questions so I am clear on what will impact me during the conversation.

• My views on the topic being discussed.
• My views of the other people involved.
• How I believe the group will and won’t consider my input.
• How does this fit in with the overall priorities in my current life. (yes current because our priorities can and do change frequently)
• How do I believe the other people in the group view me?
• What am I doing after the meeting?
• What has happened to me in the last 24 hours?
• What do I want to gain from this conversation?
• What do I have to lose?
• Who in the group has an agenda they are pushing.

I am sure that this is a partial list as I find new things that I need to understand. All of these items add bias to my conclusions.

I really thought about this after watched the movie “I Robot”. For those that haven’t seen the movie, he story takes place in the year 2035 in Chicago, in a world where robots are widespread and used as servants and for various public services. The robots were to follow the “three laws”. The “three laws” are:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

But the controlling computer began interpreting the laws as its intelligence evolved. It decided that in order to protect humanity as a whole, some humans must be sacrificed and some freedoms must be surrenders to keep humanity safe. The decision was purely logical and didn’t have any feelings or concerns. It was the best decision.

How many times to we hear that we made the best decision. With the robots they looked at the issue without any preconceived idea of what the best decision is. I am not sure that we can say the same thing when we make decisions. We way we are being unbiased. Yet I do not believe that we can be unbiased. We make decisions based on all of our history and experience. So how can we go into any interactions as an unbiased participant?

So what do you do to keep open to others ideas and information?

Weather Happens!

If anything brings out the Grinch in people its weather delays. It’s December 16^th. It’s snowy and icy in several of the major cities major cities along the east coast. Flights are being delayed and canceled. Thus travel plans are being short circuited. All this equals highly stressed and irritated passengers.  But what are the airlines/airports to do???

Well it depends on who you listen to. As I set at the gate an announcement is made “Flight xxxx has not left their airport because of weather. It appears that they will arrive at least an hour late. Please come to the counter if you have any questions or need any assistance.” If you travel as much as I do this is not an unusual situation to be in. Maybe because I do travel frequently I know this is going to happen. I try to plan my travels to include time for just such situations. Especially in December in the Northeast or Northern Midwest states.

As I sat and watched people (one of my favorite past times in the airport) I couldn’t help but over hear the conversation at the counter. The passenger was really upset because the flight was going to be late and they might miss their connecting flight. As I listened further I learned that her (we’ll call her Ms. M) plans included her husband, son and mother. They were going to a graduation of one of her other children. The airline representative informed her that there weren’t any other seats available at this time but they could guarantee them a seat on an early flight the next day. Ms. M went on to lecture the representative on the fact that they had been waiting there for 6 hours on standby (because their earlier flight had been canceled) and now the airline was suggesting that she take her family home and get up at 1:00am to come back to the airport. “Would you want to do that to your mother?” she asked repeatedly. Along with trying to make them feel bad because Grandma was going to miss the graduation.

Now I realize this was a tough situation however what was the airline to do part the skies and melt all the snow and ice so the plane could magically appear at the gate? Were they to create an extra plane, get a flight crew, plan the flight, register it with the FAA , and the airports in the next 30 minutes? I am sure she would have said yes to all of these.

Why do we expect that all our problems can be made to go away if we are condescending and arrogant with people who are trying to help? Are we the only people that are having issues? Maybe someone else has a more serious reason for getting to their location? When did we become such a rude society? I watch several people go to through the line and treat the representatives as if the representative was purposefully trying to ruin their lives. Did they really want all the flights to go out as scheduled? If the flights did take off as scheduled, when they really shouldn’t have, and an accident happened then everyone would sue the airlines for making a bad decision. Do travelers not realize that winter weather happens?

Maybe instead of getting pushy and obnoxious when things don’t go as planned we should take a breath and work with people to find solutions to the problems.Especially the ones that no one can control. Last time I checked no one can control the weather. There are things in your organization that you cannot control (like a break down in equipment, illness, etc.). Some of these situation require all the creative juices you can pull together to overcome. Getting angry and stressed will not help the situation. In fact it usually makes the situation worse. I have to give credit to the United Airlines staff for keeping their cool and working as efficiently as possible to get people to their desired destinations. My trip took 6 hours longer than I had planned but the important point is that I made it home safely. Thanks United Airlines.

Merry Christmas to all and safe travels!

Why are we blaming the airlines?

Now I am sure that I will ire several people with this perspective but I am going to raise the issue. Why shouldn’t the airlines charge for carry-on baggage? Have you seen what some people carry-on to the airplane these days? Now there are lines on the boarding ramps waiting for hand checked bags. Isn’t that like valet parking? Shouldn’t there be an extra charge for that?


Now let’s think about this. For years we have been pushing the point of view that the customer is always right. And we have also decided somewhere in that same equation that every vendor is out to take it to their customers. That it is somehow wrong to make a profit. That everyone is price gouging and should only be allowed the profit that the customer deems appropriate. When did the average customer become so knowledgeable that they know exactly the actual cost of production? Oh and don’t forget every employee working at these companies should be making a good salary. What is a good salary? Who decides what that is?

Then there are the board of directors and stockholders of the company. I am sure the directors and stockholders want a huge profit so they can get increased dividends. Is there a limit on what the profit should be? What is the compensation for the board members? Who decides? Do we really want the government to get involved?

Whatever happened to letting the market set the acceptable price based on the demand? Why are we telling companies what price they can charge for their product or services? Several years ago people complained that the price of tickets were too high. So the airlines cut the price of tickets by reducing some of the services. What did everyone expect? Has air travel become a right of every citizen?

I am not aware of the reason for adding the checked bag charge. It could have been to help cover the cost of having baggage personnel. It could have been to get people to bring less baggage. But it appears to have raised the amount of baggage being carried on to the plane. Could this be an example of trying to fix the symptoms and not looking at the root issue?

I’ve not been involved in the airline industry but maybe the organization studied what the customer was asking for (cheaper flights) and found a way to provide what they wanted. The result was, in essence, an ala carte menu of flight services. The flight (the seat on the plane and transportation to the chosen location) is the basic purchase. Then you can add other services: food, checked bag, carryon bags, etc.

What I see is a clear example of conflicting expectations and assumptions. And maybe some of the expectations are unrealistic. For example would it be realistic for me to expect that I should be able to fly non-stop to all my travel destinations? Oh and I want it at the same price as the other flights. And I want a free upgrade to first class. With a perfect meal. Is this really realistic? So what is a company to do?

I am not saying that all airlines are running as efficient as possible, but what company is. Maybe we need to look at what we are expecting from our companies (all companies) and realize that for our US companies to successful and compete on the global market they need to profit. Let the companies work on their internal improvement processes. The consumer should then make the best decision available to them.

What's the End Result?

As I sit in an airport I really wonder what the goals of some of the airlines policies are. For example, why do I need to pay an extra fee to check a bag? It seems to me that because of the extra fee more and more people are carrying more and more stuff onto the plane.

I know that the airlines do have a chance of losing a bag here and there, however based on the number of bags people are caring onto the planes, the baggage handlers shouldn’t have as much luggage as they use to. I don’t travel as much as some people but I do travel a fair amount and I have only had a few instances where my bag has been lost. Actually misplaced would be a better term since it is usually in my possession the next day at the latest. But I digress, with more people caring on luggage, do we have room on the plan to stow the luggage? Looking at the luggage that my fellow flyers took on to the plane this last trip I really wonder if overhead luggage bins can hold the weight. So is the goal to have more weight in the plane as appose to the luggage bay?

The policy for carrying-on luggage is one bag (of a specific size) and one personal item (like a purse or brief case). These bags must fit either above the seat or under the seat in front of you. Plus you feet must be clear. My do people insist on bringing in larger than the size listed size bags and then get upset because it won’t fit? Or there isn’t room in the overhead bend so they try to but it on the floor and hide the fact that their feet aren’t clear? (I’ve seen so very cleaver people who hide the fact that their feet are straddling bags.) Now the flight attendants have to police the feet of passages. Of course most people do not understand why their feet have to be clear of baggage so they are very rude to the flight attendants.

Then there is the policy for the weight of the bags. Some airlines charge if the bags weigh over a targeted number. I am not sure how they determined the number, especially with the size of some of the bags. One trip my bag seemed to gain weight during the trip. This was odd since I did not add or subtract anything other than changing clothes. But since my bag now weighed 51 pounds (the limit was 50 pounds) I had to pay a fee. Now I should mention that I could have checked 2 bags that could have weighed 100 pounds collectively at no additional charge, but my one bag of 51 pound ended up costing me $25. So is the goal to get more luggage on the plane?

So as you look at your processes first determined what is the end result? Not the desired path but what is it that you really want to occur (lighter baggage, more on the plane luggage, etc.). Once you have determined the end result then find the number of ways that you can get there. And finally which of the possible solutions will get you the result that you are looking for.