Gaining Alignment for Customer Focus and Organizational Performance

Russ Linden

www.russlinden.com

About Russ Linden

Russ Linden is a management educator who specializes in organizational methods. Since 1980, he has helped government, non-profit and private sector organizations develop leadership, foster innovation, and improve organizational performance. He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Virginia and the Federal Executive Institute. He writes a column on management innovations for

The Virginia Review

, where he serves as a Contributing Management Editor, and has produced national videoconferences on re engineering and on the human side of change.

Russ has studied innovative organizations in Japan and the U.S. His current teaching and consulting interests include the human side of change, systems thinking and learning organization principles, re engineering for seamless service, customer-focused organizations, and collaboration across organizational boundaries. For information on his writing and consulting, see his website: www.russlinden.com

He has published numerous articles, and his first book,

From Vision to Reality: Strategies of Successful Innovators in Government

, came out in 1990. His next book,

Seamless Government: A Practical Guide to Re-engineering in the Public Sector

(Jossey-Bass, 1994), was excerpted in the May, 1995 issue of

Governing Magazine

. His most recent book is

Working Across Boundaries: Making Collaboration Work in Government and Nonprofit Organizations.

It was published by Jossey-Bass in 2002. His clients have included the National Geographic Society, Departments of the Navy and Army, FBI academy, U.S. Dept. of Education, two state attorney general and over four dozen state, local government, and non pro-fit agencies. Several local governments are redesigning their organizations using the principles in his book,

Seamless Government

.

Before beginning his full-time practice, Russ was a Senior Faculty Member at the Federal Executive Institute. He served as the Director of Executive Programs at the University of Virginia’s Center for Public Service, taught at the UVa McIntire School of Commerce, and managed in the human services field for seven years.

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Alignment: What Is It?

“Alignment” means consistency . . . congruence ... feeling connected. The term is used by massage therapists dealing with the human body; it refers to the wheels on your car; it is increasingly used to describe organizations.

In short,

an organization is aligned when the members are pulling in the same direction.

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Alignment is sometimes most obvious in its absence:

“Firings will continue until morale improves.” “I want everyone to tell me what they think, dammit, even if it costs them their job!” - Samuel Mayer (MGM) “The Inspector General wants the IG staff to act like consultants and coaches to the units they monitor, not like cops . . . The IG staff will be evaluated on the number of violations they find in their audits and inspections.” Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Alignment: Why It Matters

When present, alignment sends powerful, compelling signals to everyone

 People talk about “being on the same sheet of music”  There’s much less turf guarding  People feel a sense of common purpose Most important, alignment leads to greater organizational performance Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Misalignment can exist at several levels:

• Between individuals’ words and actions • Between org.-wide goals, and each unit’s goals • Between the goals of admin and operational units • Between the organization’s stated values and: behavior of leaders, org. structure, its systems • Between the skills staff need tomorrow, and the training they are receiving today • Between the formal reward system, and the behavior necessary for organizational success • Between what’s measured, and what’s needed for organizational success • Between the organization’s customers, and the processes that provide them goods and services Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Exercise:

Think of a situation -- work or non-work -- in which things felt very much out of alignment. 1. What was the situation?

2. What was it like? How did you feel?

3. Did anyone say anything about the problem? Did anyone do anything about it? What?

4. What were the results of the project?

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Exercise:

Think of a situation in which everything felt “together.” The goal was important and clear, the group wanted to achieve it, there were no concerns about underlying agendas or turf or egos, everything fit.

1. What was the situation?

2. How did it feel?

3. What contributed to the fact of alignment?

4. What were the results?

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Framework for Alignment

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Articulate A Clear, Compelling Purpose

 What is the organization’s purpose?

 Does everyone know the purpose?

 Is the purpose stated in ways that move people?

 What are the org’s key outcomes?

 Why do these outcomes matter? Who cares?

 Do all staff know what the desired outcomes are? Do they see how their outputs contribute to the outcomes?

“Everything starts with the mission.”

-- Peter Drucker Management Theorist

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Help Everyone Understand the Strategy

 Organizational strategy is is only effective if people can both

understand

it, and

apply

it at their level.

 What is your organization’s strategy?

 Can employees across the organization explain the strategy in simple terms?

 Are employees being given examples of what they need to do to make the strategy real at their level?

 To what extent do employees know why this strategy matters (to customers, to the organization, to themselves)?

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Help Everyone Understand the Strategy: FEMA

James Lee Witt inherited an agency that had narrow stovepipes and was considered dysfunctional, out of touch with customers, fragmented internally.

He articulated a new strategy: employees would work on “all hazards.” No longer would they specialize in floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.

Witt held countless employee meetings explaining the new strategy, what it meant at each level, why it was necessary, how this would impact customers and employees.

The new strategy led to many other changes in training, org. processes, structure, evaluations, rotational assignments, etc. By the time Witt left FEMA, it had been transformed into a model of high performance and alignment.

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Develop A Customer Focus

 How well do we know them and their needs?

What measures do we use?  What’s our comparative advantage in their minds?

 Why have some left us?

 How do we find out when our customers’ needs change? How well do we respond to such changes?

 How well do we

anticipate

their needs? Do we

educate

them on the options available?

 Who are our toughest customers? How do we learn from them, and improve based on their input?

 Do our customers have customers? If so, do we help them meet

their

customers’ needs?

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Develop A Customer Focus: FEMA

 FEMA hired a contractor who posed as a customer and made many calls to FEMA staff, posing questions customers often asked.  Many FEMA staff responses reflected terrible customer Service behavior (e.g., “That’s not my job,” “I don’t do that kind of work,” and, “I have no idea how to get you that information”)  All FEMA staff were required to take workshop on customer service. It was customized to FEMA examples. Witt attended the first.  When HQ received customer comments praising employees, Witt read the comments at staff meetings, to reinforce the customer orientation.

 A contractor called 10,000 disaster applicants, asked what their most important expectations were of FEMA. Most frequent response: “I want to talk with a kind, caring human being, to know someone at FEMA cares about me.”  Receiving a prompt check was # 3 among customers’ expectations had always assumed it was # 1) (FEMA Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Connect People to Purpose, Customers, and Each Other

 What skills/knowledge do employees need to do their work well?  How can we help them to continually learn, share knowledge?  How can they get fast feedback on the results of their work?

 What are the best ways to help employees see the connections between units? To remove the walls between their units?  How well do employees understand customer needs/reactions to our products and services?  Who else (partners, contractors, part-timers, retirees, customers) can help us deliver products/services?

 What are the skill sets needed in the future, and how do we ensure employees have them?

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Connect People to Purpose, Customers, Each Other - FEMA

 Witt called all FEMA SESers into his office one Friday in 1993. When they left, they had all been give a different office to lead. His message: We have to focus on ALL hazards, and you have to lead as senior executives, not technical experts.

 Some of the SESers were given offices that they had publicly bad mouthed in the past. Some were given offices previously led by GM 13s and 14s.

 Employees received cross-training in their new, broader roles, so that they could carry out the “all-hazards” strategy with no loss of technical competence.

 Witt repeated his key message over and over: “We all work on all hazards, we’re one team at FEMA.” Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Align and Improve Processes

 Which processes/systems are most critical to meeting customer/stakeholder needs?  Which of those processes seem to be most in need of improvement?

 Do our employees regularly map and redesign processes to better meet stakeholder needs?  How are we improving information technology to support process stakeholder needs?  Which processes and systems are most troublesome to employees?

 Is our structure aligned with our over strategy? With customer and employee needs?

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Align and Improve Processes - FEMA

 Witt abolished the old stovepipe structure (the flood office, hurricane office, earthquakes office, etc.)  They were replaced with directorates that reflected the life cycle of emergency mgt: preparedness, response/recovery, mitigation, ops. support  Those in each directorate work on all hazards  FEMA created a rapid response capability, using matrix teams drawn from all directorates. The teams train throughout the year Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Understanding the Environment

 What is our niche? What differentiates us from others?

 With whom should we form partnerships to satisfy customers and achieve desired outcomes?  Which organizations are the benchmarks for us to study? How can we learn from them?  What trends are most important for us to track?

How do we track them?  What will be possible to do in the near future that isn’t possible today?  What are the most likely scenarios that we’ll encounter in the next five years? How well prepared are we for each? Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Understanding the Environment -- FEMA

 Witt paid close attention to key Congressional committees that handle FEMA’s budget, and to external stakeholders -- state and local emergency management leaders  He cut a deal with Sen. Mikulski: he would have an opportunity to make major changes in FEMA before she would consider any effort to dismantle FEMA, which had been discussed in Congress  He testified on the Hill 15 times his first year, to keep the members informed  FEMA created close partnerships with state and local leaders, focused on prevention. One example: Project Impact a pub-prv’t-nonprofit partnership to make local communities more disaster resistant Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Leaders and Leadership

 How well do our leaders set direction, communicate the direction, and engage others in pursuing it?

 How well do our leaders stay out of the “weeds?”  Who are our informal leaders? How can we involve them?

 What are the key future skills our leaders will need? How do we prepare them?  How well do our leaders manage external relationships?  How can our leaders continually learn, and help others do the same?

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

Shared Leadership -- What’s Needed for the New Organization

“What I really wanted in the organization was a group of responsible, interdependent workers, similar to a flock of geese … I could see the geese flying in the ‘V’ formation, the leadership changing frequently, with different geese taking the lead. I saw every goose being responsible … changing roles whenever necessary, alternating as a leader, a follower, or a scout … And when the task changed, the geese would be responsible for changing the structure of the group to accommodate … I could see each goose become a leader.” Quoted in

Flight of the Buffalo

, by Belasco and Stayer (Warner Books, 1993, p. 18).

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden

And How Do We Develop Shared Leadership?

• Shared leadership isn’t taught … • Shared leadership isn’t learned primarily by observing other leaders … • Shared leadership doesn’t come from developing inspiring vision and values statements (although they sometimes help) • No, shared leadership develops when people have the

EXPERIENCE OF BEING LEADERS

… like briefing their boss’s boss, taking temporary rotations to run another unit, being given major a project that you would ordinarily lead, becoming mentors for new employees.

• Your job: to support them, help them learn from mistakes, help them develop their own standards and learn how to hold themselves accountable.

Copyright (c) 2003 Russ Linden