Employee Owned Change™

I started consulting organizations in 1974 when a colleague asked me to help him determine his vision and strategy of his organization. After having been a change agent for over 30 years in Fortune 500 companies, in mid-sized banks and accounting firms, and in small entrepreneurial companies I have learned that having a vision, a strategy, and strong communication are not enough. You must elicit buy-in from your team in order to go the distance!. Our firm specializes in getting the team lined up, especially the Negaholics, the ones who don’t yet believe that the vision is possible.

A healthy organization is one that has a strong sense of its own identity, mission, purpose and can readily adapt constructively to change. This type of organization exhibits independence, optimism, interdependence, and a high degree of ethics, responsibility, and results.

After having conducted our EOC process with hundreds of employees worldwide, we finally decided to trademark the term. The purpose of Employee Owned Change™ is to build a cohesive team so that co-workers work together in a spirit of cooperation, collaboration, co-creation and ownership.

The Employee Owned Change™ team development actions are rooted in behavioral science principles. These reflect humanistic and participative approaches to management and leadership. Team development reflects two aspects of Organizational Development. They are:

• A way of managing change
• An effective way of focusing human energy toward specific desired outcomes

Success with any team development rests on the fundamental belief that in an organizational setting the individual members must have the opportunity to grow if the organization is to remain healthy.

In managing change, the methodology of team development is to work in concert with the persons affected by the change. This fosters responsibility in managers that in turn leads to creativity in problem solving.

Employee Owned Change™ is practical and functions as a discipline to focus energy on specific tangible goals. While most organizations begin purposefully, economic shifts, changes in the marketplace, and alteration in leadership values and styles impact organization effectiveness. The wants and needs of the individual are essential input to the overall goal- setting process of the group. If each member participates in forming group goals and subscribes to those goals, then a considerable share of his/her energy and the energy of all co-workers, begins to work toward a common purpose, mission, and objectives.

Employee Owned Change™succeeds when leaders:

• Link with all those who can influence desired outcomes.

• Identify/form goals, which through joint processes, will convert to specific group goals.

• Work on improving the quality of relationships from one in which managers are conditioned to inter-personal/conflict (I-vs. -you) compared to one of collaboration and healthy competition (“we-us”). To bring about such a change, open communication, collaborative goal setting, and mutual problem solving/decision making must be encouraged.

• Build active feedback loops so managers monitor and share in their organization’s progress toward the achievement of mutually agreed upon goals.

A schematic representing typical team development concepts follows. While it represents a “typical” flow of events, each situation is unique. This demands adaptation and tailoring of actions to achieve client objectives.

Employee Owned Change™ Development Phases

Employee Owned Change™ Development Phases

Phase I Needs Assessment

An MMS consultant meets with each of the key individuals on the project to determine:
• Program comprehension
• Program buy-in
• Past experience working with outside coaches
• Personal resistance to change
• Additional information that could cause the success or failure of the Employee Owned Change™ Project.
• Participation in team projects

Phase II Synthesize Information

The individual meetings are synthesized into a Team Building diagnostic report that illustrates the commitment to Team Building. The following information is assembled for review:
• Objectives for the Employee Owned Change™ project
• Key issues
• Trouble spots
• Problem members
• Relevant history
• Research information relevant to Phase I
• Articles / books / models / background information

Phase III Planning Meeting #1

The core group meets with one (or two) MMS Coaches to plan the Team Building Project. Information from Phase II is presented with an eye to:
• Identify and define roles
• Build the rapport of the core group
• Review the mission statement and/or goals
• Agree upon the purpose of the project
• Choose the project objectives
• Assign tasks
• Coordinate group assignments
• Discuss information from individual meetings anonymously
• Solve problems about key member buy-in
• Negotiate solutions is a positive mode
• Ask questions about the project
• Agree on problem areas
• Reach consensus about program curriculum
• Prioritize issues to be discussed
• Choose a leader or leaders who will give final approval for the Employee Owned Change™ curriculum

Phase IV Research and Development

The MMS team of consultants research and develop the curriculum as agreed upon in Phase III. Films are previewed, materials are organized, and information is gathered and produced for final approval by the planning core group.

Phase V Presentation of Materials for Final Approval

In as much as the curriculum design is a collaborative effort between the MMS team and the client, a final review of the curriculum is essential so that there are no surprises on Employee Owned Change™ day.

The Core Group assembles with the MMS Coaches to:
• Assess the Employee Owned Change™ day
• Review the condition of each member of the group
• Choose the next steps
• Schedule individual coaching sessions, group meetings, or interventions that are indicated to ensure the success of the project

Phase VIII Trouble Shooting

An MMS coach meets with any individuals who require direction or assistance in becoming part of the team.
• Phases 3-8 are repeated 2, 3, or 4 times depending on Employee Owned Change™ goal completion
• MMS coaches travel as a team of two to be able to model team work, successful interactions and communication

Sample Corporate Data Gathering Synthesis

1. What works regarding the relationship between the two departments?
• When XX started taking an active interest in the relationships of our departments, the climate changed.
• Technicians have started going to the make-up meetings.
• Since the two new people were hired, the feeling of “over-load” has been eased.
• All the changes in the past six months have eased the tension.
• Both departments produce a lot of work and are hard working.
• Both departments have their products at heart.
• Moving the physical space will remedy many of the existing problems.
• Most people know their jobs.
• People have been able to get along without training.

2. What are the problems that you see in your department?
• The direction, vision or future of the company is unclear.
• Personalities: The managers and the supervisors do not seem to be aligned.
• There is not sufficient delegation in the department.
• There needs to be closer supervision and direction given by management.
• There is a lack of consistency among the people, the products, the decision making process, and the demands of management
• Management has difficulty making decisions.
• There is limited on-the-job training.
• There is inconsistent communication flow.
• There is finger pointing within the management structure.
• Few changes are made as a result of monthly meetings.
• There is a lack of trust regarding follow through to support the decision making process from the monthly meetings.
• The technicians perceive that middle management “looks down” on them.
• Decisions are made without the consensus of the whole department.
• There is an underlying unspoken communication that people should never take vacations.
• Antiquated systems are time consuming and cumber some.
• Communication needs work.
• Noise factors, viability, traffic patterns (steps between supervisors and technicians) and privacy are awkward in the present space.
• The process of opening and sorting mail is inefficient.

Solutions:
• Continue with monthly meetings and focus on solutions with follow through.
• There needs to be acknowledgment for jobs well done.
• There needs to be an in-depth training program.
• We need to have goals (something to look/aim for).
• Management doesn’t know the supervisor’s job responsibilities.
• Personalities are an issue within the department.
• There are problems about inter-departmental communications.
• There is a climate of negativity, “nit picking” and very little direct communication.
• Reviews need to be done in a timely manner.
• Management needs to take care of department details.
• It would be good to have more connections among our own group.
• We are pretty autonomous with our own products; perhaps there could be more interaction among us.

3. What does “not work” about the relationship between the two departments?
• Hostile confrontation at the management level is condoned as acceptable behavior.
• The two departments are seen as having difficulty aligning behind the tasks.
• The sense of urgency with regard to response time between the two groups is out of alignment.
• Timing is an on-going issue.
• The two departments often complain about each other, point fingers or blame each other.
• There is no format for handling differences of opinion.
• Old wounds from the past are still not resolved.
• Production appears to be challenged by every question asked.
• Often it is difficult to admit that there is doubt or uncertainty about initiating, needing help or completing projects.
• Both departments appear to have different goals.
• It is difficult to chart the workflow between the two groups.
• The peaks and valleys of the schedule causes an inconsistent work load with time of overload.
• The disparity of the exempt/non-exempt status of the two departments creates a problem of inequality.
• There seems to be a power play existing between the two departments.
• There are personality issues among the management of the two groups.
• Co-workers act more like combatants.
• There is limited respect for the differences between the two departments. One is “process oriented” while the other has a “thinking orientation.”
• Communication is the biggest issue.
• There is no format for handling differences of opinion.
• There is limited acknowledgment for jobs well done.

4. Do you have any worries or concerns about the project?
• Concern regarding disclosing negative observations about department heads being interpreted as insubordinate.
• Will this do any good, people are hard to change.”
• Facing the truth, hurting people, firing employees.
• “Sometimes I think it’s better to keep things under the carpet where no one will get hurt.”
• “Will people be candid and honest?”

5. What would you change about the ways the two groups interface?
• Techs would have job changes so that they felt more fulfilled.
• Excellence awards would be announced and not kept secret.
• There would be a change about responsibility, accountability and organization between the two groups.
• Everyone would feel as if they were part of the team.

6. What would be your suggestions on how to develop the team?
• Management needs to be aligned so that a model gets set for the employees.
• If people would talk about “our” products rather than “my” products there would be more of a sense of community.
• The groups would be more cohesive if people were divided according to products.
• We need to be less “protective” of our own publication and have more of a community consciousness.
• If we could cure the “better than” attitude, people would be more aligned.
• Techs need to be involved more and have more responsibility.
• Production should be involved in the financial end.
• Coordination of the philosophies of both departments would be helpful.
• The work needs to be defined, job descriptions need to be set, and reproductions need to be put in place for there to be a change.
• A comprehensive computer system to keep track of all the records is greatly needed.

7. If you could have the ideal, what would be the desired outcome of the project?
• Mutual respect, openness, and honest communication among all of us.
• To be able to work with the two groups in a way that everyone feels important.
• The Supervisors would include Production in their thinking process and the instruction.
• “Downtime” would be spent on instruction and planning.
• When there is a problem, there would be no “finger pointing”.
• To bring about a sense of “community”. Having a feeling of togetherness by considering all organizational aspects, dissolving the hierarchy of levels, physical wall levels and there would be consensus of priority issues.
• The departments need to see eye to eye.
• People would be clear about levels of responsibility.
• The idea of “turfiness” and “territoriality” would be dissolved.
• Both departments would have the ability to express themselves in supportive ways.

Employee Owned Change™ Certification

Teamwork:
Concerted action or effort by the members of a group to achieve some common end.

In theory this sounds easy enough, but in actuality it is very challenging. If you take into consideration some of the variables: people’s egos, agendas, past histories, old hurts, political ambitions, concerns about the future, discrepancies in management style, lack of trust, and concerns about the competence of others, it becomes more complicated and challenging. It is never easy to sort out the issues, clarify misunderstandings, miscommunications, and heal old wounds. Through the structure of a safe environment, guidelines that provide clarity, certainty, and supportive facilitation, what appears to be impossible... in fact... happens.

“Employee Owned Change™” is the term we have given to a process of facilitating groups of people who need to work together as a team. The MMS Institute has successfully conducted Employee Owned Change™ Programs after which participants have:

• Bonded as a unit
• Interfaced effectively in their jobs
• Supported each other in accomplishing the team mission/goal
• Worked out their differences so they build on their strengths and minimize their weaknesses
• Had a method/process to manage both communication and change to produce maximum results
• Increased the bottom line results so that objectives were met and exceeded

The Institute provides a framework with a three-stage process:
1. Team building sessions with hands-on MMS coaches who custom design the program in collaboration with you
2. Team Building Certification for in-house facilitators
3. On-the-job monitoring and quality control review by MMS consultants to support your training facilitators in the form of: coaching, resources, intervention, retraining, etc.

In order to insure the results in a team building program, it in necessary for the facilitators to: • Know and understand the process
• Have the necessary training
• Feel confident and certain about their abilities and skills

Related to:
• Facilitation
• Listening
• Timing
• Presentation
• Interpersonal communication
• Leadership
• Strategizing the action steps
• Empowerment
• Self-management
• Recording/documenting

At The MMS Institute, Inc. we have designed an Employee Owned Change™ Facilitators Training Process that incorporates the following:
• Public programs
• Apprenticeship
• On-the-job coachingAfter an individual has completed the following steps, she/he is then certified to conduct Employee Owned Change™. Itis recommended that for the first three team building projects a newly certified Employee Owned Change™ Facilitator e coupled with an experienced one so that competence and self-confidence are developed.

Step 1: Participate in The Inner Negotiation Workshop. (Recommended)

Addendum Employee Owned Change™ Certification

Step 1 – Inner Negotiation Workshop
This two-day entry level program is a learning environment in which people experience the underlying principles of MMS: i.e. people know what they want and possess the power to make their visions, dreams and objectives to materialize. People come to the workshop with their own personal list of objectives. In this non-judgmental environment, participants dramatically shift the ways they view themselves. Participants are invited to look at their past, their present, and the future in terms of what they want rather than what they think is possible. They are encouraged to speak up for themselves regardless of the reasonableness of their wishes. They are urged to explore their wants, desires and dreams. This process of self-discovery is the cornerstone of empowerment. As a result of the participant discovering what he/she wants, they can then empower others to make extraordinary results happen.

Step 2 – The Coach’s Training
200 hours of intensive training certifies individuals to use the MMS approach to consulting. This approach is based upon three key elements:

1. People have an inner compass that directs their life
2. People possess the inner resources to achieve exactly what they want in their lives
3. Participants are trained in a coach’s role, one which does not tell, but allows another to discover his/her answers from within

They are trained to create the optimum climate for discovery that includes trust, unconditional acceptance, and suspended judgment.

Step 3 – Inner Negotiation Team Facilitator
The MMS Inner Negotiation Workshop team training is a three-week training course in operating as a single unit in facilitating a workshop.

Step 4 – Leadership Training Program
This program trains people in presentation skills and group dynamics. Participants learn how to be open, confident and owerful and comfortable being themselves in front of a group, attune to the group, and move the group toward resolution and action.

Step 5 – On The Job Training
The on the job training, within an organization, consists of six phases: needs assessment, synthesizing information, the planning meeting, Teambuilding day, debriefing, and troubleshooting. A team building trainee needs to work “hands on” as an apprentice, with an MMS trained coach/consultant. As a result of completing this project successfully, the trainee can then be certified in facilitating the MMS Teambuilding Process.

Step 6 – Ongoing Coaching and Supervision
MMS has been in the business of training people since 1974. We feel it is our responsibility to know the most current, outstanding, and appropriate technologies available in the training field. It is not possible to give a trainee all that he will need to launch, format, and present in one Teambuilding Process. Furthermore, an MMS trained Employee Owned Change™ Facilitator will need to be updated on advances in the Human Development field as they happen. In order to ensure the ongoing success of the team building projects, there needs to be a program of quality control including, coaching and supervision by an MMS trained Senior Consultant/Coach.

What is Customer Satisfaction?

The MMS Institute asserts that effective managers are developed not born; customer service is constructed out of the collective focused efforts of individuals pulling together for the overall group good. The MMS Institute has built a track record in developing managers and building effective customer relation teams.

The purpose of The Customer Service Program is to establish a consistent spirit with the organization so that the environment feels warm and inviting where customers experience a spirit of cooperation, collaboration and commitment to satisfaction.

It may sound easy, however in actuality it can be quite challenging. People are complicated and need to be handled delicately. Reaching people at the behavioral, motivational, and emotional level is essential to enable people to work together and serve the customer with care. Certain aspects of the employee’s personality need to be taken into consideration. Some of those aspects might be past history, political ambition, mistrust, concern about the future, discrepancies in management style, suspicions about co-workers competence, or hidden agendas.

The belief that you cannot change people keeps the status quo in place. Often, people cling to their individuality and look at serving the customer as unnecessary or unimportant which in itself exuberates discord, dissension, and disparity.

Pulling together a group of staunch individualists to serve customers with care and concern is the mission. It requires quality people with a desire to serve, an enormous amount of willingness, and commitment.

A healthy work group is one that has a strong sense of its own purpose as well as the capacity to serve the customer. This type of group exhibits independence, optimism, interdependence, and a high degree of responsibility, ethics, and results.

Success with a customer service program rests on the fundamental belief that in an off-site setting the individual members must have the opportunity to communicate their needs, wants, concerns, and fears if the vital work group is to remain healthy.

The methodology of customer service is to work in concert with all the people who interact with the public. This fosters responsibility that leads to creativity in problem resolution. Customer service is practical and functions as a cornerstone for effective behaviors.

Employee Owned Change™ is practical and functions as a discipline to focus energy on specific tangible goals. While most organizations begin purposefully, economic shifts, changes in the marketplace, and alteration in leadership values and styles impact organization effectiveness. The wants and needs of the individual are essential input to the overall goal- setting process of the group. If each member participates in forming group goals and subscribes to those goals, then a considerable share of his/her energy and the energy of all co-workers begins to work toward a common purpose, mission, and objectives.

Teambuilding Training

TEAMBUILDING

Teams Aren't Born... They Are Built!

Do you believe that teamwork really works? Do you think that it is possible to build a successful team? Do you secretly wish your team could seriously improve?

Chérie Carter-Scott, Ph.D., has trained and facilitated teams for over two decades. From Fortune 500 companies to office teams of professionals, her magic transcends attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

"Withholding builds walls; disclosing builds bridges. Your choice: walls or bridges."

This statement sums up Dr. Carter-Scott's bottom-line on Teambuilding. She speaks with authority experience, and knowledge. Her case histories add color and credibility. Her perspective brings humor to the irony of the human condition. Her unique connection with her audience presents compassion, inspiration and opens up a world of possibilities.

You Will Learn How to:
• Diagnose your team effectiveness
• Determine what the issues are
• About your leadership style
• Pinpoint the obstacles
• Strategize a winning action plan
• Build a successful team

Course Outline:
• What is teambuilding?
• Why is a team important?
• What is required to build a team?
• What are the key elements of "team"?
• What gets in the way of teamwork?
• What do you do to assess teamwork?
• What do you do to create teamwork?

Benefits:
• Determine where you learned about teamwork
• Learn what constitutes a good team
• Discover the main obstacles to teamwork
• Learn six ways to build a successful team
• Realize what you need to do to form a winning team

ELEMENTS OF TEAMWORK

1. Capability of Team Members:
Each member possesses the skills, abilities and motivation to warrant their position on the team.

2. Participation:
All members actively cooperate, collaborate, and contribute to the team goal; each member reaches out to willingly lend a hand.

3. Give and Take:
There is flexibility about task orientation that encourages the members of the team to focus on the result/goal and help each other out even if it means going outside their job definition.

4. Ownership:
Each members holds as his (her) own the Mission, Objectives, and Goals of the team. This is an individual feeling of responsibility for the whole coupled with supportive interfacing with other group members.

5. Communication:
Communication is open, honest, and direct between team members. When issues surface they are addressed and resolved.

6. Certainty:
Clearly defined expectations, job descriptions, policies, and procedures; eliminate ambiguity and create a climate of certainty.

7. Commitment to Team Goal:
Each member is committed to the Desired End Result. This means that they have the desire, belief, and willingness to cause the result to happen.

8. Leadership:
Regardless of style, clearly defined leadership exists. This leadership style is deployed through:
• A clear vision
• Communication
• Constancy
• Self-Management
• The management of others

9. Integrity:
Each member adheres to the standard or code of behavior determined by the leader.

10. Trust:
Belief in the integrity, ability, and character of each member of the team. The confidence that each member will be able to live up to the expectations that the job requires.