by Shawn | May 11, 2021 | Podcast
At home, we have these small square plastic containers with lids.
We often use them to bring along some kind of dip or peanut butter or whatever.
Simple little things.
Container. Lid. That’s it.
Unless you add in the fact that there are two types that look almost identical.
And the fact that their lids are not interchangeable. So, if you grab the wrong lid, even though it looks like it should fit…. it won’t.
I need to come up with a better system to keep them straight and not get myself frustrated when I grab the wrong one, but this is what happens time and again in businesses. Maybe ones like yours.
I’m not saying that your business uses small square plastic containers (though if you did want to tote in some peanut butter with your apples, I highly recommend them).
But rather, it’s little variances that exist, little gaps in your standards and processes that open the door for frustration, scrap, customer relationship issues and more.
It’s why it’s so important to have clear, established instructions and rules in place when they are needed.
Sometimes, of course, there is room for creativity or personal preference and you might even rely on that being the case for specific parts of your business.
But it is those other areas, those crucial tasks that need to be done a certain way but aren’t. That’s where the problem can come in.
Like those lids that looked very similar, you might have wording that is open to interpretation or documents that aren’t exactly clear.
Your people are trying to put the wrong lid on the container and it’s getting everyone frustrated as well as causing lost hours and worse.
So, identify those gaps, shore up your standards, and invite others to help you create the right wording or signage or steps that leave no doubt what needs to happen.
As for my containers, what would you do? Permanently mark them to identify? Keep them in separate spots? Something else? Let me know by shooting me a message on Instagram at shawnwashburn7.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. I’d love hear from you about today’s topic or just in general. You can shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com or head to shawnwashburn.com/contact and you’ll find links to connect with me on social media as well.
by Shawn | May 10, 2021 | Podcast
Have you ever recorded a podcast episode?
There are a ton of podcasts out there in the world today. I’m not sure how many, but I know that chances are some of my listeners have their own podcast. As an aside, if you’re ever interested or think you have something you’d like to share with the world via podcast, I’d love to talk to you about it.
If you’ve ever recorded your own and then edited it, you’ve had the chance to see what a waveform looks like.
When you record your audio into an audio editing program, it creates a visual waveform that is a translation of sorts of what you just spoke into your microphone.
It’s really powerful, because it lets you see pauses in the conversation, spikes in the volume and more. In fact, the more you get into it, you can even get to where you can start to identify actual patterns, like a lip smack or an “um” or an inhale. It makes me think of the movie The Matrix where they watch these green rows of characters scroll down the screen but are able to translate those in their minds into a park bench or a steak or… bacon.
Anyway, I don’t edit my current podcast very much but recently I was thinking about how difficult it would be to try to do any editing if the waveform was just a straight line.
If you were trying to find specific spot in an interview or conversation, the whole thing would look the same and it would make it very difficult.
That’s one of the reasons why the visual waveform is so powerful.
And the idea carries of over to your business as well.
So, I’ve talked before about the power of visual communication in the workplace.
It’s one of those things that I’m really wired for and passionate about.
The more visual you can make things, the easier for everyone to know a status or communicate in the same way.
This can be using project management tools that let you know what is due next, or conditional formatting (one of my favorite Excel features) in Excel to highlight cells that meet a certain criteria.
It could be clearly marking where physical things should go on your desk or on a manufacturing floor, so that if the space is empty or the wrong thing is there, you can see it without too much searching.
It can even be including a screenshot of a dashboard of an Excel file that is sent out to a large distribution list, allowing people who only need that basic information to get it without opening the file itself, while others can dig deeper if they’d like.
The key is to take some time to try to identify areas where either a lot of miscommunication is happening or if there unnecessary effort being put in to get answers to questions that could have been answered by more visual posting or communication in your organization.
I will keep coming back around to this one because I’ve seen what can happen over and over when miscommunication or not enough communication happens.
So, why not ask some of your team members today where they have seen miscommunication or extra work happening and let them get creative about how to solve it with visual communication.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. I’d love hear from you about today’s topic or just in general. You can shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com or head to shawnwashburn.com/contact and you’ll find links to connect with me on social media as well.
by Shawn | May 7, 2021 | Podcast
On today’s Ode to the Office episode, I’m paying tribute to our long-time companion, the Undo button.
I honestly don’t know what we’d do without… well… un-do. We’re so used to being able to make a mistake and just undo it.
We owe so much to this special function that has retrieved and revived and saved us from ourselves… time and time again.
And now, Ode to Undo
Ode to Undo
I’m not sure what we did before you came into our lives
It’s hard to think of how the world was then
Unable to recover losses even though we tried
We were lost and helpless, time and time again
But with one click of a button you erased away our fears
Or better put, you brought back what we lost
Deleted files or words or phrases, no longer brought us tears
You saved the day, no matter what it cost
So thank you undo button, you have been there through it all
Picking through the trash of our mistakes
And even though you cannot save us from a REPLY ALL
At least you give us hope for second takes
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. If you’ve got an idea for a future Ode to the Office episode, shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com.
by Shawn | May 6, 2021 | Podcast
Well, today is a special day.
Today the podcast turns the big 5-0.
In some ways I’m just getting started. After all, it’s only been two months, even though it’s Monday-Friday. But in other ways, doing anything 50 times in a row… for me… is a big accomplishment.
By nature, my ADHD brain tends to enjoy the more creative side of life and less the discipline and consistency side. The first comes naturally. The latter is more of a struggle.
But I’ve loved doing the podcast, the content, the format and learning as I go.
But more than anything I’ve loved having you with me.
Whether this is your first time ever joining me, or you’ve been here from the beginning, or somewhere in between… thank you.
I appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your day to be encouraged, inspired and challenged to be a better business leader and further transform your workplace and your people.
My goal has always been to help you leverage your people and processes to do more with what you have. Meaning that there is amazing value in both of these, but sometimes it just takes us thinking differently or hearing from someone outside of our immediate environment to give us the nudge or questions or refocus that we need.
And hopefully you’ve laughed along the way as well.
One thing I wanted to do was to be as me as I could be while still presenting each day’s topics. And… well, that means that you get goofy, creative and sarcastic Shawn along with business Shawn.
I’ve certainly learned a lot as I’ve gone on and there have been some highlights along the way as well. I’ve really enjoyed being able to bring guests on the show in recent weeks and am excited to continue and grow that going forward. There are so many smart people out there that I want you to hear from.
The Odes to the Office have a special place in my heart for sure. That’s the extreme of the creative Shawn and I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. Spoiler alert… a new one drops tomorrow.
This podcast has really pushed me to explore more thoughts and even dig deeper into familiar topics than I ever would have before.
And I’ve loved connecting with you and hearing from you about the ideas that have resonated with you and to learn from your insights as well.
So, I’m looking forward to keeping this rolling along, growing and exploring as I go… with you by my side… or at least on the other end of an internet audio file somewhere.
As always, I’d love to hear from you. You can always email me at http://shanwwashburn.com or find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter (find links at shawnwashburn.com/contact).
And if you really want to help out, you can subscribe, tell others about the podcast and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. All of those help me reach more awesome business leaders like you.
Thanks for doing what you do every day, serving and leading well. You’re making a difference and I’m thankful to be connected with you.
And I look forward to joining you again for another new episode tomorrow. Can’t wait.
by Shawn | May 5, 2021 | Podcast
I love taking trips with my daughter to our local playground. It’s grown over the years and is a fun place for kids to have fun, explore, build friendships and try new things.
Often, as I sit and watch her and other kids play I see more than just what’s in front of me. I like to think of the playground as a great big collection of life lessons that kids get to work on… all in one special place.
The other night I was thinking about the connection between the playground and one of my favorite work activities – problem solving.
There are almost unlimited opportunities to problem solve at the playground. Sometimes kids will be playing tag and they will scamper up to the top a structure and scatter. And I’ll watch the tagger evaluate all of the different options at their disposal for getting down.
Of course, there is a mix of slow ways, fast ways, safe ways, dangerous ways. They don’t want to think too long because their targets are quickly moving away, but eventually they’ll pick an option that is as close to the safe and fast part of the matrix as possible.
Other times, it might be a toddler staring up at some ominous looking steps that lie between them and the activity and excitement they see at the top. They may start to take on the first step, then maybe one more, but then quickly begin to evaluate where they are and if they’re willing to risk going farther.
Our playground also has a big rope net pyramid where kids can pick a multitude of ways to climb around and up to the peak. My daughter loves to get to the top and slide right down the pole in the middle while others might take a different approach.
And then there is the problem of parents telling kids that it’s time to go. This might be when I see kids get the most creative in their problem solving skills.
When it comes to work, encouraging and growing problem solving skills in your team members is one of the most critical tasks you can undertake. It is those skills that help them make the right decisions when the process breaks down or they have to navigate a customer conversation or trouble shoot a machine or other failure in your system.
And like on the playground, the more opportunities you give your people to think on their own, the more they can take calculated risks and think for themselves. Each opportunity does a little bit more to strengthen those muscles.
Are you giving your people enough chances to think on their own or are they just given a specific path with no room for questions or thinking?
I think you find that the more they’re able to be in those positions and empowered to problem solve, the better your company will be in the long run… as well as your people.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. I’d love hear from you about today’s topic or just in general. You can shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com or head to shawnwashburn.com/contact and you’ll find links to connect with me on social media as well.
