Stop putting out fires
During the Ramadan and Raya period, a huge influx of campaigns almost broke my staff. Every job was a rush job, which led to some silly mistakes and miscommunication. Everyone was frustrated with each other, and my senior managers had to intervene several times to prevent fires from spreading.
Now, firefighting isn’t a new concept - putting out fires is part of running a successful business. But if our people are constantly firefighting, it puts them at risk of experiencing burnout. And when that happens, we run the risk of losing good people.
Why would our employees fight the same fires over and over again, grumble about it the whole time, and yet not choose to do anything to address the root cause? While no one admits to liking firefighting, I believe some of us unconsciously enjoy it for the act of being busy. Constantly doing something can create an adrenaline rush and give us the illusion of progress, but it can be a trap. Don’t confuse activity with productivity.
So how can leaders save their team from constant firefighting and challenge them to start thinking about how they can prevent the fires from starting in the first place?
Clearly define the company’s vision - what we are trying to accomplish and why it matters. By having a sense of the bigger picture, employees will learn to counter-balance it with the need to fix immediate problems.
Create a safe and collaborative environment. A workplace culture driven by fear will generate fewer creative solutions. A team afraid of repercussions won’t stick their neck out when they feel something is wrong; they’d rather play it safe instead of playing to win.
Focus on building quality from the start. Invest some time and brain power in developing clear and simple automated processes which are less people-dependent. This is important because when people are confronted with pressure to deliver, they usually end up creating their own processes in the name of survival, which can mess up the assembly line.
As the great Desmond Tutu once said, “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in.”
Firefighting should not be the standard operating procedure of any company. By providing clear direction, simple processes and a healthy environment, you can empower your employees to handle tough times better. And they’ll thank you for it. ●