ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - February 16, 2001

After one whole day at home with Margene (!), I am now in Florida to explore a project to re-invent the foodservice for a chain of bowling centers. On Monday, we will kick off the second of the Winter Roundtables in Orlando. It will be in the mid 80's and sunny -- wish you were here!

GRATITUDE IS POWERFUL
Last week I was in Chicago to conduct a few programs for The Chicago Club. Over a delightful dinner, GM Frank Stover and I were discussing what we wanted to do in our sessions the next day. He wanted something that would help solidify the teamwork at the top and further enhance service in what is already a marvelously well-run organization. As we talked, I suddenly recalled a story that I reprinted in my Home Remedies newsletter awhile back. I proposed an approach, Frank added some interesting twists to it and we decided to give it a try. The process was a first for me, but one that you might be able to use in your operation. Here is the story

We decided to help the department heads deepen their understanding of the work climate with a more direct experience than we had in my past sessions with the group. After a brief session to tend to the business of running the club, it was my turn. As a start, I asked everyone introduce themselves to me and give a brief bio on the path that had brought them to the club. I then asked them to share what they liked most about working in clubs in general and The Chicago Club in particular. We acknowledged that there were always areas that could be (and would be) improved, but the instructions were to confine the comments to only the good news. As we went around the table and the stories came out, you could feel the "tone" in the room soften and deepen. By the time this round was done, everyone was feeling very connected.

Then I selected one person at a time and asked the rest of the group to write down what they most liked about working with this person -- what they appreciated, what the person brought to the team, why they were grateful to be working with the person -- again, only the good news. As we went around the table in this manner, the feeling in the room became even deeper. By the end of it, the group realized that, from a feeling like this, they could move the world. At the least, there was nothing that they couldn't accomplish together. That is the power of climate and the importance of creating a good feeling in the group.

We collected the notes that folks made which Frank compiled and returned to the group. How would you like to have a list of what all your co-workers appreciated most about you? Do you think it might help get you through "one of those days" a little easier?

As a parting process, I asked everyone to complete the sentence, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could . . ." A lot of great ideas came out (they always do) and Frank shared one of them with me on the phone this morning. One of the department heads said, "Wouldn't it be cool if the entire staff could feel about the Club and each other the way that we do right now." Now THERE is a goal worth pursuing.

By the way, how was YOUR last management meeting?

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