Fix your problems properly

Up until about 5 years ago, I’ve missed the power of this skill for literally decades, and I don’t know why. It’s so obvious, and I believe it has cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years.

You’ve been in tons of meetings before.  Issues discussed, problems talked about.  At the end, everyone walks away, and 2 months later the problems that were discussed resurface.  Or even worse, you’re in a seasonal company and the next season the same problems come back to haunt you yet again.

It’s happened to me, and it’s maddening.  It’s a sick cycle carousel.  

The Story

Back in 2021 I reluctantly took over a department that suffered from a lack of forward thinking and lack of systems.  I had no experience in this department, and I was admittedly very insecure at coming in and overhauling something that I didn’t understand.

My approach was simple:  Ask a ton of questions.  Dumb questions.  Questions that are so obvious they likely didn’t need to be asked.  I needed to understand why we did the things that we did in order to provide vision and direction for rebuilding.

Not only did I learn a lot, I also realized that I asked a lot of questions that others were curious about also.  Most of the things in this department were done, just because ‘we’ve always done it that way’.  Anyways – this isn’t the reason for this story.

The reason of this story is to talk about ‘Actionables’, (which is not a real word).

‘Actionables’ are all about asking who would be responsible for actioning a specific task to be part of a solution to the issue that was discussed.  Then – simply asking when the individual would think they could complete that task.  Once asked, I would get that commitment from them and then I would simply write down and assign that task in our Project Management System to the team member.

Because it was written down publicly – it was publicly agreed upon, the task had ‘teeth’.

At the end of each meeting I would summarize and speak to the entire team of all the tasks, who was responsible, and when those tasks should get done by.  Then I would ask the team if we have missed anything, and if we’d all agree the meeting was closed.

The following week we would meet again, and the first thing we would discuss was all of the tasks created the week before.  If they weren’t completed, then the team would work together to help the individual solve it.  It would – by default – vet out the under-performers, or disengaged as they themselves publicly subscribed to the task or project.  People would embarrass themselves for not getting – or forgetting about their tasks.

It seems so simple, yet I struggled with this for years.  This literally changed my life, and the department I lead, and turned the department around in about 9 months.

Steps to a Successful Meeting:

1. Get yourself a global project management system.  Consider things like Podio (what I use), or Monday.com.
2. Have someone be your ‘scribe‘ so that you can focus on digging out the issues and running the meeting.
3. As issues are discussed and solved, find the ‘Actionables‘.  Assign these actionables publicly to the best people for the job.
4. Ask for completion time.  Get a commitment.
5. Have the scribe assign tasks according to the above in your Project Management System.
6. Then you call out all of the agreed upon tasks, the due dates before the meeting ends.
7. Follow up with a second meeting the next week, go over all the issues.  This allows the entire team to hold each-other accountable.

If tasks are frequently missed, it allows the team to step in and help.  If the task is missed because of disorganization, laziness or carelessness, the person embarrasses themself in the meeting.

It’s an excellent place for the whole team to hold each other accountable.