{"id":2230,"date":"2024-04-05T19:22:35","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T19:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/?post_type=project&p=2230"},"modified":"2024-04-05T19:22:35","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T19:22:35","slug":"who-needs-systems-standards-and-procedures-april-2","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/project\/who-needs-systems-standards-and-procedures-april-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Who needs systems, standards, and procedures? – April 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”97.1%”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/1.png” _builder_version=”4.9.0″ _module_preset=”default” title_text=”1″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ custom_padding=”|893px||||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]\n

When I’m in a conversation about creating stronger structures and systems in a department or storewide, I hear a nagging voice of uncertainty, at times, from the manager I’m working with.
It goes something like this: “I don’t want to ask too much of the staff by imposing stuff that makes things stressful.  I thought at co-ops we’re supposed to be different…you know, flexible and not rigid. I don’t want to be one of those heartless managers who’s a slave or robot to systems and procedures<\/em> “.
Hmmm…I try to clear this up a bit for them.
I try to point out that all those wonderful things that they want in a culture and workplace come about because of<\/strong> well implemented systems, structures and procedures. 
I try to point out, good things in the workplace don’t appear and function in the wild. They appear and function in a well-tended garden…those procedures and systems are like the roadmap of how we all work well together. They actually create the space<\/strong> for flexibility, creativity and innovation to grow. Where staff’s voice is valued and courted to support us in creating a really great workplace. 
But then there’s always something else. 
Something else behind a manager’s reluctance to uphold structures and procedures.
And I address it by asking them this question.
“Are you really afraid of being a robot to standards, systems and procedures, or are you afraid of being committed to and being an important part of the co-op’s journey forward, because those systems and procedures are how we get there?”  <\/em>Well, they usually look a little scared and stunned at that. 
Then I try to ease the mood up a bit by saying, “Don’t worry, we’re all in the middle ground here – we’re all human.  We’re not asking people to commit their souls, yet we are asking our managers to understand what springs forth from well managed structures, systems and procedures. That among all our differences, diversity and divisions, a functional operational flow is the life blood of our co-op as a business”. <\/em>Then they usually get the point.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I’m in a conversation about creating stronger structures and systems in a department or storewide, I hear a nagging voice of uncertainty, at times, from the manager I’m working with.It goes something like this: “I don’t want to ask too much of the staff by imposing stuff that makes things stressful.  I thought at co-ops we’re supposed to be different…you know, flexible and not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"\n

When I'm in a conversation about creating stronger structures and systems in a department or storewide, I hear a nagging voice of uncertainty, at times, from the manager I'm working with.
It goes something like this: \"I don't want to ask too much of the staff by imposing stuff that makes things stressful.  I thought at co-ops we're supposed to be different...you know, flexible and not rigid. I don't want to be one of those heartless managers who's a slave or robot to systems and procedures<\/em> \".
Hmmm...I try to clear this up a bit for them.
I try to point out that all those wonderful things that they want in a culture and workplace come about because of<\/strong> well implemented systems, structures and procedures. 
I try to point out, good things in the workplace don't appear and function in the wild. They appear and function in a well-tended garden...those procedures and systems are like the roadmap of how we all work well together. They actually create the space<\/strong> for flexibility, creativity and innovation to grow. Where staff's voice is valued and courted to support us in creating a really great workplace. 
But then there's always something else. 
Something else behind a manager's reluctance to uphold structures and procedures.
And I address it by asking them this question.
\"Are you really afraid of being a robot to standards, systems and procedures, or are you afraid of being committed to and being an important part of the co-op's journey forward, because those systems and procedures are how we get there?\"  <\/em>Well, they usually look a little scared and stunned at that. 
Then I try to ease the mood up a bit by saying, \"Don't worry, we're all in the middle ground here - we're all human.  We're not asking people to commit their souls, yet we are asking our managers to understand what springs forth from well managed structures, systems and procedures. That among all our differences, diversity and divisions, a functional operational flow is the life blood of our co-op as a business\". <\/em>Then they usually get the point.<\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"project_category":[3],"project_tag":[],"class_list":["post-2230","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-m2m"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/2230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2230"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/2230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2236,"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/2230\/revisions\/2236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_category?post=2230"},{"taxonomy":"project_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/merrimanmanagementsupport.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tag?post=2230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}