NLP interventions at the workplace -- more than what meets the eye

I understand the skepticism some people might have about using NLP at work. These are the folks on the sidelines, looking in and seeing people either drifting deep into themselves for answers to outcomes they want, or moving from one square to another on the floor to get different perspectives on a problem.

Ask anyone who's experienced the change and you'll hear testimonials of managing difficult team mates better, being able to handle a really tough client, or standing up in front of a crowd to make a presentation -- minus the crippling fear.

Our application of NLP can even be as simple as understanding people's communication styles.

Case study: Resolving a manager's conflict with his one-down, Mahesh.
The manager's complaint, "He just talks a lot and I see nothing concrete! His presentations are very basic! He just calls team meetings and doesn't email an agenda." After meeting with Mahesh and hearing his side of the story, we realized he was more auditory, preferring verbal updates over reports, mentally going through a meeting agenda -- basically relying heavily on speech over visual communication. Any wonder the more visual manager thought he was all talk?

Mahesh has put a plan in place to email updates and meeting agenda. He's putting together more structured reports and has decided to maximize his reach by documenting on-the-job training. Finally, when it comes to team training, he's realized he needs to resort to show and tell.

All in a day's work!

Managing your time as only you know how

Had a very interesting session, helping individuals manage their time. Many realized they were caught in quadrant one (urgent and important), rushing against the clock to deliver on ad hoc, last-minute tasks the clients sent at the end of the day. Some found they were over reporting, while others spent WAY too much time in QC (quality check).

As each drew out the big picture of their 24-hour day, and traced patterns, they were able to step back and find solutions.

One realized client A invariably woke up on a Friday evening, the day with back-to-back reports to generate. She decided to email A that she had xxx tasks for Friday and should A need anything, to let her know end of day Thursday, so she can block the time.

Another found elements that overlapped in many of the reports and that he was duplicating his efforts.

Time to ponder where you're spending this valuable resource, don't you think? 

Follow up: Netting the big catch

I had promised to check back with the team I talked about in my post Netting the big catch.

Am happy to report that the client has increased communication with the team, something they were able to influence by putting a system of update mails in place. 

There are still some ups and downs in the account, but like any relationship, they're discovering ways to build stronger bonds. 

Netting the big catch

Understanding the client's pain and finding ways to ease it is the bait that will bring in the big fish.

Recently did a fish bone analysis with a group who were so much in the picture that they believed their client was an ogre. Well that's where we began. Working backwards, each team member listed possible causes of this perceived effect on postits. The idea of this independent working was to allow each one's voice to be heard. We bucketed like causes and fleshed out more specifics under each.

I say perceived effect because when we brought the team manager in, she was able to play devil's advocate and plead the client's case. The team was able to see the bigger picture and put best practices in place to minimize the challenges they were experiencing, namely lack of communication, ambiguity and unrealistic expectations.

Will check back with them in a month to see how they're doing in calmer waters.

Using mind maps to wow the client

I use mind maps extensively in facilitation, from planning a con call agenda to writing emails and reports.

More recently I facilitated a CRM session using mind maps to help participants literally see the big picture.

The various branches included client personality, communication preferences, position, goals and priorities. As they unleashed their right brain, the network of branches showed where the individual fell in the the client's vaue chain, how his deliverable figured in the client's scheme of things, what's worked to build the relationship, what has been tried, and the gaps.

This best-practice sharing session helped participants borrow ideas from each other and also get more specific about the challenges they were facing. One's tendency to generalize and say something like, "My client constantly changes his mind!" led to a discussion on when specifically the client had asked for changes, what led to these reiterations and how some individuals have capitalized on their clients' disorganized behaviour to partner with them, make suggestions and increase dependency.