Last week I worked with a management team to draw up a Conversational Code of Conduct.* We spent what was, to them, a very long hour and a half. First they broke up into small groups to describe the communication required to operationalize their company behaviors. Then each group posted their top 5 behaviors on a piece of flip chart paper. From there we listed the communication steps that were repeated by more than one group. Then we rewrote them to make them clear to any reader. Total time= 1 ½ hours.
When we debriefed the process, comments included “Wow, I got lost in the middle and my mind roamed”. “I got bored”. “I can’t believe we actually took this to completion. Normally, we would get bored and adjourn the meeting, never, to finish the activity”.
What I didn’t hear was “this was not my project,” or “I don’t agree with the Code.”
When you take the time to include the team in developing the Code, there is buy-in. It becomes “Our Code”. We can explain it, we can teach it to others, and we can live it.
When it seems too complicated, boring or time consuming, remember that great African proverb – “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.
*Based on the work by Craig Weber. See his blog or his book Conversational Capacity.
Photo courtesy of Brea Runners.