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Human templating
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Greetings!
Some of you might be familiar with the term "templating". Those who aren't could probably hazard a very good guess. You know what comes next, right? Yes, go google or dictionary it! I am going to put "templating" in the same area as drills, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), flow charts, and the like. How are templates useful? Well, when used as intended, they can: - Provide frameworks to guide us.
- Have "fill-in-the-blanks" located at easy-to-find locations.
- Are idiot-proof. (Ok, some of them).
- Save on "cognitive juice", or brain power, when we need to perform many tasks simultaneously.
- Automate actions in crisis situations for more favourable outcomes.
What's an example of a classic template, remembering that classics are books that everyone knows about but which few have ever read? You got it - a fire drill! When was the last time YOU went through a fire drill? Or an earthquake drill or some similar bother? If you haven't had one for ages, do you think it's time you checked why so? The trouble with such procedures is that no one really expects something like a fire or a bomb threat to ever happen, and so don't take them seriously. If and when they do happen, people are either frozen or take highly inappropriate actions. Templating with things like drills is so important in such cases. When minds shut down because of fear, templates like a fire drill become very useful in saving lives. No time? Too costly? You decide. I say that if your life and the lives of your people are valuable to you, then you schedule those drills and ensure that they get done. You'd need at least one "full-dress rehearsal" type drill per year or two years. The others can be conducted as table-top exercises. Those drills become like a pilot's instruments when flying in periods of greatly reduced visibility. Pilots then use the technique of "instrument flying", and it is mandatory to trust the instruments rather than on their own limited vision and sense of balance.
Do you have such "flight instruments" in your company? Are your staff familiar with their use? Have they demonstrated competence in using them appropriately in both live and simulated scenarios? I called this issue "Human templating" and that is exactly what I mean. Here is a quick checklist for you. Are these characteristic of your staff?
- Demonstrate consistent competence in primary job.
- Demonstrate consistent competence when absorbing adjacent secondary jobs.
- Display an "I'm a salesperson too" mindset.
- Participate in organizational training enthusiastically.
- Apply new knowledge and skills immediately.
- Welcome managers' walkabouts instead of resenting them.
- Welcome job rotations as part of development, business continuity management and succession plans.
- Actively seek industry-specific updates by managers.
- Seek more responsibilities and demonstrate competence as they are absorbed.
- Constantly coming to you with new ideas.
How do your staff fare on those points? Is it time to get your "human templating" going? You are only going to get good scores on those points if you invest in the time and effort to consistently train and drill your people.Make them good at what they do. Make them confident in enlarging their scope of responsibility. Only then will you grow as an enterprise. So, give them templates and make sure they use those templates consistently. With a meaningful and ennobling shared vision to gun for, you'll have a greatly engaged and productive workforce!
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