Removing Roadblocks To Productivity

Tuesday 21 June, 2011

by Aubrey Warren

Removing even one roadblock to success for your team can go a long way to reducing that most commonly experienced workplace emotion - frustration - and to creating the conditions for greater success.

Removing even one roadblock to success for your team can go a long way to reducing that most commonly experienced workplace emotion - frustration - and to creating the conditions for greater success. 
It is the responsibility of those in leadership roles - at whatever level - to "remove roadblocks" so that team members can more effectively get done what needs to be done.
This observation links well to some research by Anne Kreamer, in her book called It's Always Personal. Her research looked at the range and effects of emotions that people experience in their work each day. It highlights that the most commonly experienced emotion in the workplace is ... frustration.

Frustration is, well, frustrating! 

Frustration at work is, of course, the product of many things - from misunderstandings in communication to bewilderment at processes or decisions; from misalignment of abilities and tasks to lack of role clarity. In one form or another, there are many potential roadblocks creating frustration in our workplaces.
The toll of frustration - though perhaps hard to measure - is inevitably exacted daily in withheld effort, reduced cooperation and stymied innovation. 

Power to the people 

The idea of intentionally removing roadblocks fits well with the important concept which sadly became an overused management cliche - "empowerment". Given that organisations are naturally and sensibly structured to distribute, limit and control power, how do you empower someone who has proven their ability and their commitment?
Giving people power sounds like a good idea, but how do you do it? One essential way is by removing some of the barriers that limit their productivity and contribution. Organisational structures should be supportive and protective, not unnecessarily restrictive or punitive.  

It's time to let go

Effective structures are functional and flexible, acknowledging that they are there to serve - not frustrate - the efforts of those who choose to work within them.
Experiencing greater autonomy is one of the things most people seek in their work. Mastering our responsibilities naturally leads us to look for opportunities to expand and extend our efforts, to find new and better ways of doing our work.
Providing appropriate autonomy is a tangible way of acknowledging a person's ability, competence and commitment. It's also a reflection of a leader's confidence in an indvidual or a team.
And, like effective delegation, removing organisational roadblocks is also an expression of a leader's self-confidence. Holding power to oneself and being overly restrictive is usually interpreted as insecurity and/or a lack of trust. 

Are you the roadblock to your team's success?

Another potential roadblock worth considering - the leader. Recognising when our leadership has become a roadblock is hard to do - none of us would intentionally block the road to success. But it's easy enough for us to unintentionally construct or reinforce barriers that make success harder to achieve. To "frustrate", if you will.
For example:

• Not providing timely and constructive feedback on performance issues
  
• Creating a bottleneck for decision-making or the flow of information
  
• Resisting improvements to processes or systems
  
• Ignoring or tolerating fears, anxieties or ignorance related to responsibilities
  
• Withholding or being unaware of the need for resources or support
  
• Providing unnecessary supervision (aka micro-managment)
  
• Not providing training or development that improves and extends abilities

If leadership is about creating the conditions for success, leadership that inhibits success must be considered a roadblock. And while the old saying, "Lead, follow or get out of the way" can sound harsh, its point is valid: we're all expected to do things that contribute to success. Sometimes, that's as simple as getting out of the way - whether that's someone else's or our own.
Marshall Goldsmith notes that the late Peter Drucker once told him that at least 50 percent of executives he'd worked with didn't need to learn what to do, they needed to learn what to stop doing. Because sometimes what we're doing - or enabling - is just getting in the way. Even well-intentioned practices and behaviours can be counter-productive. It's important to adapt our influencing behaviours to the needs of those we are working with.

Creating the conditions for success 

So, on a positive note, consider these simple but potentially practical reflections on roadblock removal:

• Where or how could I or my team be more successful?
  
• What has been blocking us from achieving greater success?
  
• How can I apply my leadership - formal or informal - to removing the roadblock(s)?
  
• What leadership behaviours might I need to adapt to enable myself and others to be more successful?

Source:ceoonline.com