Sharks and Starfish – what do they have in common? Nothing but the ocean, but if you were bitten by the first, do you have something to replace what was lost?  Nature has provided Starfish the ability to regenerate the parts of itself that have been lost.  Organizations should consider this before something happens within their organization that could stop progress or business in its tracks.

Below is a great example.

A client last week shared some news with me:

• Julie, who handles payroll, had a terrible accident.  She was in Hawaii.  While sky diving, she missed her landing zone and landed in the water where a shark ate her.  They are still looking for the remains so the funeral has been delayed.
• In the meantime, Frank needs to step in and make sure payroll goes out this week without assistance from Julie.
• Bob, Frank and Julie’s boss are to give my client daily updates as to how it is going.

The result of this exercise (Julie really was not eaten by a shark) was that payroll for 140 employees went out one day late, but was accurately done.

Like Starfish that can regenerate a missing arm, organizations should have systems or processes in place to compensate when an employee or function is not available.  The above “Shark Attack” was a great test to ensure that “their” system was set up as to not be dependent upon one person alone.

Julie got a day off.  As luck would have it, she was able to be at a surgery of a family member and to help out (she had been afraid to ask for the time off).

Frank’s initial reaction was that there was no way this could work out.  He learned that he needs to not react with “no way” to events.  Instead, step back and figure out how it can be done.

Improvements were made to the system.  Who knows when or if a shark will actually get Julie.  But this time…they are ready!

Three things to ask yourself when facing a “Shark Attack”: 

• Does your organization have processes and systems in place to overcome events like these?
• Does your organization have any job duties, processes or systems that rely on one person or one piece of equipment?
• How can your leaders and organization increase its effectiveness when events like these occur?

If you need to test your systems and processes, contact our expert Guides.

Our expert Guides can help guide and work with your organization to increase the effectiveness at resolving problems from the bottom up, rather than the top down.  We also provide programs for the 3 Rs (Recruiting, Retaining, & Retiring your employees), along with other Human Resource tools, Strategic Planning, and Communication.  We have over 50 years’ combined experience in building strong and effective Leaders, Teams, and organizations to help you on your journey to success.

Your success is in plain sight; it just takes determination and action!  Contact us for your complimentary session by calling 800-786-4332, or email JSabatini@AppliedVisionWorks.com.  It only takes 30 minutes to get started!