Jones Loflin, a nationally know
speaker, author and consultant, recently helped show
members of the Martin County business community that
“Herding Cats Is Not Impossible.”
CHARACTER COUNTS!, a program of the
United Way of Martin County, presented the business
forum on Oct. 20 at the Wolf High-Technology Center at
the IRCC Chastain Campus in Stuart.
The four-hour “Herding Cats”
seminar offered advice on how employers can maximize the
productivity of every worker and minimize the time lost
to personality issues.
One exercise illustrated the need
for clear direction – and what happens when workers do
not get clear instructions or communication. Attendees
were grouped into “balloon production teams,” assigned
to a quality control supervisor who could only say “This
is acceptable” or “This is not acceptable.” Teams were
left to guess how the balloons were supposed to be
presented to the supervisor, which led to much
frustration as supervisors repeatedly burst unacceptable
balloons.
When the time was up, the standards
were announced: Balloons had to have a string tied to
them. They had to be handed to the supervisor in the
worker’s left hand. No two balloons of the same color
could be handed to the supervisor consecutively.
Some groups produced only one
acceptable balloon, some produced as many as 22 in the
time allotted. No one ever figured out the rules; any
productivity was by accident. Even one of the groups who
produced the most balloons did so in a way that could be
de-motivating, as they discovered they did more steps in
the process than was necessary. “Imagine how the
production would change if the instructions were
communicated clearly at the start,” Loflin said.
During another exercise in group
dynamics, Loflin reminded the audience, “Remember that
in any group setting, there is always someone who is
passionate, arrogant or pushy. That can lead to the
group making the strongest, ‘wrongest’ decision.”
Loflin is co-author of the book,
“Juggling Elephants? Be the Ringmaster of Your Work and
Life.” Samples of his work are available at his Web
site,
www.jonesloflin.com.
CHARACTER COUNTS!, now in its tenth
year in Martin County, provides character-building
activities and projects in schools and civic
organizations. CC! presents motivational business
seminars and works to increase public awareness of the
importance of core ethical values.
For more information regarding
CHARACTER COUNTS!, please visit
www.charactercounts.net.
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