Week 6 Blog - Workplace Transformation

This week we were focused on skills and attributes that can build collaborative teams.  I think this week was especially relevant to my current role and I can definitely apply these concepts to my job.  Being able to recognize both positive and negative behaviors in your teammates is critical to building a strong team.  For example, I discussed how my co workers might have very different reactions to the building redesign for our corporate office.  In my discussion I mainly focused on the challenges employees will face when transitioning to one way of working (cubicles) to something entirely different (open space). 

I think it’s important to be extremely mindful of what I say about the new working environment.  A lot of my co workers make negative comments, poke fun at the idea of collaborating, and say how much they are dreading it.  Even if I am not very fond of the newly redesigned building myself, I don’t want to go around telling people because I might be perceived as someone who doesn’t want to collaborate and is resistant to change.  I don’t think people realize how critical what you say and how you act in times of significant change is.  I think a lot of what we have learned in this course reinforces the importance of self awareness.  Your words and actions can influence the people around you, and can also shape their perceptions of you.   This is really just human nature and I don’t want to be put into the bucket of people who are associated with being negative at work.    I can definitely think of five-ten people who causally said they think it’s a horrible idea, unproductive, and an invasion of privacy.  

The reality is that these people have to change and get on board or they will be forced out of the organization.  Or even worse, if they stay in the organization, they will be perceived as unhappy and that they don’t do well with change.  This will continue to negatively impact their reputation as an employee at the company.  That might result in them not getting a promotion down the roadm or not chosen to work on a specific project because of their percieved attitude.  Being open to change, new ideas and ways of working is very important.  I think that during this time of transition, I can point out some of the positives of the workplace transformation and really show my leadership skills.  “Success at work starts with positive perceptions” (Garfinkle, 2011).  By maintaining a positive attitude during the transition, it can also influence others to either keep their opinions to themselves, or better yet also begin to see some positives.  In order to build an effective team, I need to focus on motivating others to want to work in this new environment and being open to the benefits it can bring.  We know that the transformation is underway and isn’t going to stop, and so preparing for it now will hopefully ease the transition when it hits my team specifically. 

References:

Garfinkle, J. A. (n.d.). Transforming Perceptions: 10 Steps to Managing the Way You Are Perceived at Work. Retrieved February 17, 2017, from              http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2011/10/transforming-perceptions-10-steps-to.html

Week 4

Week 4 blog

In week four’s work, we learned about leadership in the context of a company’s business.  I enjoyed thinking about this especially because the concepts can be applied to both big and small businesses.  Since I work for such a large organization like Verizon, it was interesting to consider smaller brands in my discussion for the week like Warby Parker.  I like to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the brands.  Verizon is a brand that has been successful for so long, but more recently has been struggling to stay ahead of competition and grow its market share.  With the smaller carriers like T-mobile and Spring really starting to gain momentum with building their customer bases since they have built out their 4G LTE networks.  A few years ago, Verizon has a clear differentiation with its superior, faster, larger network and therefore had the competitive advantage.  Marketing is becoming more and more important as we start to see very aggressive marketing plots on television.  For example, Sprint has a great commercial out that really stresses price as the differentiator and asks consumers to consider why pay twice as much for a one percent network difference.  It’s a really good strategy and is creating a lot of internal pressure at Verizon to improve.  This is where leadership comes in and this week we learned about the critical success factors for aligning a company’s business plan to its vision. 

Newer companies, like Warby Parker have the opportunity to build a vision that is relevant to what consumers care about today.  An inexpensive, eco-friendly option and also has a great customer experience.  For Verizon, it is a much harder challenge to sort of recreate and rework the company’s vision for where they want to be in the future.  All of the recent attention is being emphasized on the customer experience and improving customer service.  Verizon is not known for having great customer experience, which therefore will require some significant change, new skills and new leaders that can help transform the business.  Furthermore, the new leaders not only have to create the vision and business plans to get there, but also have to sell it in to all the employees that work there and get them to get on board.  This is not an easy task, especially for a company who is so used to doing things a certain way and being successful for so many years.  Over the past three years, my company has been changing dramatically and this is in large part due to the new leadership team.  We have a new chief marketing officer who has a put forward a new vision for Verizon.  The transition has not been easy for many employees.  Personally, it has been fine for me because I am new to the organization myself and so am not as vested to the way things used to be.  Just this past week, for the first time Verizon employees were notified that their bonuses for the year will not be at the target.  This was a big surprise and maybe the first indication that things really need to be done differently.  This was a wakeup call for many employees that they need to get on board with the changes or they will be left behind.  The company has been working very hard at updating its core purpose and operating principles to be more relevant in today’s digital world.  I do believe that it is staying true to its original core values.  For example, the internal credo was not changed and will continue to help guide the company as it continues to evolve.  “We believe integrity is the core of who we are” (Verizon Credo, 2017).  I believe this holds true and that the senior leaders at the company keep this in mind when making big decisions that will impact our employees, customers, and shareholders. 

Reference

Verizon Credo. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2017, from https://www.verizon.com/about/sites/default/files/Verizon-Credo.pdf