Conference 7.286::digital

    You'be been fairly "reliable" and "consistent" thoroughout the time
    I've known you... remember the many times I "interrupted" your meetings
    to make you aware of possible conflicts if meetings did not start or
    finish "on time"? You were always so good and cheerful at it that it 
    was never a problem to keep puntuality at a good level...
    
    Morale is very low these days and it sure reflects in all areas... I
    wish I could do something to cheer people up boost our dishappearing
    or damaged morale...
    
    Signed "no name" 
    (because you know who I am!)

         Ref: 0. and 1,
         It's refreshing to read your Basenote and reply. I appreciate very
    much your constructive ( as opposed to restrictive )motivation. Would
    every in the corporation would either commit or quit. Have we always 
    been a company of "tree-huggers" ? Have we always been so risk averse,
    that many of us are afraid to say no ?
         Many of us work in environments where we're actually afraid to
    ask for the help and support so crucial to doing our assigned tasks.
    So sad to say,but alas, for all too many of us,painfully true.
         Again, thank you for posting what may be a very clear and simple
    solution to all that ails this company.
    
                                                     Peace,
                                                     -RAM- 

    Patty (.1), You seem to sum it all up quite accurately.  I really
    needed to see I'm not alone in this.  I just had a branch manager and
    sales rep do the "run up one side of me and down the other" routine
    over an order that was extrememly overdue, and I couldn't give him a
    waybill number.  And all I was doing was calling to let them know that
    his order had infact shipped, how and when.  And was called "no longer
    creditable" because I didn't have the exact waybill number at hand.  
    
    Quite frankly, it will be a cold day in (you know where) before I go
    out of my way again to provide shipping info to anyone!!  This is NOT
    part of my job description, I was trying to do him a favor, and also
    the folks in CXO who have been running straight out for a couple weeks
    now, trying to meet end of quarter shipments by playing middleman. Next
    time I'll just give him the name of the folks in CXO and let the branch
    manager it out all by himself.
    
    Oh and what about the meetings you *know* you should have been
    attending, but someone "forgot" to invite you, and you have to settle
    for second hand info, after the fact?!?!?!?
    
    Hi Patty....!!
    
    
    Lyn Tripp

  I believe that honoring commitments (keeping our word) of all types 
  should be part of the way we do business. I was disappointed when the 
  Digital Business Ethics Principles had only one mention of meeting our 
  commitments and that was to business partners. Is it all right to 
  renege on commitments to customers and employees?
  
  When we lack discipline internally regarding when meetings begin (and 
  end), it seems to carry over to the way we deal with customers: From 
  meetings with customers where Digital people show up late (or not at 
  all) to broken promises about products. 
  
  While each of us needs to do our part to make Anker's  "Digital, the 
  company you can depend upon" happen, I think a stronger statement in the 
  Ethics Principles is also in order to show the seriousness of keeping all 
  commitments. 

Assuming we all agreed to "try this for a week", I expect we'd still have
problems, based on the fact that our commitments aren't always compatible
with each others.

I may have a commitment to ensure that a meeting concludes by a predetermined
end time, while someone else may have a commitment to ensure that a specific
outcome is reached, regardless of the time it takes, etc.

-Jack

    RE - base note and .1 - this is SO refreshing to see.  This is one of
    my biggest pet peeves.  It's such basic stuff - living up to
    commitments and following through on such.  I iterate this to my 4 and
    6 year old daily.  Then - I come to work and have to deal with people
    who don't seem to know what a commitment is.
    
    I agree that this is one of our biggest problems as a company and how
    we deal with our customers.  It's really very simple - only commit what
    you can be wholly responsible for.  Customers appreciate honesty and
    integrity.  We CAN'T do everything all the time - we CAN be honest ALL
    THE TIME.  Commitment both internally and with our customers definitely
    could be improved in this company - I plan on doing my part to improve
    in this area...
    

I have found it very difficult (read: intensely painful) to practice
a philosophy of saying yes when I mean yes and no when I mean no
in an organization whose management believes (states as fact, no less!)
that there is no right or wrong, there are no absolutes, and everything
is shades of grey.

There are those who would have you believe that by practicing consistent
ethics, competence, and determination that eventually, by persevering
you would succeed.

The premise that eventually others would come around to practicing 
consistent ethics and commitment when they saw others doing it is based
on the faulty expectation that you are dealing with rational, honest
individuals capable of recognizing and owning up to their mistakes. 


A bad organization can bleed the determination from even the best. 


I, like Sissiphus, tire of pushing the rock uphill.

    Low morales resulted from poor leadership/management.  Yes, it is
    individual's problem.  However, when the majority do not fulfill their
    commitment, the leadership needed to be checked.  When I was working
    at Boeing, we had a rule that in any meeting whoever is the last to
    enter without pre-justification has to bring snacks  no cheaper than 
    $10.00 for the next meeting.  It was enforced so well that since nobody
    was late so the senior manager was buying snacks < $5.00 for every meeting.
    
    Good leadership can bring up the team spirit and that is one of the
    reason people need managers for.

    This great discussion reminds me of a couple quotes that I find I say
    to myself at appropriate times . . .

    "Quality meetings begin on time."  (A former manager set the standard. 
    From then on, all group members were repeating that phrase whenever
    anyone entered the room after the meeting time.  Peer pressure does
    work sometimes.  I think punctuality is all about commitment and
    respect for the other meeting attendees.)

    "My life works in direct proportion to the commitments that I make and
    keep."

    "If it is to be, it is up to me."  (Corollary:  "The buck stops here.") 
    I find when something affects me that's beyond my control that I have
    to work up the chain and my manager would rather ignore, I don't let
    him off the hook.  I give him a gentle reminder everyone so often to
    let him know that it's REALLY important to me (even if it isn't to
    him).
    
    Let's make a difference!
    
    Pete

>Assuming we all agreed to "try this for a week", I expect we'd still have
>problems, based on the fact that our commitments aren't always compatible
>with each others.
>
>I may have a commitment to ensure that a meeting concludes by a predetermined
>end time, while someone else may have a commitment to ensure that a specific
outcome is reached, regardless of the time it takes, etc.

How were these commitments reached, and with whom?
Resolving crossed commitments may require a meeting, or some higher level
executive action.

One rule of good meetings is NOT TO HAVE ONE until everyone knows:

  1) what is to be discussed 
  2) why it needs to be discussed 
  3) what will need to be decided before you can know you're done

- tom]

    
    Re: .10
    
    You're quite right, but Jack brings up a good point.  We may at times
    become angry with others when it appears they haven't met what WE
    think their commitments are.  Without all getting real clear on who
    is committed to what we may be just tilting at windmills.
    
    Anyone interested may want to contact Ron Schaefer (HYLNDR::SCHAEFER)
    about the Contextual Management Workshop.  I is very much about how
    to be personally effective, how to work together, and, among perhaps
    a host of other things, the role of commitment in the workplace.
    
    Steve
    

    .02 on meetings.
    
    The reason MEETINGS seem to be such a problem at Digital is because
    we have FAR TO MANY OF THEM!  In my 6 years at Digital I have been
    to so many "mandatory" meetings of "extreme importance" it boggles 
    my mind!  As it turns out, these meetings, for the most part, 
    were an exercise by some folks that thought it was time for a meeting.
    The "could care less" attitude which leads to tardiness and a lack of
    interest is because so often meetings turn out to be a waste of time.
    
    In my brief career at Digital I had a manager that would ask these
    questions before calling a meeting and at the beginning of a meeting:
    
    Why are we having a meeting?  
    Why is it important to discuss this?
    What value will be added to Digital because of this meeting?
    How much time should be spent meeting based on the value level?
    Who REALLY needs to attend?
    
    After the meeting he would ask:
    
    Was this a productive use of time?
    
    We eliminated a monthly meeting for my sales unit because it was
    determined that we were only meeting because sales units "always"
    have unit meetings.  
    
    He made it abundantly clear that meetings would start on time and
    end on time.  Breaks if needed would be short.  The time given for
    breaks was strictly enforced.  If you were late he would interupt
    the meeting and announce your "LATE arrival". ( It is amazing how
    effective a little public humiliation and embarrassment is in
    curing chronic lateness.)  Guest speakers were held to the same
    standards.  If late, they forfeited their time.  Guest speakers
    were given a 2 minute warning to close.  Several speakers were
    cut off wether they were finished or not.  
    
    The point is this manager was THE exception.    
    
    
    
     
    
                                   

    re .12
    
    I'll bet he was ont of the best managers dec ever had - and he probably
    got transitioned or left the company on his own!
    
    Problem with dec - it's easier to become a senior manager in dec, than
    it is to become a senior operator/technician/enginere/janitor.
    [period!]
    There are absolutelyt no standards that mgr.s are held accountable for,
    and no pre-requisite experience/education. If you screwup somewhere in
    a technical environment then the only option to get you otu of the way
    is to send you into the "management track". DEC has done this for years
    and now the payback has begun. And well we all nkow what payback can
    be....
    

   The school that my sons attend has a different theme every school
   year.  This year the theme is on punctuality and promptness.  Every
   student had to learn the "definitions" for these words.
   
   	punc-tu-al-i-ty (n.): Valuing other people's time.
   
   

    Several years ago, a friend taught me this:

    "You're never on time for a meeting -- you're either early, or late."

    I strive to be early these days.

    					andrew

I have for years struggled to remember appointments. They just seem to slip
right out of my head. I tried several time management systems. What finally
worked for me was to get an electronic scheduler that BEEPS to let me know
when it's time for me to go. Now the only self-discipline required is to
record appointments as soon as they are made, and go when it tells me to.

It also has a nice side benefit. If there is a meeting that I think will 
probably run over (based on my knowledge of the subject matter or the 
attendees) I set an alarm to go off at an appropriate time during the meeting.
Then it's "Oops, gotta run, I have something I have to get to." Sometimes
it can be enough just to say that and then say "But this is more important,
I can stay another couple of minutes" and thinks pick up from there. I don't
do this often, but it can be a great way to get out of meetings that
aren't accomplishing anything.

Want to learn how to keep meetings on track, and keep yourself on track? Try
Toastmasters. While the primary focus is on building your public speaking
abilities, a strong secondary focus is on running efficient meetings and
learning how to rein in those who take them off in the wrong direction.

    Slight, proud, chuckle here in Northwood, NH - & if you want to get
    involved in Toastmaster's in MKO just drop me a line & I'll be
    delighted to introduce you (I'm VP Education in that club).  Feedback
    has been I lead meetings far better than prior to investing time in TM
    AND that I still keep it fun (ie: I've hopefully NOT erred on the side
    of "no fun is an effective meeting").
    
    Audrey

    Anker, you've reminded me of a severe irritation that (in my mind at
    least) is closely related.  It's a high frequency kind of what I like
    to call "managerial scrap and rework":  *changing* commitments to meet.
    
    I used to work for a manager who had this habit real bad.  But I simply
    refused to go along.  If my manager said "clear your calendar, I want
    us all to meet at x time" I would say "I've promised to make a
    presentation to such and such a group at x time;  how important is it
    really that I compromise my dependability in this case?"  I did not
    do this cavalierly--but at the same time, I believe that people should
    be able to take me at my word.  Even one person.  It's bad enough that
    I sometimes screw up my calendar and fail someone by error:  I don't 
    need to fail anyone on purpose!
    
    I got away with it.  I believe that the main reason I did was the
    obvious value in what I was doing:  avoiding whatever scrap and rework
    that I could avoid.  My manager didn't like my refusal to just ask
    "how high" when requested to jump.  But my motive got respect.
    
    These things are far from trivial in their effects, although each
    instance in itself is fairly trivial.  Being on time, sticking to
    prior commitments, communicating when delayed--they send a clear
    message:  you can trust my word.
    
    And because I insist on being worthy of trust, I pause before I
    promise anything to anybody to ask myself:  can I really deliver
    on this, despite the normal abnormalities of real life?
    
    It's usually not a long pause--I think it's seldom long enough to
    be noticed.  But it's the difference between supporting Digital's
    dependability, and contributing to Digital's corruption.
    
    If I am not willing to pay the price so that I am worthy of trust in a
    small, easy thing like showing up where I said I would, when I said I
    would:  why would anyone trust me for something *really* important?
    
    If I am not willing to pay the price so that a meeting I call will take
    place when I said it will where I said it will;  if I "play with" my
    calendar as if my requests to have people meet with me were of no
    real importance:  why would anyone trust me to manage something
    *really* difficult?
    
    And if I show up for the meeting I called without a clear purpose 
    and a plan for how to reach it:  why would anyone trust me to
    generate a clear purpose for a project or an organization and have a
    plan to achieve it?
    
    We all judge people by their *small* actions:  the ones we view as
    not being consciously manipulated, and therefore revealing of their
    fundamental nature.  If our meetings can't start on time, if we can't
    make a commitment to a meeting and stick to it, if we can't make a
    commitment to an organization structure and stick to it:  nothing
    works, not at small scale and not at large scale.  We have taken
    a stand for undependability, and we will get what we stood for.
    
    Reminded by Anker's note, I will redouble my efforts to be dependable
    in small things.  Thanks Anker!
    					Russ

Re .18:

>    We all judge people by their *small* actions:  the ones we view as
>    not being consciously manipulated, and therefore revealing of their
>    fundamental nature.  If our meetings can't start on time, if we can't
>    make a commitment to a meeting and stick to it, if we can't make a
>    commitment to an organization structure and stick to it:  nothing
>    works, not at small scale and not at large scale.  We have taken
>    a stand for undependability, and we will get what we stood for.

The strongest indictment of what is perhaps our greatest problem that 
I've seen in this notesfile. Russ's contention: our very support of an
aberrant behavior has so fundamentally corrupted our "sociological laws
of physics" -- that any action we take no longer means anything. Not a
pleasant thought.

Students of the Bible should have a field day quoting the many verses
that touch on this very concept.

    Of course, meetings that go more than 1 hour shouldn't. If an issue
    can't be resolved within minutes, then the factors affecting that issue
    haven't been fully researched and documented. If too many issues come
    up, then things aren't being resolved outside of meetings, and this
    should be addressed as a seperate issue.
    
    And the biggest problem with DEC meetings, is the amount of time and
    effort spent by middle management presenting their case to their
    superiors to continue to justify their existence, or the existence of a
    project.
    
    Peter Q.