Push and Pull Strategy

“I have already sent an email to him, if he is not responding what can I do?”

“I have already asked him to that, but he is seating on the paper.”

“I can not do it unless he doesn’t send me the details.”

All above statements are common in corporate culture. Email is the best excuse given by most of the people. “I have sent an email, but he is not responding”. Just stating this, we skip the responsibility. By stating this, people throw onus on another person. Now a day, people are so used to emails that they ignore personal interaction. They take lunch together, they gossip together, they have fun activities together, but when they have to interact on professional front, they go for email. On same subject, they have multiple mails. But when issue is not resolved nobody comes out from the cubicle or workstation and speaks with the person seating next to him. This is a “technologically blindness”.

But then where is the accountability? Surprisingly people survive in the organization. This doesn’t always work. Circumstances can be changed anytime and bosses are not always good to protect you.

Above behavior is purely an unprofessional. Lack of professionalism may result into end of your career.  There are different personalities in the organization and getting work done from them is a real skill. The best way is to teach the “Pull and Push strategy”. Pull and Push strategy is used in the process to make them more simple and effective.  On assembly line one table pushes the material to another table if jobs are done and another table pulls the job if they need more. If both tables don’t understand each others requirement, then the assembly line would stop. Both tables have to work in harmony and with collaboration. If push is more than pull, the pulling table will be under pressure to push it another next table and vice versa. It really works well (peer pressure!)     

If we use this principle in our day to day life, your team productivity and accountability will improve.

For example, if somebody sends mail and other person does not send the respond, he really pulls the response, by taking follow ups and putting peer pressure. If required escalating the matter to his senior.  In another case if another person can pull the response and even push the response. Sometimes it also forces harmony and collaboration. It works well.

You can take out your team from technological blindness, by training them on pull and push strategy. Following are some strategies to improve on this.

1)   Coach your team on accountability if you are the leader. Accountability is the attitude where employee gets the work done in any case. At the end of the day, results matters. He can achieve the results by any means.

2)   Build the right attitude by being more communicative. If your emails communication has more than 3 REs, it is the right time to come out the space and have a direct communication.

3)   You are in the organization for achieving your and organizational goals. In professional life, peer pressure works. It helps both parties. Always build peer pressure by taking follow ups, pressuring on timelines and if required putting the issue on the table of higher ups.

4)   Push people, push paper, push an idea, push your uncompleted task, push communication

5)   At other side pull people, pull paper, pull and idea, pull the task completed and pull communication.

The only challenge is how to be more pushy and puller.

Why the cat crosses your way?

“If cat crosses your way, it is bad.” Our mind is conditioned with this superstition. There was one family staying in small village. The family had a lovely cat. The only son in the family got married. It was the time to bring bride at home. Mother thought that it is not good if cat crosses the bride on first day. She takes the cat and hides it under a big container. Due to suffocation cat dies. Mother realized that something is wrong. She notices that cat has stop crying. She checks it. When she sees died cat, she scares. It is even worse to have died cat in home, when bride comes. She takes the cat and goes out hurriedly to through it away. Exactly barat comes; bride sees that her mother-in-law is throwing the dies cat. She thinks that it must be the tradition of family to welcome the bride with dead cat.

After few years, it was a time for daughter in law. When her son gets married, she kills the cat and welcomes the bride.

We are like this daughter in law. There so many things in life we do blindly without understanding the logic. There are lots of practices in the organization which are carried forward without any question. When you ask the reason for doing something, they do not have answers. They say, “We do it in this way only.” There are many practices and customs which are not even relevant in modern days, but still that are there. Nobody knows why they are following that.

It is like government official asking the certificate from pensioner endorsing that pensioner is alive.  

“Why?”

“Because we need it?”

“But, why?”

“It is a Rule”

The main reason may be we do not ask the question, “why”. Why you follow it? What is the logic? What is the outcome? If we do not follow the same, what will be consequences?

I have seen in one organization the out door duty approval process. There were two- page form with approval of supervisor (Recommended by), line manager (Sanctioned by), functional manager (Approved by), HR manager (Noted) and finally accounts manager (for expense payment).

“Why do you require so many approvals? Supervisor and HR signature is enough.”

 “This is a practice.” I got the answer. The reason was everybody wanted to show their power by signing the document.

We, HR professionals are very expert in designing different procedures, forms. Can we just ask the question? “Why do we need it? Is this process adding some value? Can we make it online and save the non-value added time?

The question is who will ties the bell to the cat? (You know, after all most of the things happen around are for showing the importance and power)