#Weeknotes 72 (3 May) — Indicators of effective organisations, visual timeline for LITUK test, and habits of authentic people

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Work wise:

This week I’ve been thinking about indicators for an effective organisation. What prompted this was the launch of a big programme in our client’s organisation on Monday. It marked a great milestone for the organisation as it was something that’s been in motion for a year. It deserves a celebration.

But something felt off.

Monday came, and it didn’t feel different from any other work day. Some people in the team nearly forgot it was the launch day of that programme. There were no shoutouts or news on the wider internal channels. It was business as usual. How odd.

While that programme of work sits outside our team, it’s not so removed from what we’re doing and there are overlaps.

It revealed to me how siloed the current ways of working are across the organisation. A large programme of work that is one of the key business priorities, would and should require the support of colleagues across the organisation. Where’s that collective sense of working towards something important and bringing it across the finish line? It seems only those directly involved in the programme are feeling the rush. Surely it doesn’t and shouldn’t have to be this way?

Part of being an effective organisation means:

• everyone in the organisation is clear and aligned on how their work contributes to the overall mission
• there’s an understanding that working together is more effective and impactful than alone
• there’s a desire to support key areas of work without needing to be part of the core teams.

It should mean that when a large priority programme of work gets launched, everyone within the organisation will, to an extent, feel that they’ve contributed in some way and are proud.

But the reality in this instance was that the teams working on the programme were overwhelmed with the workload and expectations from ‘above’ that led them to feel if others came in to support, it would be too much to ‘manage’ and they would lose control in the process. The fear that they wouldn’t be able to deliver the work that they’re responsible for prohibited them from expanding outwards and seeking valuable support.

Of course, since I’m not part of that core team, the above is only conjecture. It does explain why when our team reaches out to link up our work, it’s often met with hesitation. The desire to work collaboratively often gets pitted against the desire to just get the work ‘done’. It shouldn’t be an either-or.

What enabled this to happen?

The effectiveness of an organisation is tied to the way it’s structured. An organisation’s structure dictates and shapes default ways of working, for better or for worse. If an organisation is showing signs of ‘pain’ such as:

• Teams are not clear what other teams in the organisations are doing (lack of visibility)
• There’s not a lot of overlap in work between teams (lack of collaboration)
• People are burned out or disengaged (lack of motivation and empowerment)
• It’s unclear who’s accountable or responsible if things go wrong (lack of clarity and accountability)
• How colleagues talk about priorities seems to differ across the organisation (lack of alignment)

It probably points to that the existing structure isn’t working and that a more radical change and shift in thinking is required. I suppose people use big words like ‘transformation’ for this.

Effective organisation transformation is hard. I feel this first-hand. There’s not ‘one way’ that an organisation can follow to transform into a more effective organisation. This is because each organisation is unique. There’ll be inherently things that just can’t be changed which need some navigating. But there is always a way. It may be slow, painful, and hard, but it’ll be worth it if the organisation can just persevere through it until the end.

Reminds me of my first 6 months as a mom which I’m trying to forget!

Life wise:

My main focus this week is to prep for the Life in the UK (LITUK) test I’ve booked for Tomorrow! Time to see if my 3 weeks of studying paid off.

I’ve created a visual timeline on Miro to help me retain some of the less-engaging information (aka History). I got really into it. I suppose I’m a visual learner like many others. Having a visual historical timeline based on the study book helps me make better connections between various monarchs, prime ministers, key wars, and notable dates.

A screenshot of the timeline I made to help me study for my LITUK test

I’m quite happy with how it’s turning out. While it won’t help me memorise everything, it certainly helps me retain a lot more than a text-based study guide.

I admit I ended up spending a much longer time on it than planned. But I figured that if I do a good enough job, I can also share it with others who are in a similar situation and may find it helpful.

I’ve shared the initial drafts with a couple of friends who found it immediately helpful.

I love creating things that are useful for me but also can benefit others. You can find the latest version of my LITUK visual timeline here.

Things I came across:

I quite enjoyed this article about the habits of authentic people that my partner shared with me and the older boys this week.

Here’s the top liner 10 traits from the article:

1. They help others to be their authentic selves.
2. They let go of negative people.
3. They express their true feelings and opinions, even when they’re not popular.
4. They are confident.
5. They prefer deep conversations to meaningless chatter.
6. They don’t take anyone’s advice without evaluating it carefully first.
7. They don’t complain about their problems.
8. They’re internally motivated.
9. They make the best out of any situation.
10. They don’t get stressed or upset when someone doesn’t like them.

I agree with all the mentioned points and I admit I need to work on point 3 and 10. I think I am a bit self-conscious and care too much about what others think and how things reflect on me. It takes energy for me to resist my default to please others and be agreeable. I’m hoping by working on this area more intentionally, I can shift that default and be that person who can be more honest and not get stressed when others don’t like me for being me.

Until next week!