Always Trust the People in The Field Closer to The Work, Not Staff

 

 

Always Trust the People in The Field Closer to The Work, Not Staff

By Dr. Tom DePaoli

 

See Leadership by Storytelling on Amazon my book about leadership

 

A headquarters of a large organization had some issues with certain inventory discrepancies. They developed a new report for the field to help correct the variabilities. The report design and requirements were developed by staff experts and clerks. I was asked to go to various field sites and show the workers the report, explain why it was being proposed and ask them for their opinion of the report. The workers in the field just exploded in criticism of the report, ripping it and mocking it in no uncertain terms. They laughed at the design and methods used in the report. They remarked that most workers would either ignore or “gun deck” or fake the report. I knew that I could not go back to headquarters with just criticism of the report and complaints. I decided to stay a few extra days and with a group of workers and redesign the report and make some suggestions.

When I returned to headquarters the staff was disappointed with the reaction, but once I showed them the suggested modification by the workers, most admitted that the field’s design and suggestions were better. They were incorporated in the newly designed report and it was well received in the field. Always trust the people in the field closer to the work, not staff.

 

Dr. Tom DePaoli, (Dr. Tom) is currently an independent management consultant, the Principal of Apollo Solutions, which does general business consulting in the human resources, supply chain and lean six sigma areas. His organization was self-founded in 1995. He retired as a Captain from the Navy Reserve. In other civilian careers, he was a supply chain and human resources executive with corporate purchasing turnaround experience and lean six sigma deployments. He has worked for over ten major companies and consulted for over fifty organizations throughout his career. Some of his consulting projects include: information systems projects, re-engineering organizations, transformation, e-procurement, e-commerce, change management, global sourcing and negotiating. His industry experience is in the chemical, paper, pharmaceutical, IT, automotive, government, consumer, equipment, services and consulting industries. He has been published extensively in journals, magazines and books. He is the author of eleven books all available on Amazon.  He has instructed at six education facilities in numerous roles. He is active in supporting the YMCA, Wounded Warrior, and the prevention of the bullying of children.

https://www.amazon.com/author/tomdepaoli    = Dr. Tom’s Amazon author’s page

http://www.apollosolutions.us  = website of Apollo Solutions his business

drtombooks.com  = more information on Dr. Tom’s books

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dr-thomas-depaoli/0/736/6b3/  = LinkedIn home page

 

Trust  people closer to the work not staff. Get out there and learn. #leadership #storytelling #leadershipadvice

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/always-trust-people-field-closer-work-staff-dr-thomas-tom-depaoli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contact Dr. Tom = thomasdepaoli@yahoo.com drtombooks.com for newsletter sign up https://drtombooks.com/contact/ My Books link: https://www.amazon.com/Tom-DePaoli/e/B003XSV1IQ