Sunday, August 10, 2014

Does the actual experience at your organisation reflect a supporting culture?

One of my favourite books that I've read recently is True Professionalism by David H. Maister. In it, he references another of his books, Managing The Professional Service Firm, about asking junior professionals about their experience on work assignments.

I think this list of questions is generally applicable even outside of professional service firms to assess whether the body language of an organisation actually indicates a supporting culture, independent of what might be claimed:

Is it usually true that...
  1. When work is assigned, you understand thoroughly what is expected of you
  2. You understand how your tasks fit into the overall objectives of the project, engagement, organisation
  3. You are kept informed about the things that you need to know in order to do your job properly
  4. You receive good coaching to help improve performance
  5. You receive prompt feedback on your work, good or bad
  6. You feel that you are a member of a well-functioning team
If you flip this around, we can use this as a checklist for when you take on work:
  1. What is expected of me for this work?
  2. How do my tasks fit into overall objectives?
  3. Do I need to know anything else in order to do this job properly?
  4. Who will support me to help improve my performance?
  5. How will I get feedback on whether the work is good or bad?
  6. Who will be part of my team and how will we interact?

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