Moving Words – Success Tools Part I
Timothy Brady
“This is the Eleventh Hour…and we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” – Hopi Elder
Say what? More simply, whatever economic arena in which you find your moving company currently situated, the only people really going to come to your rescue are yourself and those whom you employ or contract. It’s a more philosophical way to say the helping hand you’ve been looking for is at the end of your own shirt sleeve.
As the manager of your company, no one knows all the details as well as you do – its history, mistakes that have been made and the triumphs that occurred as well. And no one is in a better position to deal with the challenges your operation currently is facing than those in the trenches alongside you.
The people in the trenches daily often have remarkable insights. From the person who sweeps the floors and dumps the trash baskets to the veteran driver with 30 years’ experience, they’re going to know the challenges, problems, and solutions simply from being in their positions. Don’t let all that experience and knowledge go untapped.
One highly effective means to find solutions for challenges your company is facing or to move your operation to the next level is an all-hands-on-deck brainstorming session.
Brainstorming is a very creative problem-solving technique. Its goal is generating as many new and innovative ideas as possible, to solve a challenge or set steps for meeting a goal. It should take place in an informal, relaxed setting, where participants can share their thoughts freely, build upon others’ ideas, and explore the possibilities.
For a brainstorming session to be effective, every idea must be welcome. All participants must have equal time to share ideas and suggestions, no matter how wacky or outlandish they may seem. Only by brainstorming freely can the best solutions be found.
Tips for conducting a brainstorming session:
Define your topic or problem
Start your brainstorming session by introducing a problem, question or topic for discussion. For focus, ask your group a specific question regarding the challenge or goal you want to achieve. Examples could be establishing best practices guidelines for when a pack/load crew enters a shipper’s house. Or how salespersons need to communicate the details of a move to the Move Coordinator. Or the need to lower damage claims. Or developing better communications between all departments.
Planning your brainstorming session is key to its success. Set clear boundaries for the brainstorming session by including time constraints and budgets. Define key terms, review what solutions you’ve tried to implement, and relay any other important information participants need to provide potential solutions.
Keep it short – and simple
The longer your brainstorming session runs, the more likely participants will lose focus. Instead of planning a long meeting where fatigue sets in, ask participants to come prepared with a few ideas to ‘prime the pump’. Limit your sessions: 15–30 minutes to allow for maximum productivity and prevent burnout.
In addition to scheduling a shorter session, consider limiting your brainstorming participants: 7 to 10 individuals, which allows for a variety of ideas. If necessary, have multiple sessions with different participants.
Have the right tools and organization
The owner or manager needs to be the facilitator for each session. Your job, therefore, will be to keep the session moving along and make sure everyone’s given ample opportunity to present their ideas and solutions.
Assign someone to be ‘the scribe’ at each group’s table, to write down each idea with a marker on a large flip chart. Have the challenge or goal written on the top of each page. Use an easel so everyone can see the results. These flip chart pages will be a valuable resource in visualizing the solutions and ideas the session developed.
Place a writing tablet and pen in front of every participant so they can write down ideas and solutions as they think of them and can present them when it’s their turn.
Focus on quantity
By focusing on quantity over quality, your brainstorming session will produce many ideas that lead to the best one, rather than waiting for the “perfect” idea before anyone says anything. Quantity allows participants to explore divergent, innovative thinking.
Collect ideas quickly; don’t get bogged down in details. Limit participants to providing one or two sentence ideas and solutions. Schedule a later discussion to build on the ideas that seem to fit your needs. Keep in mind, a brainstorming session is where ideas and solutions for goals begin. It’s the start of moving your company to the next level, and where the hard work is really initiated.
“No idea should be shot down before it’s proposed, and no voice should be more important than another.” Unknown
