Taking your pulse

We have been into exercise and fitness for many years, but after seven children and 23 years of marriage, the “battle of the bulge” sometimes scores a victory. This year, Janel made a commitment to shed some unwanted poundage through a concerted exercise and eating regime. When the Gold’s Gym Body Success Challenge started, she gladly accepted the challenge and I became her coach.

In a typical business fashion, I created spreadsheets and researched Internet sites with calorie calculators that help quantify calorie input and output. Even with all the technology available to assist a fitness aficionado, the most basic component to monitor your exercise intensity is to take your pulse periodically to ensure that you are within certain parameters based on your age. There are numerous high-tech gadgets that can do this, but simply finding the pulse on your neck, counting the throbs for six seconds and multiplying by 10 will give you a rough estimate, plus or minus 5 beats per minute.

Once your pulse is determined, you can then accurately increase, decrease, or maintain your exercise intensity until you take your pulse again. Without knowing your pulse, you can only guess that your intensity level is correct.

In business, it is just as critical to monitor the pulse of your organization so you can make reliable and timely decisions. People issues are a constant dilemma that managers deal with, but many supervisors lack the experience or have been promoted without the proper training to know how to deal with their people when issues occur.

In many situations, managers are forced to deal with a major problem or a lawsuit that could have easily been avoided if a manger was regularly taking the pulse of the organization. The pulse may not be taken because the manager thinks things are fine and is unaware that a problem is brewing (oblivious), doesn’t know what to do and hopes the issue is resolved without her intervention (ignorance), or simply doesn’t care about the people issues and refuses to get involved (apathy).

I can tell you from past experience that some minor grievances may dissipate without dealing with them; however, all of them should be known and understood so the appropriate action or inaction can be taken. And this only happens if you regularly take the pulse of your company.

There are different ways you can do this, some informal and other formal. Regularly scheduled meetings with subordinates allow you to discuss matters that are on both of your minds. Some use an agenda to ensure that key points are covered in the meeting, while others leave the discussion open. Some managers require a periodic report to be sent that has specific topics to address. This is less personal, but it can give a supervisor a heads up on any pressing matters.

An informal management technique that first came to public notice in the book, In Search of Excellence, was MBWA, or Management By Walking Around. This approach is simply described by its title, and it allows a manager to see everything that is going on by walking around the organization, and it allows him to listen directly to the employees at impromptu moments. It is especially effective in organizations with many management layers because it permits all employees direct access to the boss. It can also generate high levels of spontaneous, creative synergy through the exchange of ideas.

Some managers abdicate their pulse-taking responsibility through an “open door policy” that allows them to comfortably sit in their office waiting for people to come to them with issues. This sometimes happens, but a lot of employees will hesitate to see their boss because they don’t want to be viewed as a troublemaker or they fear reprisal. Only after trust has been established will people feel free to walk through the open door and give you their pulse.

However you attempt to take the pulse of your organization, you must maintain confidentiality. One of my bosses had an open door policy he referred to as the “listening post”. At a prescribed time and place, any worker could visit with him and air their grievances. He would then summarize, through email to everyone, each meeting he had with specific individuals and the actions taken. This was his attempt to be more open and let everyone know what was going on, but it violated the principle of trust and confidence. After a few more “listening post” sessions, he was bewildered as to why no one showed up anymore.

Managing people is probably the most challenging aspect of an organization. It comes with a new set of challenges everyday, leaving even the most experienced manager in a quandary at times on how to solve a situation; however, by keeping a pulse on the environment, managers can help detect early signs before a full blown problem occurs. Just as there are many ways to take a heart pulse, managers may choose one or all of the methods above to help keep a pulse on those being managed in their organization.

By the way, for those interested, Janel has already lost 20 pounds since she started seven weeks ago and is halfway to the final weigh-in at Gold’s. Oops, gotta go now… it’s time to take Janel’s pulse.