I want all employees to be empowered to make continuous process improvements.  Everyone has hundreds of processes we do each day at home and at work. Many are outdated and simply needs changing.  I want my staff to recognize when a process is broken and needs to be changed. Why mail out 20,000 letters a quarter (many going to the same address) when an email will do? Why print drafts in color when black and white is fine? Maybe we need a new copier when paralegals are standing in line waiting for things to print? Why do we ask our [...]

“Team Building” and “Culture Change” have become the ultimate buzzwords these days. By now, I’m sure you are growing tired of thinking about these phrases. We all have specific changes that we need to make in our organizations, but those phrases have almost become cliche. We all want our teams to be working at full potential, efficient, learning, and happy to come to work each day. Just thinking and talking about team building and change is never enough. It is all about people. Your staff. The people who some days love you and other days hate you. The same people [...]

When our daughter was young, I was running an affordable housing consulting and development firm.  In those years, scanners were very new and cloud storage was just emerging. We and all of our business partners were using paper for everything.  Applications were often reams of paper thick!   I have a distinct memory of taking our daughter to a grand opening of an apartment building for permanent supportive housing targeting veterans leaving homelessness.  As we left the event, she very innocently told me that she was happy to know that I did more than use a copy machine. That was [...]

Productivity will be stalled when staff do not stay in their lane. You may be asking yourself, what is a lane and why do I care? Humor me and think of lanes as swim lanes.  Swimmers must stay in their lane or they will not swim their best and at worst be penalized.  At work, lanes are roles each staff person plays. The roles are important throughout an organization.  However, I think it is imperative that executive level staff know their role and keep to it. Why: -Communication gets questionable -Team comradery is weakened due to hurt feelings & perceived [...]

My name is Audra Hamernik.  I am an Urban Planner. I think planning rocks. But I also think planning helps Leaders do their best work. I also think it helps the Board do their best work. As a Leader that is hired by a Board of Directors, my highest priority is to have the board and staff in 100% agreement on what work should be completed and when it should be completed.   If we all agree on WHAT needs to be done and WHEN it is due, we truly have focus.  Without a strategic plan, having focus is highly [...]

One of the best things a Leader can have is a staff that tells the truth.  Typical meetings end, and then there is a second meeting at the watercooler where staff openly discusses about how they really feel.  Besides being a colossal waste of time, it is simply unproductive. Teams cannot move forward until this issue is resolved.   I have a few Rules of Engagement that we use at meetings.  None of these are new concepts. However, as a Leader, it is your job to encourage your employees to have conflicting opinions.  Author Patrick Lencioni calls it “mining for [...]