The root cause of any frustration tells a story. In a coaching session with Susie and her top managers, she vented her frustration with staff not doing what she needs them to do specifically tracking their billable time. Susie had done the billing for May and written off thousands of dollars of unbillable time! She continued to vent that rather than relying on their inaccurate practice management system, she and one of her staff spend hours manually billing clients each month. In resignation, Susie said wanted staff to, at the very least, look at a client’s budget. Susie also pointed out that the two managers were not recording their billable time.
From a coaching perspective, Susie is being a technician, creating a workaround rather than leading. As a coach, this is the perfect opportunity to help Susie grow as a leader of her company and uncover a root cause that most certainly shows up in all aspects of business. While the managers stared with uncertainty and Susie fumed, I seized the moment to direct their attention. I was curious, so I asked the managers why they were not recording their time, perhaps this would help us to understand others on the staff.
They said the practice management system was too complicated and time-consuming to use, that they were required to record their time also on a Google Doc, so it was duplication. Fair enough but that is not the cause of the problem. Focusing on the problem as it appears and finding a solution at this level never solves a problem, so we had to dig deeper. The practice management system is just a tool but for what purpose?
The frustration level increased, so I knew we had to get off the topic of recording time, so I asked, “Why do we record time?” The answer was to bill clients correctly. We already know it also has to do with the business getting paid for the work they do so I asked, “What does it mean to bill clients correctly?” To charge clients for the work they expect us to do and not do work beyond that (not billable). Understanding why we have a system, the result that it is meant to produce is key to its success. I saw their eyes start to get clearer, but we were not at the cause.
I asked what is the problem they are trying to solve? The staff is providing more hours than the client expects, so it is unbillable. When I asked what the company policy was to guide staff, I heard crickets. Dead silence. They stared at each other. They realized they did not have a policy. They realized they did not have policies at all. So how do staff know what is expected? Well, they just tell them and expect them to know. Root Cause!
A policy was needed, so we started one right then and there. It took some back and forth, room for exceptions, etc. but they came up with this draft policy “To bill the client fairly, for the company to be paid for the work performed by providing the services agreed upon by the customer and staying within the approved budget. Any additional service or hours required must be by agreement by a client in advance of any change in the service and budget.” They were thrilled with their ability to state this so clearly, but I had to ask. So where do staff find the agreement with the client specifying the services and budget? Crickets. They had meant to get written agreements in place, but the budgets are in the practice management system.
The reason staff is not doing what Susie wants is because they do not have a way to do so. There was no policy to direct them or the information to follow. Root Cause – no leadership (policy) and no system (processes to implement the policy).
We created a plan:
- Write out the draft policy
- Present policy to staff and what it is meant to accomplish (why it is needed).
- Listen to their thoughts about implementing the policy
- What do they need to do their job according to this policy?
- How will this change what they do or how they do it?
- What processes are necessary to implement the policy?
- What resources, information, etc. are needed to perform the process?
- Assign manager to draft, update and keep current the processes that implement a system of fair billing for the client and the company.
- Identify where this and all documentation be stored for easy access.
- Create a plan to train and mentor staff to be successful in implementing this process
- Create a schedule for the assigned manager to measure the success of the policy and the procedures to implement it.
- Determined the measurements to track.
By developing this first policy and the processes needed to create a system to implement the policy, this team has learned a new and important role of a leader (policy) and manager (process and staff mentoring). When we are frustrated with employees, it is always useful to step back and assess if they have the policy, processes, systems and tools to do their work. Do they have a clear understanding why it matters? Do you have a way to give them what they need to be successful?
The not so surprising root cause always begins with the leader. If we start there, we can solve a frustration in a sustainable way.