Challenging the Status Quo
Evaluate and Question
"Commitment to Excellence is to challenge the status-quo constantly for betterment"
- Venkateswarlu Cheemalakonda -
Some people are always looking for opportunities to improve their way of working. They lead with the mindset that everything they deliver and how it is delivered can be improved. Other people accept the current way of working as a given. Why would you fix something that is not broken? And as with many things, the right approach is somewhere in the middle.
Evaluating and questioning the current ways of working might lead to improvements that make your work life more meaningful and rewarding and less frustrating. It can also reduce workload and stress. Think of issues and challenges that you come across regularly. Would your work life not be better if you could get these issues and challenges out of the way? Think about activities you do that, in your opinion, do not add any value to the customer nor to the organization. Wouldn’t you want to replace these activities for more meaningful ones?
Reading this and looking at your workplace, are there already things that you would like to change? You are now thinking about an issue that has been bugging you for ages. Evaluate and Question is all about that. It is questioning activities and ways of working that are ineffective or inefficient and/or impacting your wellbeing at work. Let us get them out of the way.
How do you become aware of these opportunities for improvement?
You can start by writing down the issues and challenges you have been facing for a long time and engage others to do the same. Engaging others will also help to complete your picture of the issues and challenges and even hear some counterarguments. It will help to understand the full perspective of the issues.
REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES
- Why am I doing this activity?
- Why am I doing this activity this way?
- Which ideas and reflections come up when reviewing this activity?
A bigger task is to find opportunities for improvement when not facing a direct issue or challenge. It will require a conscious effort to assess the current way of working while your mind might be occupied with completing the task itself. A way to do this is setting aside time – on a regular basis – to review all your activities and ask yourself these questions:
- Why am I doing this activity?
- Why am I doing this activity this way?
- Which ideas and reflections come up when reviewing this activity?
Question 1 refers to the added value of your work. In many cases, people perform activities for years while no one has ever told why this work is (still) being done. There was a reason in the past, but nobody considered stopping the work when the need was no longer there. If there is an answer, you at least know that the activity you carry out has value. If there is no answer, you can propose to stop the activity.
Question 2 refers to the efficiency of the work. Are there better or more faster ways to deliver the same outcome with less effort? Cutting time spent might reduce workload or stress.
The answers on question 3 will give you insight in issues and challenges you had not been aware of, or it can be an indication for a solution.
Another way to consciously evaluate the current way of working is to have a separate notebook available and make notes while performing activities. It will not distract too much from performing the work itself and you will not lose the opportunities for improvement. In all cases, it is the conscious effort you put in that is going to make the difference.