BMTFed Newsletter – No. 57
www.bmtfed.org
May 2015
BMTFedNewsletter
Behavioural Management Techniques (BMT) is a blend of applied behavioural science tools and project management skills. BMT is used to improve business and safety performance.
BMT for Leaders Conference, Manchester UK
13th & 14th May 2015 - Tickets on Sale Now
Photography by Andy Stairmand. Edited by Lynn Dunlop.
The Most Popular Pastime
By Howard Lees
I have sat in enough meetings to realise that lots of them are
just the boss in an ego state ranting about the 2-3 things he
has a bee in his bonnet that day/week. Some meetings are
just confirmation that the organisation is disorganised. You
will have seen the signs yourselves - one person dominates
the conversation, swathes of attendees never speak, some
brave people try to be collegial, some folks get defensive and
embarrassed; it’s an event that one has to survive. When
asked at the end, “Was the meeting useful?’ everyone says
“Yes”, one of those ‘please don’t hurt me’ type yesses.
There are many different types of meetings - discussions to
make decisions, creative sessions, briefings, team buildings,
opportunities for people to present to the wider team,
reviews of progress and so on. I would suggest that everyone
should know what type of meeting is going to occur before
they get there, so they can prepare. Many meeting attendees
turn up having completed no preparation.
If people are not bringing things into the meeting then that’s
a big sign - it means that the meeting required no preparation
so it’s likely to be improvised so it’s likely to comprise today’s
failings rather than anything strategic. Lots of meetings are
the leader’s opportunity to nag the team for this week’s
deliverables. It’s a self-fulfilling prophesy; people wait for the
meeting to find out which of the outstanding things the boss
really wants.
The solution: Clear and simple expectations, proper planning,
structured meetings, simple measures = good leadership.
No Thanks, I Don’t Need Time Management
By Bruce Faulkner
When asked, most people respond that they are too busy to do everything they perceive is expected of them. If time
management is about the ‘arithmetic of time’ then people commonly divide the number of tasks by the time available
and frequently get depressed. People seek relief, a chance to move quicker or do less. Some ad-hoc solutions solve
problems locally and temporarily. The Pareto Principle is all around us: Some people do have more of an impact. They are the
people who choose wisely what they do and when they do it.
Deliberately setting aside time to think and choose is critical to changing our longer term behaviour. By deciding what is
important we are being strategic. We are purposefully deciding what we won’t do. We are creating our front end plan to
ensure the delivery of our long term goals. If challenged as to why we chose to work on this issue vs. another, we have a well
reasoned argument that will stand up to the ad-hoc challenges of others. Once we have done the thinking and choosing then the ‘arithmetic of time’ can be applied. There’s more than enough time for
the things that are important. We just need to start choosing what those things are and leave the rest for another day.
Shades of BMT: What Do I Want?
• I want to work in a place where people read the things I take the trouble to write
• I want to work in a place where my time is respected
• I don't want to work in an organisation that is pretending to be good, I want to work in an
organisation that is good
© Copyright 2015 Hollin Consulting Ltd
BMTFed Newsletter – No. 57
www.bmtfed.org
May 2015
BMTFedNewsletter
Behavioural Management Techniques (BMT) is a blend of applied behavioural science tools and project management skills. BMT is used to improve business and safety performance.
Check out our blogs at – www.reachingresults.com/blog and www.harkera.com/blog
There are many blog articles and discussions on the BMT LinkedIn site, all of which are original written material.
We also feature news on BMT events and products. Click here to view and join the discussions.
A Better Tomorrow
By Lisa Kazbour
I’ve recently been attempting to exercise a bit more but consistently find that I’m letting myself off the hook by uttering the
phrase, “I’ll do better tomorrow.” Now, having data on the last two weeks, I can tell you that I did NOT “do better tomorrow,”
on numerous occasions in fact. It’s something I think we’re all familiar with, and whether it means trying to change health
behaviors, work behaviors, or personal habits, it’s an easy cycle to get trapped in. Why do we tell ourselves “I’ll do better
tomorrow” when our history may say otherwise?
One reason is that we’re wired to think tomorrow will actually be better. It’s protective for us to think that tomorrow will
be more under our control than today was, that somehow it will be easier for us to do what we’re supposed to in the future
versus right now. This approach also helps to keep our fragile egos intact. Unfortunately, unless you’re actively taking control
of your environment and changing it, your behavior will very likely remain the same.
Saying that tomorrow will be better can also be described as a ‘negative reinforcement trap’. By telling myself that I’ll do
better tomorrow, I’ve let myself off the hook for today. I no longer feel anxious about pushups I missed or the walk I skipped
(R-). This approach is a temporary fix at best. I may feel a bit better right now but I wake up each morning more anxious and
guilty than the last, and further behind on my progress towards my goals. The moral of my story? Tomorrow isn’t likely going
to be any better, easier, or more conducive to new behaviors. The only way that will happen is if you set up your environment
for that to be the case. It requires a thoughtful strategy; without it, natural law rules apply, and you’ll continue doing what
you’ve always done. Is ‘Real Safety’ Hampered by the ‘Easy to Police’ Trap?
By Howard Lees
Virtual safety appears to be making a bit of a resurgence. The data shows that minor injuries are reducing but, crucially,
fatalities and major injuries are occurring at the same rate they were 20 years ago. Perhaps this is happening because people
are distracted from focusing on the big issues, the things that will prevent major injuries, like proper planning, good time
management and all the other essential daily behaviours that deliver successful safe business and projects.
You could argue that side issues like reverse parking, lids on coffee cups, stair monitors, safety moments etc. are just easy to
police; placebos, they make people feel as if they
are doing their bit for safety. What’s dangerous
about this is that we have not seen any data that
supports these type of safety initiatives. We
We would like to hear from any
have plenty of opinion data that says they are a
newsletter readers who have any
distraction, and an irritating one if you have been
objective data on the impact of
scolded by the stair monitor.
recent popular safety initiatives
such as reverse parking, holding
The problem is that people only have so much
the handrail on stairs, safety
bandwidth for ‘initiatives’. If it is all taken with
pledges, covers for coffee cups or
‘virtual safety’ activities then it reduces the time
any others you have encountered.
available for the real safety stuff, the properly
Please get in touch by email:
planned activities with the right people and the
right tools. Courageous leaders need to ask, “Have lynn@hollinconsulting.co.uk
we got data that shows which of our activities
genuinely improve safety?”
Request for Data
Each newsletter now includes something relating to BMT opinion surveys:
• In one organisation this year, only 29% of people agreed that all their meetings were useful
• In that same organisation, only 18% of people believed that people closed out their actions on time
• The meetings aren't the real work; the real work is the stuff that happens in between the meetings
© Copyright 2015 Hollin Consulting Ltd