R.A.C.E transition for real Execution
We must regularly take stock of what is ailing us and how we can change ourselves and imbibe some tools and best practices and leadership skills . The current business scenario the world over is becoming more challenging and unpredictable . It is akin to a situation of uncertainty a solider faces at line of Control , however like a solider keeps his drills and movements in order at all times to respond appropriate as and when problems come . Similarly , in business especially in EPC projects, while we cannot foresee or prevent the extent of difficult times ahead, what we can do by training and changing ourselves is prevent a collateral damage in lessening our waste, rework, material loss , enhance decision making , timely completion of work within cost and quality.
In all companies , we have a huge talent of people with enormous experience and a fine set of system however there is a missing link of Human touch to make the system and processes work. We all are caught up today in many issues and problems that are seemingly big to delay our work but are actually in consequent. There is a gap between expectation and execution , reality is something different. In short, being talent and having processes is not enough, we have to make it work. This can be done by four ‘back to basic learning’ as discussed :
1. Mastering our Project and work management: How do we make things happen faster cheaper and efficient, Let us establish a culture R.A.C.E to win. What does R.A.C.E stands for, well for any work or say any EPC project or any task say even a store or site infrastructure, what we need to do is Rapid Absolute Class Economical work. Rapid ( Delivery) , Absolute ( Scope), Class( Quality) , Economical ( Cost) should be our focus. We also call them Project management triangle . So lets adopt R.A.C.E culture.
2. Lead our team : We will be talking about my favorite subject—people. Not the mechanistic approach—the management and use of people, but the humanistic aspects of people—the what, the how, and the why.”. You will agree dealing with people has no set pattern as each stage of project life cycle demands a different perception of leadership ( directing to coaching to facilitating to supporting) which we call is Situational leadership, but the underlying factor is a leader should be aware of complete situation at all times to be flexible.
3 Kindly note our focus is on Tactical leadership and not Strategic leadership as we all are tactical leaders at this stage and chosen to get work done at Tactical level . The problem is we try and become strategic leaders getting in endless thinking and discussion ( not required at our level) even in small tactical or operational task to be executed. The strategic and tactical must work in tandem, without it our organization cannot efficiently achieve goals. If you have strategy without tactics you have big thinkers and no action. If you have tactics without strategy, you have disorder. organizations need big wings (strategic thinking) and feet (capability to achieve).So lets focus on our Tactical role to achieve it .
4. Lean Tools : There are several work processes and art of getting things done, but why don’t we practice it, lets us go through some of them that will help us make our decision faster and get things done faster better and cheaper. More so we will be able to establish an accountability in project life cycle . I am convinced there are scientific tools and techniques which a leader can use to enhance the capability of the organization itself, to provide a greater payoff to that leader and to the organizational climate of the unit. In other words, there are means available, if we want to use them, to improve the behavior of the organization as well as the behavior of individual leaders. We have to provide these tools to the young leaders.
5. Imbibe R.A.C.E leadership skills: Finally Have you all wondered what it means to be a R.A.C.E leader. In business, as in war, the best leaders are those who lead from the front lines—who commit themselves fully to the mission of the company, and work alongside team members toward the common goal Leaders don’t always realize what an impact they make by how they act and how they carry themselves. The best leaders in history are those who realize how motivating it is to people under their command when they roll up their sleeves and jump in to get the job done. Such leaders are called Trench leaders
6 The one thing R.A.C.E leaders do consistently is: EXECUTE. They focus on the one outcome that is critical to success and execute against it consistently and relentlessly. They identify and remove the obstacles that stand between them and executing. They surround themselves with people who support their pursuits and (critical) can help them execute more effectively. So, Lets ask ourselves, are we doing it? What's standing between us and success? What changes within us can help us get there faster, solve issue faster and there is no better than being Trench Leaders to be aware of what his team is doing and can direct them flexibility as per changing situation and just execute it without any frills and delays . As trench leaders you are also not taking away the decentralized role but on their behalf you are taking on the bureaucracy that is delaying them .
