It’s Just the Normal Noise in Here

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productivity | success | Doug Wilwerding | communication in the workplace | Business Strategies

Clang, bang, crash, click, click, click, buzz, whirr, ring, ring, hum…

Busy, busy, busy. Working, working, working. Meeting after meeting. So many emails to respond to and send. Reports to read and write; and budgets to complete, lobby for and approve. So many strategic planning sessions to attend and client conference calls to participate in.

Of course this sounds familiar. It’s your life. It’s my life. It is the noise of offices around the globe.

If you took most of our calendars and catalogued the contents, this list likely covers 80% of the business-related content. Which begs the question: With all these meetings, emails (294 billion per day in 2010, up 816% since 2005 according to Radicati Group), reports written and read, budgets and strategic plans, conference calls, and articles written for online magazines (well, that really is important!)…what did we really get done? Much? Anything?

There have been innumerable articles about workplace efficiency. Techniques to assure maximum productivity are a dime a dozen. Some of them probably even work for a few people. If efficiency is measured in real work getting done and not just bits of data sent spiraling into space, the truth is most of us are about as meaningfully efficient today as we were 10 years ago. If we were the kid who waited until the night before it was due to write the term paper, we are now the employee who practices “just in time” output principals. Hard wiring is difficult to overcome.

The good news is that efficiency is not the name of the game, it never has been.  What matters is effectiveness. Somewhere along the way, during the technological/digital/cellular/PC-laptop-smartphone/pad device evolution, we became so caught up in our ability to produce and consume output 24/7/365 that we lost sight of what the purpose of work is—to get something done! Not to get things started, not to keep them moving, but to GET THINGS DONE. Declare victory. Put a fork in it. Check it off the list and move on to the next mountain to climb.

And most important is checking off the things that matter. To work on and accomplish objectives that truly change the landscape of the business, truly and materially help a client realize value from our efforts, truly make our company tangibly more attractive to current and prospective employees, truly create value for our shareholders. Those are the “things” that matter in business. Those are the true measures of effectiveness.

Even with all the connectivity via technology, the catalyst for most tasks being  accomplished is two people coming together,  reaching agreement and then doing what they agree to. Sure, all the foreplay that is e-mail, texting, meetings and so on, DO matter. But, nothing usually happens until the key people on each side of a question come nose-to-nose and decide to say yes to some solution and take action.

If you are selling something (and in the end, we are always selling something, even if it is our idea) ultimately the buyer and the seller must make a mutual decision to “buy” and “sell” whatever it is. If you are asking for something, there is someone who has the power to grant it. Until that person is asked and they make the decision to say yes to you, nothing gets done.

I relearned this lesson for the umpteenth time recently. I was working on a transaction. Lawyers, investment bankers, accountants and more were involved. It was becoming hard to tell the players without a program. Hell, I couldn’t even remember what we were trying to come to agreement on at times. Everyone was writing and rewriting term sheets and letters of intent. Debate and negotiation happened daily. We were all very busy. Bills were being generated and circulated. But, we really weren’t making progress. We were circling and churning up dust which looked very serious, but we weren’t getting anything done.

The woman who re-taught me this lesson was one of the CEOs in the transaction. She did something really simple: she called me. We talked about the outstanding points. We worked to understand each other’s perspective.  We talked about resolutions we could both live with. We took notes. We confirmed agreement. And we (over the phone) shook hands. We had a deal. We got it done.

The lesson is simple. If you want something done, figure out who the right person is that has the authority and the motivation to say yes. Go see that person or call them on the phone and have a conversation about how you will solve the problem. Don’t e-mail, don’t send a memo, don’t have one of your people call one of their people. Pick up the phone, tell them why you are calling, and get to the heart of the matter.

Success isn’t about how much you do in a day and how much noise you create. Success is about what you do and how it advances the enterprise. When you retire, no one will mention at your going-away party that you hold the record for sending and answering more e-mail than anyone else. What they should say is that you were the team member who got to the heart of the matter, found solutions, and got things done. And that isn’t noise— that is music.

Headline lifted from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “Damn the Torpedoes-- Even the Losers.”

Contributor:   Doug Wilwerding

Doug Wilwerding joined Omnium Worldwide, Inc. in 1986 as Director of Marketing and Field Sales. After positions in marketing and operations, Wilwerding started Accent Insurance Recovery Solutions as a division of Omnium in 1990. Wilwerding was president of Accent Insurance Recovery Solutions from 1990 through 1997. In 1998, Wilwerding completed a leveraged buyout of Omnium Worldwide, Inc.

In the spring of 2007 Wilwerding sold Omnium Worldwide, Inc. to West Corporation. He was appointed president of West Asset Management-Receivable Services, a division of West Corporation. West Asset Management is the second largest provider of accounts receivable management services with over $350 million in revenue and over 3,000 associates.

In 2008, after completing the post transaction integration, conversion and leadership transition, Wilwerding left West Corporation to found The Optimas Group, LLC.

The Optimas Group is focused on working with middle market businesses to build clear, actionable strategy, supported by high performance cultures and develop and facilitate wealth creation programs that integrate the owner’s objectives with associates' objectives.

Wilwerding holds a BSBA and MBA from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado.

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