In past week, how have you asked for support from others? How clear was your request?

In recent research I conducted into behaviours that leaders demonstrate when they successfully transition into new organizations, “asking for help” made it onto list of “Top 10 Success Factors” for critical first 90 days with a new employer.

In this era of hyper-awareness regarding business ethics, “asking for help” has become associated with high-integrity. People who are able to conduct an honest self-assessment and seek support in areas where they lack expertise or need to draw on skills that don’t come naturally to them are seen as both humble and strong at same time.

As an sole practitioner entrepreneur for past 10 years, I have long prided myself on independence and self-sufficiency. I now recognize that relying purely on my own perspective and expertise can be quite limiting. In stepping up to ask for help more often, coupled with my commitment to work collaboratively, my circle expands exponentially through each connection created. The impact on my business has been nothing short of transformational.

So how can you go about asking for help?

When I broke-down formula that works for me, I came up with following steps:

1.Recognize that you can’t know or be able to do absolutely everything, all time. 2.Trust that in asking for help, you are honouring other person. 3.Decide to “‘just do it”. The more you agonize, less likely you are to make request. 4.Be specific. Make it easy for other person to provide help. 5.Express your gratitude. Let other person know specifically how their support helped you. 6.Offer your sincere support in future… not to “even score”, do it because it genuinely means a lot to you to be able to help.

What important goal are you stuck on right now? How could “asking for help” get you jump-started?

I’m interested in hearing your stories about impact of “asking for help” for you. Send me an email with your feedback or questions to sue@development-by-design.com

Step 4

Now you must analyze all of data that has been collected so far and identify difference between perfection and your current operating efficiency level. The goal is to constantly close gap between two.

Again, as stated in Step 2, staff buy-in is extremely important. If management does not show a link between "total quality improvement" and "workplace improvement," then all data collection will go to waste. The staff will not willingly take extra steps (which often require harder, more detailed work) if they are not being rewarded. Some companies use bonuses to provide incentive, other companies offer prizes for attaining goals or add employee perks based on improvement levels.

Step 5

Now is time for improvement. Changes in procedure and operations should have been in place, and more data should be collected to gauge level of overall quality improvement. Either hired consultants or an internal team of Six Sigma Black Belts should supervise data collection. Again, this step will be expensive. Gathering vast amount of data needed to accurately assess performance takes a great deal of time, resources, and capital. But without proper data and measurement, you will never know if changes are working or not.

Step 6

After improvement begins, constant chore of ongoing control must be monitored. Unforeseen variables will arise. Employees may turn over, competitors might introduce new products, your facility may undergo changes, and many other things could happen which will impact overall quality of your business. Top level Black Belts need to be constantly analyzing data to gauge impact of any future changes, spot possible trends, and formulate actions to keep on path of consistent and eternal improvement.