When You're Right, You're Right! It's That Simple.

 Special announcement: The 2010 Leadership & Career Planning Event in Toronto at The Westin Harbour Castle on May 25th, 2010. Go to www.thinkworknotjob.com for more information.

People often get into the swing of things at a new job after learning the rules, or 'guidelines', as it were. After a while, they may begin bending the rules because that is what is happening all around them and they think it's okay so long as others are doing the same, which is a sure sign of impending derailment of the company train.

Let's face it, rules are rules and they were implemented for a reason, so you either stick with them or you formally discuss the problems with them and how these rules must change in order to reflect the changes that are occurring within the company. Rules can't be broken simply because somebody does not see the value in them and has discovered a better way without letting anybody know.

Sticking to the rules

There was a story of a young security guard who was trained by his company to work a graveyard shift as access control while sitting at a desk all night. The main doors could only be opened with authorized card keys and all of the incoming phone calls were dealt with in the exact same manner as per the standing orders, which were current.

A phone call came in one night from an executive burning the midnight oil in the building and the security guard followed protocol, which is to never volunteer your name unless the person calling identified themselves first. The executive failed to identify who they were but kept asking for the guard's name, unsuccessfully, and eventually became irate. To punish the guard for not giving up their name, the executive stated that they would go straight to the site director in the morning and complain about the guard. The guard took note of the incident immediately after and went on with their shift. 

In the morning, the director arrived and wished to speak with the guard, who was just finishing work. The director explained the situation and said that there was nothing to worry about because the guard's actions were directly in compliance with the standing orders and a true testament to the high level of service the security company provided to the building management. The executive was warned that security was tight for a reason and that should have been proud of the service they had just received because the night watchmen could be trusted to secure the building over night.

Breaking the rules

On many occasions, rules, protocols and standing orders are broken because a hot new talent decides they have to transcend the antiquated restraints of yesteryear. It can happen with a new team leader or a new employee, but the result can sometimes be catastrophic and when it is traced back, people wonder how it could have happened. Upon discovery of what went on,a company is forced to have an emergency meeting so the problem can't happen again.

There is a story of how a lax system can cause confusion and chaos for a new team leader and it involves the gradual changing of staff and inevitably, the gradual changing of an entire program. In the company I am referring to, the staff changeover was fairly high mostly due to the fact that people stopped believing in the company and so did not take it seriously.

The programs for each department were clearly laid out in a general meeting one year and each department had to follow the program with minimal changes, if any. If there were any changes, they were to be discussed with the department manager and officially adjusted. Four years down the line, there was a lot of staff changeover and no new meetings at all, which resulted in some departments doing the same work as others, without anybody realizing it!

When it was discovered that there was a lot of crossover between departments, the new general manager wanted to know how it happened. In a small meeting with one of the departments, a worker calmly explained that the program they were working by was the original program template for all departments, but that new staff began to change things due to a lack of proper leadership; without any straight answers or general meetings, they were forced to work on their own. This was backed up by showing the manager the minutes from the original meeting, years before.

The final ruling

Rules, protocols and standing orders are made so that everybody knows what is going on and how a company is supposed to operate. They can be viewed as a conductor's baton, pinned to a wall for everybody to see or placed in an official booklet that everybody has access to. Rules can be changed as a company grows, but changes should be official and open to discussion.

Avoiding very costly mistakes in any organization is not that difficult if everybody is on the same page (of the rule book) and exceptional levels of communication are maintained.

For more information, consider attending The 2010 Leadership & Career Planning Event in Toronto at The Westin Harbour Castle on May 25th, 2010. Go to www.thinkworknotjob.com for more information.