Are you aware that 80% of business and personal success is about understanding “people dynamics”?

Hugh Massie the worldwide CEO of DNA Behavior says that “Most organizations do not solve their problems… not because they cannot solve them, but because they cannot see them. Most problems start with the behaviour of the people.”

So although it is obvious that behaviour does affect the performance of people, most business environments are so focussed on getting things done that they fail to have any focus on the people who are doing it.

When it comes to running a business with people, “The hard things are easy but the soft things are hard!”

So what do I mean by this?

The hard things are the logical parts of your business. Doing the business and performing tasks such as strategy, production, sales, distribution, and servicing customers.

The soft things are about the emotional and feeling part of your business. This relates to HOW the tasks are performed rather than GETTING THEM DONE.

In the short term many people only focus on getting things done and forget about how people are affected in the process.

But the long haul effect on a business is more determined by the energy that the people in it give towards the goals of the company.

Often people feel offended when they’re not respected and encouraged which can happen when getting tasks completed is more highly valued that the way in which they are completed.

So many business owners feel short of energy because they have to provide most of the energy to their business personally.

If you think about it for a moment you will realise that if you could harness energy from your employees then you’d be able to use that to help you get to your business goals.

Bad business behaviour is like a cancer in your organisation and it has the effect of sapping energy from it. Most bad business behaviour comes when employees are struggling in some way and are not ‘cut some slack’ by the people around them.

The incessant need to get the current job done can completely get a person off side and then the long haul contribution from them is significantly affected.

How is the behaviour in your business?

Are you aware of how your business behaviour affects all the employees in your company?

Do you realise that there is an amplification affect throughout your business on how you behave as an owner?

Unfortunately it can feel as though you live in a glass fish bowl as a business owner because every one is looking to you to ‘set the tone’ in your business.

Everyone has an off day in their business life and as a business owner you’re going to have one every now and then.

So how can you make sure that your own behaviour doesn’t have a negative effect in your business?

The facts are that negative behaviour travels faster and further than a positive behaviour. This is why the media is always looking for things that are sensationally wrong because that type of news travels faster.

Think about catastrophic events that get reported around the world. They are in the category of BAD news rather than good news because of their ability to attract people.

Fear is an amazing thing because of the pace at which it travels and how it has an ability to multiply so quickly.

Given all this, you must become intentional in your business behaviour. The reason is that you must push towards the positive and make sure that you become known for being more positive than negative.

A bad experience can have a significantly more powerful effect on an individual than a positive one.

As a human being you will automatically draw people into your negative experiences but you will need to intentionally draw people into your positive ones.

The best way to succeed in having a positive catalytic effect in your business is to have a plan for spreading positive things around your business.

Celebrate successes, become known as an encourager to your employees and guard the way you speak in your business.

What’s your experience on this?

In Steven Covey’s book, The Speed of Trust, he put forward the thought that TRUST was a hard economic measurement.

The proposition was that when TRUST went up, then SPEED went up and COST went down.

Conversely, when TRUST went down then SPEED went DOWN and COST went up.

From this he was able to conclude that trust is a hard economic indicator. What had previously been thought of as ‘soft and fluffy’ was in fact a hard economic indicator and could be used to assist businesses get better performance.

So do you think that trust has anything to do with business behaviour?

Do you think that the way you behave in your business has anything to do with the performance of your business?

Business behaviour can make all the difference between a business performing reasonably or doing extremely well because the effectiveness of people is often based on how others behave around them.

Let’s take an example:
You’re in a meeting doing some brainstorming with your employees. Everyone seems to be contributing well except for one person who is quiet and seems to be detached from the conversation.

So you ask them:
‘Do you have anything to contribute?’
They reply, ‘Nothing at the moment.’

This frustrates you because you are a very creative and spontaneous person who loves nothing better than to get in a room, push around all the ideas and come to a decision on what to do next. This really energises you so you can’t understand why this person would have nothing to add.

You think, ‘Are they stupid? Or do they not care about what we’re talking about?

You think, ’Maybe they have something better to do.’

This frustrates you even more because there’s nothing more important right now than finding a creative answer to this issue.’

So you ask them again:
‘Do you have anything to contribute?’
Again they reply, ‘Nothing to contribute.’

Now this is too much for you so you say,

‘We’ve been here for half an hour discussing this and after that much time surely you have at least something!’

So what do you think is happening in this situation?

We have two people who process things completely differently and as the boss you need to realise that it is a struggle for the other person to come up with ideas as quickly as you.

It’s easy to think that everyone in the world is basically the same or when they grow up they will be!

It’s easy to think subconsciously that you know how everyone else thinks. But in reality you often think through the lens of your own make up and not the other persons.

The problem you have as a business owner is that not everyone is like you. There are lots of different ways of getting to an answer and depending on a person’s make up they will likely get there differently to you.

The situation I described above happens in various forms in businesses all the time. And when it does, people’s confidence is destroyed. When this happens the energy in the business decreases and the performance goes down along with the level of enjoyment for the business owner.

Do you have any examples you would like to share?

In a service business such as One Sherpa, it is important for me to get the maximum advantage from the talents and skills of my people.

Much of this is dependant how people behave in our business and behave around each other.

Sometimes tiny changes in behaviour can make a significant difference in the effectiveness of people in our organisation. Whether you have 5 people or 50 people in your organisation, getting the best out of your people is a key success factor in maximizing the results of your business.

Below are three simple tips to help you move toward better business behaviour in your organisation.

TIP # 1 Take responsibility for your own behaviour

How well do you know yourself?

Have you ever made an intentional effort to find out your strengths, struggles and communication keys?

Understanding yourself is the first step in getting better business performance because without a clear understanding of self it is almost impossible to take responsibility for your own behaviour.

If you have never done any of this type of work there are a number of tools available to make a start. Two of the most common are DISC and Myer Briggs but the best we have found is Business DNA which can really help identify the unique aspects of someone’s behaviour which is where most of the conflict arises when interacting with others.

Once you understand your strengths then you can build on these to enhance your effectiveness.

Once you understand your struggles you’ll be equipped to manage these because it is the area where the relationship issues always arise. Conflict rarely arises from people’s strengths and nearly always arises from mismanagement of struggles.

TIP #2 Get into the other persons shoes

If you understand yourself well then it is possible to try and understand someone else’s point of view. Remember that people can be very different to you so it is not easy to authentically step into someone else’s shoes but worth the effort.

In business with a balanced team there are many different personalities, talents and skills. Not everyone is like you so…

Draw a deep breath, forget about your world and try to appreciate other points of view.

If you have some understanding of their personality and what makes them tick then this can be much easier. Even if you don’t, start to think how they react to things. What situations seem to ‘press their buttons?’

What areas have caused a conflict in the past?

Make a genuine effort to draw a context of ‘their world’ rather than try to bring them into your own world.

It will likely feel awkward and difficult but after some practice you will find that the benefit of really understanding their context will improve the business behaviour in your organisation significantly.

TIP #3 Cut colleagues some slack

Think about a time when you have made a mistake and wished the earth would open up and let you escape.

What kind of behaviour were you looking for from the people around you in the business?

How were you hoping that other people would look at the mistake?

I bet the last think in the world you would look for is to be told by some one else that you’d made a mistake. You already know that fact and probably more of the detail behind it than any one else. Being reminded by others only adds to the pain you’re already feeling from knowing you’d made a mistake.

In these circumstances you needed people to cut you some slack and work with you towards a remedy. Moving forward will help more than dwelling on the past and focusing on the mistake.

Do you have any tips you’d like to share?