As you work on developing a culture within your department which incorporates the lessons from the book, Ideas Are Free, you will be immediately challenged by your team to see just how seriously they need to take you.
Think about this for a moment. Here you are, for maybe the first time ever, asking your entire team to participate in generating solutions, managing constant change and making incremental improvements throughout the department.
On one hand, this news may come as a shocker to some of your employees. On the other hand, it may not even seem believable. I can tell you right now, and you can absolutely count on this, your team members will give you one single shot at passing their test. This test will be to determine whether you will even listen to the ideas and feedback that they give you. If you don't pass this test, your initiative will go no further than the meeting you had to introduce it.
Here is some advice from Andrew Sobel, author of Clients for Life, on how to demonstrate that you are "Really Listening":
Listening is powerful, and it’s a fundamental skill for great leadership. There are also many misconceptions about it. Listening:
~Is a two-way conversation–it’s not one-way and passive, with you asking questions and taking copious notes
~Is based on mutual disclosure. You share and reveal things as well as the other person.
~Requires affirmation–an active acknowledgment of what the other person has said
~Is best demonstrated through Synthesis rather than Summary. That is, don’t just play back what was said to to you–add value and synthesize–e.g., “So it sounds like there are two issues going on here…”
~Includes silences. Don’t ask a question, and then repeatedly rephrase it when the person hesitates for a second. Just wait and let them think.
~Is closely tied to empathy. It can be powerful when you say, “I know what you mean. That happened to me last year, when…”
~Requires self awareness. We all have biases which interfere with our listening, usually based on gender, race, and age.
Your listening style must be adapted for different types of employee interactions. In meeting with individual or groups of employees, you’ll be listening perhaps 75% of the time; but if you’ve called someone and said, “I have an idea I want to share with you” then it may be more like 50-50.
Good luck, and remember, the best way to recognize your employees for the ideas that they give you is to use their suggestions.