I once read that you can tell what country people want to live in the most by which way they run when the gates are lifted. Do they want to get in or do they want out? You seldom see people fighting for entry into countries that function as a police state with an excessive amount of heavy-handed and highly controlling rules, surveillance, and laws.
The same is true for businesses and other organizations. An excessive amount of rules communicates distrust, crushes morale, treats employees like children, and can result in your best people looking for the first opportunity to exit. Don’t misquote me – every organization needs some basic rules to ensure quality, safety, equity, and efficiency. But the more rules you add, the more bureaucratic the culture feels. Complex and excessive rules regarding start and end times, using computers for personal use, taking a personal phone call, or attire are just a few examples. Have you ever heard yourself or a friend say, “I just love this job – it has so many rules that make me feel so valued and the culture feel so vibrant!”?
While employers and unions often create rules to help, the rules can have unintended consequences. In addition, some professions have rules required for compliance (think financial services, medicine, and counseling, etc.) that need to be followed or else you could face loss of employment, fines, or worse. As leaders and managers, here are nine ways to tame the rules in your organization.
1. First, keep rules to a minimum.
Having too many policies or rules creates too much complexity, opportunities for inconsistency, and ultimately more rule breakers. The thicker an employee manual, the more likely every employee and manager is out of compliance! There are times when I review our own employee handbook and discover things I did not even remember – and I wrote much of it! Shorter is usually better.
2. Hire smart.
The more people you hire who lack discernment, the more rules you end up writing to address their dumb choices. The more people you hire who are wise, the less you will need rules to direct their behavior. I am often reminded about this with our team here at The Center Consulting Group. Our team is made up of awesome people who need few rules to tell them what to do because they faithfully seek to make good choices.
3. Don’t make rules you will not follow yourself.
Someone recently told me about a well-known person in their community who “doesn’t like following the rules very much.” If you want to pour cold water on your team as a leader, all you need to do is create rules that you will not follow yourself. And, if you want to make the water even colder, remind everyone that you don’t have to follow them because you are the leader – the “chosen one.” And you will also be the one your employees are talking about in not kind ways to their friends. This reminds me of some of the religious leaders Jesus met. They placed heavy burdens on everyone else with their ridiculous rules but wouldn’t follow the rules themselves.
4. Don’t make rules for a small minority of employees.
No organization makes perfect hiring decisions every time any more than a soccer player scores on every shot. But too often, when a small number of employees abuse freedom by taking advantage of the absence of rules, managers often create rules to address the issue rather than deal with the problem team member(s) directly. If most of your employees are not causing problems for your organization, why create a set of policies?
5. Don’t make rules as a reaction to an event.
This has some things in common to guideline #4, but it has some differences. I have seen situations where an employee crosses an ethical line such as having an affair with another employee or misusing company funds. Organizations and managers are then quick to create a new rule to address this violation. Interestingly, 99% of the employees did not cross that line, but now this one event creates a reaction. Avoid over-reactions since they seldom stop future bad behavior anyway.
6. Before instituting a new rule, ask, “How will this better serve our customers?”
I remember a time when I was scheduling two MRIs – one on my shoulder and the other on my knee. You would think it would be more efficient for the provider and more convenient for me to do both of them at the same time. But that would be too practical for the mind-numbing rules of the health insurance companies which said you cannot do two at the same time. I was able to go back the next morning for the second one, but the health insurance company failed to ask, “What is best for the customer?”
7. Ensure the rationale for your rule is clearly explained.
Most people think the rules they create make perfect sense until others see the rules and say, “Are you kidding me?!” For example, a high school student is generally required to take Health and Physical Education for four years – even if they are on an athletic team or playing competitive sports outside of school. They may not know how to calculate the interest they will pay on their loans, but they will know how to play kickball.
8. Seek feedback from others before implementing a new rule.
Don’t create rules before learning from others the best way to solve the problem the rule is seeking to fix. Most teams have many dedicated, smart team members. They too want what is best and will often see things from a different perspective – a perspective that managers may be missing.
9. Be fair and equitable in how you apply rules.
Have you ever noticed that some leaders are exceptional at creating rules but get an “F” when it comes to how they apply them to their employees? For example, some leaders may demand that one person follow procedures but not hold someone else accountable to do the same. I was once talking with someone whose manager continued to allow another employee to not carry the workload expected of others and not be required to show up to work when scheduled – with no consequences. Another example was an adult child of a leader who was not held accountable for unacceptable work performance. Such inconsistency will often become a breeding ground for cynicism.
Common examples of leaders not applying their own rules to themselves include failing to be on time for meetings, not responding to messages or emails, not submitting receipts on time, taking off without letting others know, etc. When a leader acts above the rules, don’t be surprised when others do the same.
To learn more about how our coaches and consultant can assist you in creating a healthy team culture that is free of excessive rules, contact us.
Jay Desko is the President & CEO of The Center Consulting Group and brings experience in the areas of organizational assessment, leadership coaching, decision-making, and strategic questioning. Jay’s degrees include an M.Ed. in Instructional Systems Design from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Leadership from The Union Institute.
