Improving Employee Behavior with Chalk Lines

Anyone reading this who knows me, especially my family, will be very surprised that I am using a sports metaphor. I played very few sports as a kid, really don't watch sports, and can barely keep up with the score even when one of my sons is playing in a game. That said, I have found myself using the metaphor of chalk lines on sports fields more and more with leaders who are struggling with employee behavior issues. (By the way, since we just finished a big holiday and have more coming, I have to point out that this metaphor works with family and friends too!)

We use the word "boundaries" a lot when talking about how individuals treat each other, and it dawned on me a while ago that these invisible behavioral boundaries are like the chalk lines on a sports field - let's say football (American football or not, whichever you prefer). When you play on an actual football field, all the chalk lines are already on the field. The boundaries are clear to everyone playing the game, and as a result, everyone knows where the goal line is, what is in bounds and what is out of bounds.

Unfortunately, when we are at work, there are not a lot of chalk lines on the ground telling us what is in bounds (behavior you want to see more of) and what is out of bounds (behavior that needs to change). It's like we are playing a pick-up game of football at the park.

Of course, we all think certain behaviors are obviously out of bounds - stealing, yelling at a co-worker, yelling at a customer - but I have worked in HR long enough to know that even these behaviors are not out of bounds for everyone. Hopefully, your organization provides some of these basic chalk lines (the outside edges of the field) through its employee handbook, organizational values, policies and other tools. You need to be familiar with these chalk lines yourself and also need to make sure your employees know that you expect them, as employees, to know where these chalk lines are too.

You will also almost certainly need to put additional chalk lines down for your team. One approach I have used with teams is to create a "Team Contract" or "Team Ways of Working." We work together to create a  team vision and then brainstorm what it will take to make this vision a reality. We talk openly and specifically about the behaviors we need to see more of and behaviors that need to change. We narrow these down to 5-8 team commitments that are shared with the whole team. These commitments serve as additional chalk lines on the field, and because we worked on them as a group, everyone knows where they are. Teams re-visit these commitments regularly to see how they are doing and to refine them as needed.

Just like with a game of pick-up game of football in the park, putting the goal lines and boundaries down in advance increases your team's chance for success, both individually and as a team. People see that staying in bounds will get them to the goal faster, and they waste a lot less energy fighting about where the lines are than they would if they weren't agreed in advance. You can even reduce turnover that could result when people get so tired of conflict that they just take the football and go home. With goal and boundary lines agreed in advance, you and the team focus your time and energy on achieving results and may even have fun while you do it!

I'll talk in my next post about putting chalk lines down after something happens. In the meantime, I encourage you to work with your team to create your own "Ways of Working." Let me know what questions you have and share your experiences in the comments.