WORKPLACE DYNAMICS

When Workplace Change Requires More Than Quick Fixes and Band-Aids

A big leadership misstep — the epic post-it note collaboration fail

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I once worked at a university where employee morale was low, but engagement was even lower. The silos were wide, deep, and strong, but collaboration was weak. Multiple surveys and consultants confirmed over the years that the institution had a culture problem.

So, the leadership was tasked with fixing it. They came up with a plan that included more meetings, more committees, and more opportunities for all employees to be heard.

Enter the infamous sticky note sessions.

These were Town Hall-type meetings where groups were put together. We were provided copious pads of sticky notes. Then came the heavily guided exercises, where employees who normally weren’t allowed within a hundred yards of decision-making suddenly found themselves in a room, being asked to write down their ideas.

When finished we stuck them on giant sheets of paper, which were collected at the end of every meeting, never to be seen again.

I was once assigned to a committee. We were given a project, provided with giant boards of paper, and another round of copious amounts of…