Learn Common Sense

The environment and the way people have been nurtured and natured influences the degree of common sense people exhibit. But common sense is more involved than just these factors, it is about being able to work things out without being told, about noticing a situation from another person's perspective, and treating people the way you like to be treated. Training can influence these behaviours and as they are often the end result by which someone is judged. Changing behaviour goes a long way toward improving an individual's confidence and the perception others might generate.

Behaviour is also linked with beliefs and values and we can help you understand these and how they relate to your organisation. Once the beliefs and values of individuals and the organisation are together there will be congruence, creating useful behaviour that leads to displays of commonsense. Benefiting staff, customers and the bottom line.

We have identified 6 key areas that define whether or not common sense is judged to be present:

• Chronology. The order, manner and efficiency in which events are undertaken; particularly where one event is dependent on another.
• Ergonomics. The degree to which the layout of items in a process permits a logical or easy progression through the sequence.
• Necessity. The degree to which time, effort and money is spent on things that are needed.
• Risk. How risks are assessed and managed.
• Time. Whether time is wasted for no apparent or good reason.
• Consequence/Burden. Where an action now creates more difficulty at a later time.

Some or all of these might apply to your situation. Whether, you have identified a need for managers, departments or the entire company to have more common sense, we can help. Our tailored courses will identify and change the behaviours that are holding you back. Learning common sense will help improve your team's performance. You know it makes - well Sense!

We might define common sense as:

Or, expressed in the positive:

Good communication and common sense are often bedfellows and make for excellent management.

How does Your Organisation Fare?

Sad but all true:

• An absentee boss of a varied business instructed all his staff to take one hour for lunch sometime between noon and 2pm. Half his businesses were cafes and restaurants!
• A military headquarters staff officer halved a unit‘s fleet of vehicles because of the low total annual mileage without appreciating that when a unit had to move to a new location as a result of 'enemy' action, all the vehicles were essential.
• The same staff officer suggested buying a 3 wheel fork lift truck, ignoring the rough forest terrain it had to operate over.
• Without consulting the user a contracts officer ordered new test equipment from a different supplier than requested because the one he had found was cheaper. It was not capable of testing over the required frequency range.
• An airline won a contract for 18,000 seats per year for cross Atlantic travel and then refused to recognise the passengers frequent flyer status because the seats had been obtained at a discount. The contract went to another airline the following year.
• A Government department threw out perfectly good equipment so that it could spend what was left of its budget on new equipment because the money could not be carried over into the next FY and would be deducted from next year‘s allowance if unspent.
• A customer service department refused to refund a long-standing, high spending customer because it was against their new policy. The customer was lost forever.

Organisations that have benefited from learning good common sense:

• The manager who permitted his staff to stay with family when away on business, including a small allowance; even though the company's HR department had no 'rule' allowing this and were therefore opposed to the idea.
• The chef who consistently manages to get a hot meal to the table altogether and at the appropriate time.
• A company owner wanted to expand but the operations manager did not think the time was right. The owner agreed to a feasibility study during which information came to light that would most likely have caused the company‘s downfall had they gone ahead with the expansion at that time.
• A high street shop assistant made a refund to an influential customer even though she was not obliged to do so. The customer was very grateful and put a lot of business the shop‘s way.
• A driver planned his deliveries avoiding a particular main road, even though this was normally the shortest and quickest route, because of a big annual event that day. He was able to complete all his deliveries on time due to his foresight.

© 2008 Solution Management Ltd