Peer-created urgency -- WOO HOO!

As I posted earlier, I had my first skip levels last week with great success. There has not been a sense of urgency on my team for quite some time -- there's been a historical (3+ years) culture of missing deadlines, not following timelines, etc. Since taking over as the "boss" 4 months ago I have been working on changing this through always stating or asking for the deadline (even on very small tasks) and feedback.

Well, during one of the skip levels last week, one of my skips shared her frustration about when her manager doesn't respond in a timely manner, which has caused fundraising opportunities to be missed. There were several heads nodding around the room, so it's clearly an issue across a few of my directs. I suggested they use the techniques from the urgency 'cast (get/give a deadline with a time, mark it on your calendar, etc). I also told them they should be completely comfortable using these techniques with their peers and bosses... and I will be sure to go over this with my DR's when I share the questions from the skip levels.

Anyway, this is the really cool part... after the skip level, I got this email from one of my skips:
"Thanks for your time yesterday! There was one question that really helped me....It was the question about getting information promptly. I'm not going to hesitate in the future to give deadlines. Thanks for all the great information yesterday!"

[b]That's[/b] how cultures are changed!! Thanks so much!