How to Increase Situational Awareness for Business Leaders and Managers

Situational awareness is a term used frequently in aviation to describe the degree to which a pilot’s perception of reality actually matches reality. Low situational awareness means that what a pilot perceives about his or her aircraft, operating environment and mission may not be as accurate as he or she thinks. High situational awareness means that the pilot’s perception of these categories is very much in tune with what is actually happening. High situational awareness generally means more effective and efficient missions for pilots. A similar benefit of high situational awareness may be gained by business leaders and managers. If their perception of their current state of operations, (including their operating environment, products and/or services, and employee situation) is high, then they may be more likely to achieve a higher level of success than if their situational awareness is lower. This article will describe ways leaders and managers of organizations may increase their situational awareness.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Listen to your employees. Sometimes employees know more about how an organization is doing in certain areas than the management staff. They are the ones who are conducting a lot of the day to day work functions that allow the company to operate effectively. Therefore, employees often have great ideas on how an organization can be improved. This information may not be very useful if business leaders and managers refuse to listen to employees. Additionally, leaders and managers should be experienced enough to know what ideas will be productive, rather than implementing every idea that employees propose. Ultimately new ideas should improve the organization.

2. Examine the operating environment, including internal and external factors. Just as pilots periodically monitor their aircraft systems, business leaders and managers may consider evaluating their operating environment from time to time to get a status update. This may mean comparing sales figures to historical data and determining what caused any changes (for decreased or increased sales), obtaining customer feedback on products and services, and comparing their organization’s level of success to their competitors.

3. Employ continuous learning techniques. Leaders and managers may consider adopting a continuous learning mindset. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they have to take classes or pursue higher degrees, but by reading books and articles, including those written by experts in their field, they may be able to gain new ideas on how to improve their organization. By studying and learning it may be possible for business leaders to gain a better understanding of their organization’s current state.

4. Ask for information or assistance when needed. Leaders and managers may need to ask for assistance from time to time. If they get bogged down with a few key areas of their job they may lose situational awareness on other areas within the organization. By asking for assistance and delegating certain functions, they may be able to concentrate on their leadership duties while still maintaining a solid understanding of lower-level issues.

5. Conduct organizational analysis surveys to determine employees’ perceptions. One potentially effective way for leaders and managers to gain an understanding of how their organization is doing is to conduct an organizational climate assessment. This is an information-gathering process which allows employees to provide their opinions on how the organization is doing and ways it may be improved. If leaders and managers decide to implement this type of program they may consider hiring an Organization Development consultant, or if they have the resources available they may be able to handle this in-house. This type of endeavor should be designed to obtain open and honest (but productive and objective) feedback.

Resources

• Adaptive Leadership Systems, LLC Leadership and Management Concepts Blog