How many times have you been in a management meeting and heard this: “we just need to get the right people in the right seats on the bus”?

Assessing and placing people in positions that allow them to excel are important parts of management. It requires knowledge of each team member’s strengths and weaknesses, and a lot of coaching to ensure successful outcomes. Taking a step back from the right people, right seat conundrum, there’s another question that is constantly being asked and answered. Who’s driving the bus?

Where is that question coming from? Passengers. Is it okay for the passengers to ask, or should they just be along for the ride?

In today’s business environment, questioning management is to be expected. How management handles it will determine, in large part, the overall morale and eventual success or failure of the company. Is management insulted, disappointed, deaf, or angry? Or is questioning management regarded as an opportunity to gain valuable insight into the psyche of the passengers? You see, while the bus is moving, the passengers spend a lot of time talking, focused on each other and the clients. The driver, on the other hand, has to focus on what’s ahead and can’t lose sight of the road or something terrible might happen.

Consider this, stop the bus once in a while and ask the passengers how they are doing. Do they like the bus? Do they trust the driver? What would make the bus ride more enjoyable? Would they like to stop and pick up some friends so those friends can be on the bus too?

Answers to questions like these might be just what we need to make sure the right people are in the right seats on the bus; and no doubt, if acted on, will lead to a happier bus ride for everyone.

Have you taken the time to stop your company’s bus lately?