You Get What You Ask For. How to Delegate Effectively

I’m in trouble with one of my clients. He asked for something yesterday. I gave it to him yesterday. But he really wanted it last week.

Could and should I have anticipated that he really wanted it last week? Yes. But I’m not unlike your good employees. I’m good at what I do, but I put off the hard stuff that is complex and takes a lot of focus and time until it is due.

I told my client what I tell all the managers I work with, don’t set deadlines as the final, drop dead moment you need something. Build in time to review work and have a few rounds of feedback and edits before final deadlines. The biggest opportunity I see for managers to make their lives easier and less stressful, in addition to giving employees regular and timely feedback, is to how to delegate better.

A sales person I was coaching lost a project because he submitted the RFP on the day of the deadline. The prospect said that because the salesperson waited until the last minute to submit the proposal, she feared he would leave all work to the last minute, and she just couldn’t work with someone like that.

Rather than test people or set them up to fail, just tell people what you really need.

Employees are not you. They don’t do things the way you do. If you have a picture of how a project should look, I’ll bet you any amount of money your employee has a very different picture of how that project should look. As you assign work, if you picture data being put in a table or a graph, your employee most likely has a different picture. If you want a color coded process map, ask for a process map. If you want three bullets rather than a detailed narrative, ask for three bullets, rather than being frustrated by receiving too much information you now have to weed through.

Set realistic and meaningful deadlines. Don’t set short deadlines because you don’t trust your employees to do what they say they will do. If you have an employee who constantly misses deadlines and doesn’t do what he says he will do, that’s a different conversation. That’s a feedback conversation.

You want to give employees enough room to stretch themselves but not enough room to fail. If you have a project that’s due at the end of January, ask to see pieces of the work along the way, perhaps weekly. Give feedback regularly, enabling employees to make changes to small pieces of work rather than to the entire project. Reviewing small pieces of work regularly reduces frustration and rework. Finishing a project and being told to start over because it wasn’t what the other person was looking for has damaged many working relationships.

You get what you ask for. What are you asking for?

Motivating Employees – Manage Your So-So Employees Up or Out

Motivating employees can be tough. Aren’t you tired of hearing managers say they have no control and there is nothing they can do about:

• Long time employees who are so-so performers, are at the top of their pay grade and aren’t going anywhere
• Employees who are three to five years from retirement and have no incentive to improve their performance
• Employees who are ‘protected’ by a senior person and are ineffective but untouchable
• And lastly, but most annoying, that HR won’t let managers do anything about employees who are not producing results.

None of these things are true. Managers at any level and with any amount of formal authority can incent a higher level of performance without raising salaries, promoting or rotating employees to a new job. It’s called management. And it isn’t fun, but it does work.

Employees will hit whatever bar managers establish. If the bar is at 80%, employees will hit 80% or below. If the bar is at 50%, employees will hit 50% or below. Exceptional employees will achieve results higher than whatever bar managers set. Managers don’t need to push their best employees to set high expectations and achieve outstanding results. Driven employees excel on his/her own. But it’s not your best employees we are talking about here.

We’re talking about the employees who are coasting, doing their minimal best, clocking in and clocking out, biding time, hoping not be found out. Many people think this kind of performance is limited to the public sector and that corporations are exempt from unmotivated employees. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I hear the same complaints from my clients in corporations, not-for-profits and government agencies. No organization is exempt.

As sexy as it doesn’t sound, managers need to get back to the basics.

The formula for motivating employees:

1)     Set clear expectations with employees at the beginning of the year – a.k.a. now!

Write clear, specific and challenging goals either with or for employees. Seasoned employees should write their own goals. Managers should review and edit those goals, if necessary. Managers should write goals with or for resisters.

2)     Managers should meet with employees regularly to discuss progress or lack thereof, and give feedback.

Now, for the part no manager wants to do.

There is no employee on earth who enjoys being told s/he is not doing a good job. People have a need to be seen as good, if not perfect. When anyone calls our competence into question – in the form of feedback – we get upset. Being defensive is an inevitable part of being human.

The unsexy, tedious but effective way for managers to motivate even the most blasé employees is to give feedback about unacceptable behavior every time s/he sees it. Every time. If Lauren is late, give Lauren feedback about being late –every time she is late. If Brian is heard complaining about new policies and initiatives, give him feedback about it –every time you hear it. If Amber is late in turning in reports, give her feedback about it –every time a report is late.

No one likes to be told s/he isn’t doing a good job. If managers address behavior often enough, employees will change their behavior or leave. Both achieve the desired result.

Your best employees are watching how you manage your weaker employees. Top performers are annoyed that they are working hard while others are allowed to coast. Moving your so-so performers up or out raises your best employees’ morale and commitment to the company, and raises everyone’s performance.

Assume Nothing for Fewer Difficult Conversations

The locker room at my gym is becoming a dump.  If it wasn’t enjoying the privilege of paying more, a.k.a. this is one of the most shi shi (overpriced) gyms in town, I wouldn’t care. But it is, so I do.  I joined this gym because it’s really, really nice and was really, really clean.  I tell myself that perhaps because the gym is so nice, maybe I’ll use it. This self brainwashing hasn’t worked yet.  But I’m still hopeful.

Last week I made a rare visit to the gym. Perhaps I just wanted to be sure it was still in the same location.  The locker room, which is more like a spa than a gym, was trashed.  There were used towels and paper cups strewn everywhere, and people had left their dirty gym clothes draped on the benches.  Being the Queen of Candor, I HAD to write a comment card.

I told the gym’s manager that I was disappointed that members don’t take better care of the locker room and that it is not the cleaning staff’s job to clean up after us.  I also suggested that the membership team set expectations with new members and guests about what it means to be a member.  “Clean up after yourself in the locker room.  We are all responsible for keeping the gym as nice as it is.”

The manager promptly sent me an email.  He told me he too is disappointed that members didn’t take better care of the gym, but that he can’t tell members and guests that they are expected to clean up after themselves. He said it was too condescending. “It’s a given. People should know that they are expected to clean up their messes.  I can’t tell them that,” he said.

Yes, people should know to clean up after themselves.  But clearly they don’t.

His response surprised me.  Clearly if people knew they needed to put away their towels and garbage, they would do it.  Why not tell them?

Other people are not us. They don’t do things the way we do. I highly doubt that people will be offended if we tell them what we want.  We actually make their lives easier by telling them how to win with us.

All the sales staff has to say is, “We’re proud of how nice this gym is. Thank you for helping us keep the facility as nice as it is by putting away your dirty towels, being sure you throw out all of your trash and taking your gym clothes with you when you leave.  If everyone does these things, the gym will remain as nice as it is today.”

Condescending?  I don’t think so.

Assume nothing.  Set expectations when things begin.  Don’t wait for breakdowns, miscommunications or violated expectations. Just tell people what you expect.   Making requests is a form of conflict prevention.  Asking for what you want when things begin is much easier than telling someone they’re doing something wrong.   The better you set expectations, the fewer difficult conversations you’ll have to have.   Ask more. Assume less.®