| Partnerships | Coach Training Alliance
American Society for Training & Development
|
| HOI ASTD | |
American Society of Training and Development is an excellent group for networking and training.
Contact me for more information OR you can visit the website for more information and to register for the event http://astdhoi.org
|
|
|
Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you're not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.
- David Rockefeller
|
|
|
|
News from Goranson Consulting, Inc.
|
Greetings!
This month we are going to dig deeper into employee engagement as promised. This issue will address the key component that always, always comes up wherever I go? Clear communication. Especially when setting expectations, delegating work, establishing goals, prioritizing and assigning work. It is NOT easy and needs to be continually monitored, self-managed and critiqued in order to stay on track and avoid the inherent problems that arise when we fail to do this well, whether a manager or a front-lines team member. Please note that much of this month's newsletter is written from the perspective of the boss handing off work to a direct report but a lot of this can be applied in all the various scenarios where one person is assigning work, asking for help, etc. Take a quick look and let me know what works for you!
I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter.
DG
|
The Highlights
- Be as clear as possible. When communicating with direct reports, peers or bosses up the org chart, clarity is king! Be concise, ask questions to check in for understanding and buy-in and welcome feedback and questions. That way you have the highest likelihood for success.
- Whenever possible and appropriate, make things assigned, delegated, handed off time-bound and measurable. By when? How much? Etc. This is important so that you are clear on what you want from the individual on the other end of that communication. This helps eliminate or greatly reduce the chance for misdirection on the task/project/work assigned. And THIS helps control the chance for stress and conflict created when something is seemingly not done as we wished.
- Explain the "WHY". Why is this important? What will it do for us, me, the team, the organization???? Why am I being given the work? Answering this question should help in getting more buy in and cooperation if done properly.
- Check in with the person given the project, task, whatever on a number of fronts. Before beginning it! Some examples might be, "Have you ever done this type of work before?" "Where do you think you should start with this?" "What can I do to support your efforts with this?"(NOT 'how can I help you'!)
- Confirm for understanding. A great way to do so, pending the dynamics of the relationship(boss/direct report? Co-worker? ), is to check in for understanding. And HOW the heck do you do that? One great way would be to just ask them "So, tell me what your understanding of this project/task/conversation is? Help me make sure I communicated this properly in order to help ensure your/our success." Yes, this approach is NOT always necessary or appropriate, but when something obviously is more than routine, day to day tasks....use it!
- Set an agreed upon time and date to reconnect and see how things are progressing, if there are any roadblocks or challenges to completing the job satisfactorily.
- Once things are complete, catch them doing something right today. Recognize their efforts. Be specific on what they did particularly well. Again, be clear and concise with specific examples. Encourage them to do more of this in the future.
- Once done and the high five's are taken care of with them, ask a few key questions to configure a mini-recap of takeaways and measures of success. Some possible options on what to ask might be as follows: "How'd this project go for you?" "What went well?" "What did you learn from doing this?" "Is there anything I could or should do differently in the future to help make this go more smoothly for you?"
- Successful, significant work projects, tasks, presentations completed......file away in the employee file when you're the boss. This serves as great info at performance review time.
|
|
IF you adopt some of these techniques as a leader, there are a number of great things that can come about as a result.
- Taking this approach when leading, managing, delegating, assigning work, etc. helps build confidence and in turn competence, within the person given the work.
- This style of communication and delegation sets you up as a mentor/coach/teacher and not a task master. This is a much better place to be!
- As a leader, by using this type of communication with your team, you begin to start doing what SO many find difficult - delegate and get it off your plate!! And in turn, you begin to help in the development of your team members while building some new people leadership skills for yourself as well.
- Happier, more engaged employees is the ultimate outcome of this method of communication. And YOU will be feeling more engaged and energized as well!
Thanks for reading, everyone. To your success!
Dave Goranson
Goranson Consulting, Inc.
|
|
|
