Communicate, Clarify, Control
The job of every
leader and manager is make sure that their people:
- Know what they’re meant to do and why;
- Know how they are to do it (and any limits on freedom of action);
- Know that the leader will control what’s going on.
Sad to say, too many leaders feel that it’s enough just to
give an order. I once spent three months
with a client setting up various processes for him. Two years later, he told me that nothing had
been done to implement and maintain them.
When I asked if he (as the
leader) had actually followed up and made sure that things were done, he didn’t
answer. He’d said that things should be
done, after all…
This leader hadn’t followed what I call the “3 Cs” of
leadership in getting things done:
- Communicate
- Clarify
- Control (some may call this “Check” instead)
At best, he’d only done the “communicate” bit and simply
expected others to follow up.
Another case involved an industry group that wanted to have
the staff who worked in that industry trained to certain professional
standards. They spent a considerable sum
of money sending five staff to be trained as trainers in another country, but
couldn’t then clarify what they
actually wanted. It was left to the
trainers to work this out from vague remarks made by the group committee
representative.
Needless to say, this resulted in considerable delays whilst
the trainers asked for guidance, were told to “just get on with it” and then
produced something that, in the committee’s opinion, wasn’t what they actually
wanted.
One of the problems that leaders may face is that they’re so
busy that they may have limited time for the “clarify”, let alone “control”
aspects of their job. Equally, they may
feel that being too “controlling” implies to their staff that they don’t trust
them to do the job right. This results
in a situation where if they don't spend time on these, they’re likely to spend
more time sorting out the resulting mess afterwards.
They key is balance. A leader has a perfect right to check up on what’s going on with a project that they’ve delegated. This is to make sure that:
- Things are on course;
- Any additional clarification that’s needed is given when it’s needed;
- Any errors can be rectified.
If you have a highly competent team, then you can allow them
more freedom. If the project is one in
which they have little experience, a firmer hand may be needed until you're
happy that they can manage on their own.
It it’s important, then definitely
control.
This implies that you also need to understand the strengths
and weaknesses of your team and the individuals who make it up. Who can be trusted to “get on with it”, and
who needs more supervision?
Doing Delegation Right,
and Delegation - Art or Science? which I wrote earlier, might also help in making sure that things
get done.
Sometimes you have to invest time to save it in the long
run…
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 09:41
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