Leadership | Management
Why Your Perfectionism is Killing The Team’s Problem Solving Ability
— and no, your “good intentions” don’t absolve you
Context
Are you someone who strives for excellence in everything they do? Do you refuse to accept your team’s outputs unless they meet your high standards?
At lunch, one of my analysts shared with me his most memorable moment from one of our previous projects.
“I’ll never forget that time you asked me why the first bullet point had a period, and the second bullet point did not. I really had to pay a lot of attention to the consistency of my work before sending it to you.”
At first, I laughed.
Not laughed, cackled.
See, in my line of work [Management Consulting], it is practically a point of pride to be perceived as a tough boss.
Others in my position would never admit to this of course. If called out on it, they would simply perform their “Act Scandalized” skit which would sound something like “What... No, I’m not a tough boss am I?” But secretly, you know they’re loving it.
Be it through inspirational means or by evoking fear, commanding respect from your team members in a project context is VITAL if you want to make your project a success.
But my colleague wasn’t laughing.
Instead, he sported an uneasy, pursed-lipped smile to be polite and continued eating his lunch.
The Problem
Take, for example, the list of bullet points below. This list is an example of what was often submitted to me during the project as a “draft approach” to tackling a client issue.
After receiving this list, my response would be something like this:
“ Hey, I noticed some inconsistencies in your submission. Let’s discuss.”
“Why do the bullet points change from squares to circles midway through?”
“Why is there a double space in the third line?”
“And is there a reason why the second bullet has a full stop and the rest do not?”
“Can you please start the sentences with capital letters?”
“Did you run a spell check? I’m finding more errors…”
Fair comments? Yes.
Recommended approach? A DEFINITE NO.
In my incessant need to strive for excellence in ALL my team’s outputs, I hurt my team’s confidence and their ability to deliver excellent content.
In pointing out the most minute of inconsistencies over and over again, I hurt their ability to prioritize which outputs required more care.
My actions also forced them to second guess themselves. The resulting anxiety from second guessing themselves led to exhaustion and then further instances of poor performance.
After deep reflection, I remember noticing three gradual changes in my team’s performance.
1. Producing Outputs Took Longer
After every review call, my analysts would go back and take time correcting their inconsistencies. But they would also need to make sure that they wouldn’t make the same mistakes again in future outputs. The added effort resulted in more time spent on producing the outputs, regardless of the task. Even if it was a few bullet points for an internal discussion, they paid close attention to the minor details to ensure consistency.
2. Levels of Confidence Were Reduced
Due to my constant calling out of errors, the team started to have a growing sense of doubt every time they produced a piece of work. No matter the level of importance, whenever I asked a question, the level of confidence in answering that question deteriorated over time. This was a direct result of my manner of providing feedback, which was to always point out mistakes in their work.
3. Critical Thinking Was Deprioritized
Although the team invested more time and effort in ensuring consistency, the deadlines to produce the deliverables did not change. Naturally, the quality of the content being produced declined. In forcing my team to triple check the work, regardless of the context, the team devoted less time to critical thinking. This can also be explained as a biproduct of the reduced levels of confidence.
The Solution
After receiving this feedback and upon further reflection, I changed my behaviour. And there was a striking difference in my team’s performance. The teams I managed felt more confident, and this in turn increased their productivity.
What did I change? We can boil it down to four guiding principles.
1. Pick Your Moments
You don’t have to jump down your team’s throats every time they miss a comma. Take stock of what purpose the required serves, and gauge whether to employ heavy quality checks. You might find that a quick and dirty solution better suits that instance, saving the team’s effort for more challenging tasks.
2. Set Expectations from the Start
Make it clear to your team what the expectation is. Communicating the purpose of the output would help them prioritize their work and allow them to allocate their energy to more important tasks. This may seem like a simple thing to do, but many managers fail to communicate this to their team, effectively resulting in a disconnect between the two. Reminding yourself that your team’s time and energy are finite will help you identify the areas which you want them to spend the most effort on.
3. Be Assertive, Not Aggressive
You can be a tough boss, but don’t be that person who’s threatening to give career ending feedback to someone because they added an extra space in the footnote. Being assertive if your team member has repeated the error on many occasions after you have corrected them previously is ok. Continue expressing why this level of excellence is required and communicate how this is helpful in the grand scheme of things. Being aggressive by threatening them and letting your frustration come out can demotivate and also burn them out in the long run.
4. Practice Self Awareness
Think about how you come across to your team members. Showing a lack of patience causes anxiety, and your team may not be able to produce outputs to their fullest potential. Instead, try to practice patience as much as possible, and communicate the reason for each piece of feedback.
In addition, sharing your feedback as points of improvement and acknowledging that your team members want to improve will also help them digest your message.
Following the example of the submission above, I should have changed my response and initiate the conversation in the following manner:
“Hey Analyst, thanks for the effort. I know you want to perform better. Let me help you with some points on how to improve for the next iteration. Since this is going in front of a client, maybe we can emphasize quality and work on improving the consistency of the documentation…”
Conclusion
While it may seem like the right thing to do at the time, resist the urge to call out every inconsistency you see in front of you. As a leader, prioritize the asks yourself before pushing that burden on to the team. Empower your team members by communicating WHY the feedback helps them. By making your feedback team member-centric and recognizing that they want to improve too, your team will be more likely to get more from the feedback. Show the team that you are working for them, and not against.
