4 things my team taught me this week

In our daily operational fire fighting mode, supervisors often forget a few things. Surprisingly if we remember them, things get done faster, fixed at a root level and create a long, sustainable and healthy working environment.

This is what I learnt from my team last week!

Keep it simple

We all know Jargons are a thing of the past. Using Jargons to sound smart, making things complex to sound important are done and dusted. Employees are now much smarter. They can see through this talk.

Keeping things simple, clear & clutter free will help them see the real purpose of the task.

Create transparency

Any employee has the right to know why they are assigned a particular task. What is the expected outcome? How does this task add up to larger scheme of things?

More than a right, it is an essential component to ensure success of the task. Not providing the complete information for the task, will mean setting it up for failure.

If you do not trust the employee to use the information in the right manner, then there is a bigger problem to worry about.

Provide flexibility

Once a task is assigned and all the required information and authority is provided, let the employee decide the best way to achieve it. Give the space and freedom to go about doing the job. Let them experiment, make a few mistakes (without hurting the outcome). Pitch in to support when required.

You want the job completed well right?

Use skills

Finally but before you go about doing these things, pick people with the right skills for the job. Identifying skills, making the best use of right people for the right job is an intrinsic part of the role of a manager.