Why Do Workers Keep Searching Out Jobs

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Laura Lee Rose

Two recent surveys found that a majority of full-time workers continue searching out job opportunities, usually online and often through social media. What are the pluses and potential pitfalls of being on the search continually.

There are often many reasons for job-window-shopping:

1) If workers are not satisfied with their current work environment, they will continually look elsewhere.

The advantage to this is that many people can handle a ‘bad working environment’ as long as they see a light at the end of the tunnel (a potential new position in the horizon).

2) People are always curious. We window-shop. We want to see what is out there. Like window-shopping, people like to compare their current wardrobe to see if anything is missing, etc. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are wanting to ‘jump ship’. This is an advantage to everyone if you take this new desire and new knowledge to your manager to see if there are appropriate jobs opportunities in your current company that fits what is attracting you out there. Management would be prudent to hold frequent career development one-on-one meetings, so that they understand what their talented employees are looking forward to doing. It the employee sees that there is no ‘next step’ within their current company, they should feel allowed to look more seriously at their next step outside of their current company.

3) People need to feel valued and want to be continually challenged in their area of passion. At a certain professional level, it is not ‘money’ that satisfies. It is more likely to be a combination of money, autonomy and mastery opportunities that are more aligned with the individual’s passion and talent. If management isn’t listening, they are likely to loose their most valuable employees — because it is the talented that walk and the weak that stay.

4) If management uses this opportunity to negatively affect the employee’s advancement opportunities, then management is short-sighted. The employee is doing what they need to do to create the most effective and efficient match between what they want to do with their careers and what they are actually doing with their careers. The employee is acting responsibly. Management would be acting responsibly by listening and reviewing current company opportunities that better match their employee’s talents and passion.

Do you have a ‘ready-to-use’ resume or press kit? To get a sample Professional Press Kit worksheet,

How to judge appropriately

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Laura Lee Rose

The most misquoted verse in the Bible is probably Matthew 7:1, “Judge not that ye be not judged.”
It’s impossible not to judge. Telling someone else “not to judge” — shows you have made the judgment that they are judging. Most opinions, descriptions, decisions, views, rulings, and critiques are judgments.
In the workplace, performance review and evaluations are judgments on both subjective and objective criteria. Business decisions are based on market comparisons and our judgment on ROI (Return On Investments). Project management schedules and delivery schedules are based on group opinions and past performance trends.

I’m not sure when ‘judging’ attracted such a negative connotation. But we can’t take inspired action without allowing some level of judgment within us and others.

The key is to judge righteously and appropriately.

“Great! So how does one go about judging appropriately?”

In my GoTo Academy: Soft Skill Tools for the GoTo Professional continuous online coaching series, I go into these things in detail.
If you are interested in more training in these areas, please sign-up for the continuing online coaching series.

Here are a few things to consider, when making a ruling (or judgment):

Be self-aware of any hidden agenda or expectations.
Use accurate data from multiple sources
Be wary of ambiguous and vague descriptions (indicators of innuendos, rumors and assumptions).
Disengage from the results (have no hidden agenda or expectations)
Don’t take anything personally
Give everyone the benefit of the doubt

The above steps seem simple enough, but how would we incorporate in the real-world? Below are some common professional situations:

In my on-line coaching series, we use some typical employee complaints and frustrations. Please add your frustrations to this list for practice.

My manager is not a people person.
My manager has never learned people skills.
My manager avoids confrontation at all costs.
My manager is showing favoritism.
My manager doesn’t like me.
My coworker is a racist and is lying about me.
My coworker is getting paid more than I am, and I’m doing more work than he/she.
My coworker is always submitting buggy code and it the reason my piece is late.
This company expects me to work 24/7.
This company won’t give promotions or any type of recognition.

Be self-aware of any hidden agenda or expectations.
Most of the above examples have a hidden agenda. The ‘finger’ is consistently pointing to someone else. Maybe you know the saying, “When you point one finger, there are three fingers pointing back. And this is the case in these examples. We create our own situations (good and bad).
Regardless of the specific incident, you have contributed to your current situation. While blaming someone else provides some limited relief, it doesn’t really release you from your responsibility (your ability to respond).
Review your higher-level mission and what you can do to set things right.

“How could I have handled this differently? What can I do right now that illustrates my expert people-skills, my social skills, and my ease in handling conflicts and confrontations? This incident doesn’t depend on my manager’s people and social skills. This incident depends upon my expert people and social skills. My professional reputation is my responsibility, not my manager’s responsibility.”

Be wary of ambiguous and vague descriptions (indicators of innuendos, rumors and assumptions).
Ambiguity leaves the door open for innuendos, imagination and assumptions. When you are use words like: never, always, mostly, chances are that you don’t really have your facts together.

Use accurate data from multiple sources
As you gather your accurate data, validate it across multiple sources. Remember that each source may have their own agenda or personal perspective. Relying on one or two sources with the same personal agenda

Disengage from the results (have no hidden agenda or expectations)

When you are collecting the data, disengage from the results. When you have an idea of what you want the answer to be, you will often collect data that supports your expectations. If you enter into the discovery phase with no expectations and an open mind, you are more likely to make appropriate judgments.

Once Upon a Classic

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Laura Lee Rose

There is a fabulous fantasy series called “Once Upon A Time” that I admit I watch/tape. I enjoy it because it takes the fairy tales that we all know and love — and re-arranges them a little. It puts a different spin on the “same ole, same ole”. It’s very innovative. If you haven’t bumped into it — check your local tv listings for it.

So — what does this have to do with today’s discussion? EVERYTHING!

Have you heard of the Butterfly Effect? (if not — watch below video). What can you do differently today — to put a little bit of a spin on things? I’m not suggesting anything too dramatic. But, what do you think would happen if you were to :

Instead of always asking your kids “How was your day? What happened today?” — You asked them “What do you want to happen differently tomorrow? What are your plans for tomorrow?”
Instead of always asking your co-worker “How is it going?” — you told them how much you appreciated their help in XYZ?
Instead of always accepting a task that you don’t have time for — you were deliberate about your time and always honest about your current task list? What if you periodically recommended someone else for a task that doesn’t fit your current goals?
Instead of always secretly complaining about how a meeting is run — you were to step-up and facilitated one of those meetings?
Instead of coming home always exhausted – you took the time to walk around your block before entering the house? A brisk walk allows you to clear your head, get oxygen into your body and usually uplifts your spirit. You will be greeting your family in a much better and energized mood.

What if you altered your habits just slightly? What do you think would happen?
Watch this video on the Butterfly Effect — and let me what steps you are ready to take right now.

How To Say No/Tactfully Leave Volunteer Positions

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Laura Lee Rose

I recently received the question ” How do I say ‘no’ to volunteer positions I don’t have time for or don’t want?”
How does one tactfully leave a volunteer position that has become overwhelming, stressful, or is requiring too much time? How do I take better charge of my time in the new year? Read on www.lauraleerose.com/blog

Although this is a common situation —this really isn’t as difficult as we often make it, if you truly understand and accept your value AND acknowledge all the opportunities there are to help.

CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE:

1) You are in the driver’s seat in a volunteer position.

2) Legitimate volunteer organizations appreciate your un-paid time, energy and talent. They don’t really want to do anything that would burn your bridges with them. The ‘tact’ responsibility is therefore, on their side; not yours.

3) Any time, energy, attention you can provide is appreciated with nonjudgmental hearts, at any legitimate volunteer organization. Volunteer organizations do not expect these volunteers to be long-term. It’s not how they work.

4) Volunteer organizations expect short-term stays and large turn-overs. Retention rates are 0. They are equipped to handle this. It’s not a big deal to them. This is in their wheel-house. So – don’t make it a big deal. Don’t make it personal.

4) If it has become too time consuming and overwhelming — this is on you. Therefore, consider reducing your hours or limiting your task responsibilities. Volunteer organizations are appreciative of any level of assistance. They are not the ones telling you that you need to put in these hours or do these tasks.

5) If you can not assist at all at this time, don’t apologize for taking care of yourself. You can not help others if you aren’t taking care of yourself. Things change. Lifestyles and events ebb and wane. Volunteer organizations understand this and they do not take it personally.

6) The volunteer organization has the entire community as a resource; you have yourself. They have better opportunities to fill their positions than you have in accomplishing your personal goals. Therefore, offer to keep an eye out for other people that might like to volunteer for them. Continue to refer others. Although the work needs to be done, it doesn’t have to be done by you. Helping them to find a replacement will be of value to them (although I would not agree to stay in that position until they find a replacement. Doing this gives them no incentive to find a replacement).

7) Realize that if the work you are doing is truly a MUST DO for their organization — they will find someone else to accomplish that task. If they don’t have someone to replace you — that means it wasn’t a MUST DO in the first place.

Sometimes (but not all of the time) it’s not the volunteering that you don’t have time for — it’s the way you are going about it. The way you can make a difference is unlimited.

Volunteer differently:

1) You can reduce or limit your time or tasks — so that it does fit your current lifestyle.

2) You can ask them to contact you in 6 months (or whenever you feel you will be able to donate again). Or contact you when they have a special occasion that needs some extra hands.

3) Consider re-aligning your tasks to support your own career and professional goals. If you are a software developer, then instead of agreeing to clean out the cat-litter at your local ASPCA — offer to work on their website. If you are in marketing and sales — offer to handle their promotions and marketing projects. Integrate your volunteering directly into your professional business development plans.

4) Refer both business opportunities (money making opportunities) and other volunteers to this organization.

5) Use your social media contacts (i.e. facebook walls or linkdin contacts) and blogs to tell people about your experience at this volunteer organization. Ask this organization is there are specific highlights or emphasis that they would like you to publicize.

6) Donate a portion of your Visa or Mastercard Reward Points to this organization to show your appreciation. Since Reward Points really don’t cost you anything — suggest that they create a Reward Point Donation center…such that others can easily donate a portion of their reward points.

7)Offer to keep an eye out for other people that might like to volunteer for them. Continue to refer others.

If you relax into the knowledge that volunteering isn’t an off-on switch or yes/no opportunity, you will be more at ease with handling these types of changing situations. Stress often comes from limited thinking. For example: “If I help, I have to help this way. I want to help — but I can’t do it this way.” This causes an internal dilemma and therefore stress. Volunteer organizations are open to all sorts of collaborations. I recommend that you be open as well.

Secrets to Taking Command of Your Own Performance Review Part III

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Laura Lee Rose

What makes up a Personal Business Commitment plan? Who creates it? Who approves it? How does it fit in the performance rating process?

Professional development series

This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and life coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. In my GoTo Academy: Soft Skill Tools for the GoTo Professional continuous online coaching series, I go into office etiquette on various real-world IT topics in detail.
If you are interested in more training in these areas, please sign-up for the continuing online coaching series.

In the recent interview with Steve Wynkoop (founder of SSWUG.org) we covered some tips to taking more control of our own performance evaluation process (don’t miss another professional newsletter tip—signup for the free newsletter here). This article covers the topic in more detail.

Last interview and article, we quickly mentioned the Personal Business Commitment tool as a great way to communicate your goals and commitments to your manager. But what makes up a Personal Business Commitment plan? Who creates it? Who approves it? How does it fit in the performance rating process?

Let’s take these questions individually.

Who writes the PBC? Does my manager or do I?

In the idea world, the PBC is a two-way street. Your manager would share his/her PBC goals with you. Then you would create your PBC and commit to your SMART goals that will support your manager in his/her goals. Your Business Commitments are just that; commitments to the business to make the business prosperous and successful. (See my articles on always ‘thinking like the owner’ for more tips on this; or subscribe to the weekly newsletter here)

What does a PBC look like?

It can be as simple as stating what you plan to do to support your manager in his/her goals. Clear state your business intentions in SMART language (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound). Plan ahead as you write your goals. Identify some Reasonable Forcing Functions and accountability partners to help you accomplish these goals. For more information on Reasonable Forcing Functions and accountability partners, please sign-up for the continuing online coaching series.

Example could be:

¡ Be an effective leader in the organization by promoting the goals of XXX
Grow the XXX Program from its infancy stage and gain recognition from executives
Deliver quality programs in an on-time, and in effective manner which validates the design and market suitability.
Manage and lead others in their efforts toward the PBC goals
Continue to drive a more effective use of our tools in-house.
Have a positive influence on revenue associated with XX products

It’s also important that you keep track of your own progress. Don’t depend upon your manager to remember everything that you are doing or are accomplishing. Don’t even depend upon your memory at the time of your performance review. Keep a running Accomplishment Folder throughout the year. Keep your Professional Press Kit and resume up to date with your transferable skills, technical certifications, publications, patents, etc. For more business coaching on these things, please sign-up for the continuing online coaching series or contact mailto:LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Keep an open communication with your manager. Initiate quarterly performance review meetings with your managers, mentors and coaches. Facilitate frequent status one-on-one meetings with your manager. The more frequent your performance-based meetings are, the less daunting they will become. You and your manager’s goals are the same: To Achieve Your Business Commitments. And since your PBCs support your manager’s PBCs; your success is also his success.

What is an IDP?

My upcoming “Taking Command of Your Performance Review” Workshop will go into detail on this topic. It’s a three-hour workshop (75 minutes of presentation content and 90 minutes of actual hand-on coaching of the provided worksheets). At the end of the workshop, you will have a customized PBC and IDP started.

For more information on this critical workshop, see

https://www.lauraleerose.com/take-command-of-your-performance-reviews/

Conclusions:

Don’t wait until the last minute to prepare for your performance review. Consider everything that you do in the work environment as input into your performance evaluation process. Keep an achievement folder to continually collect your accomplishments (until waiting until the last minute to remember them). Read the follow-up articles in this series for more information. Or better yet; attend the workshop at https://www.lauraleerose.com/take-command-of-your-performance-reviews/

If you liked this tips, more can be found at www.lauraleerose.com/blog or subscribe to my weekly professional tips newsletter at http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

The weekly newsletter contains tips on:
1)      Time management
2)      Career maintenance
3)      Business networking
4)      Work life balance strategies

If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Designing an Above Average Performance Rating

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Laura Lee Rose

Designing an Above Average Performance Rating

Professional development series

Last few interviews and articles; we introduced the Personal Business Commitment tool as a great way to communicate your goals and commitments to your manager. We also discussed the importance of frequent meetings with your manager on the topic. This is great for getting a “Meet Expectation” or average performance rating. What if I wanted to get an Above Expectations, Above Average or even and Exceptional performance rating? How would I go about that?

How do I go about designing an Above Average rating?

Well – the first step is having a frank discussion with your manager on what he/she sees as “Above Expectations”.

For example: A developer’s primary role and responsibility is perhaps to design, code, test, and deliver high quality products and services. Being an exceptional development is exactly what your manager expects of you. Therefore, being an exceptional developer (even though you feel that it warrants you an Exceptional rating) is a “meet expectation” to your manager. There is nothing wrong here – except there is a mismatch of understanding.

Above Expectations or Above Average often refers to activities outside your regular development duties (while still accomplishing your regular duties with high quality). If you were to get published in a technical journal, present at a technical conference, bring back sales leads (contact names, numbers, email address from people that attended your presentation or workshop), visited client sites to provide on-site Q&A, job-shared with a Technical Support person so that you gained additional customer insight into your product, manned a Tradeshow booth as the technical support partner to the sales force, or conduct an executive business strategy proposal based on your innovation – those things would fall outside normal expectations for a developer. If you were to accomplish those things in addition to your high quality development responsibilities, that would better warrant an Above Expectation rating.

Gosh! If that’s an Exceeds Expectations or Above Average, what the heck is Exceptional and Excels Expectations? This rating seems impossible.

Once again, it means sitting down with your manager to discuss what they see as Exceptional. More often it is tied to the business results of your “extra activities”. For instance, if your client visit (which is outside of the normal duties of a developer) caused the client to purchase $50,000.00 more product or services – that would be exceptional. If you conference presentation and subsequent collection of contact names/emails, lead to a huge sale – that would be exceptional. If your presentation to the executives an on innovative business strategy was accepted, executed and successful – that would be exceptional. If the business result of your activities propelled the business forward faster to the business goals – that would be exceptional.

Conclusions:

The key is to have this discussion with your manager to understand what your manager feels is Above Expectations. If you have no clue on your manager’s scaling process, you are less likely to hit the target.

If you liked this tips, more can be found at www.lauraleerose.com/blog or subscribe to my weekly professional tips newsletter at http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

The weekly newsletter contains tips on:
1)      Time management
2)      Career maintenance
3)      Business networking
4)      Work life balance strategies

If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Detaching from results opens doors to new possibilities.

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Laura Lee Rose

Detaching from results opens doors to new possibilities.

This week I have been reviewing some of the events that lead me to some of my largest successes. Almost all of them stemmed from unexpected and unforeseen resources.

Some examples:

Last several years I had been invited to speak at the DevLink Technical Conferences in Tennessee. Last year SSWUG.org was attracted to my DevLink seminars and invited me to Tuscon, AZ to tape 4 seminars for their SSWUG.org online webinar series. This led me to a wonderful working relationship with Stephen WynKoop (founder of Bits on the Wire and SSWUG.org). We now have a weekly interview program and online coaching series on professional development.
A few years ago, I presented at a local company health fair. There I met Theresa Corcoran (who was manning another booth at the fair. Today we are business partners at 360 Degree Inspired Success (www.360degreeInspiredSuccess.com)

In both cases, I had no reason to expect these results.

1) Although DevLink is an exceptional conference, I had no reason to believe that another company would be interested in video and incorporating the 4 presentations into their main-stream learning cycle.

2) After I connected with SSWUG, the DevLink invitation stopped coming. This was very interesting to me because it led me to believe that my DevLink interaction has completed its mission. The sole reason for DevLink to cross my path this way was to allow me to hook up with SSWUG and to better sales opportunities.

3) The local company health fair only had 20 employees. On the surface, one may have thought it wasn’t worth my time or energy. But I met my future business partner — which is leading me to better recurring revenue stream in areas that are in my genius.

Bottom Line:

Don’t attach to a specific result. Chances are that the results of our actions are not always predictable or immediate.

Take a deep breath and relax….everything is unfolding perfectly.

Secrets to Taking Command of Your Own Performance Review Part II

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Laura Lee Rose

Secrets to Taking Command of Your Own Performance Review Part II

Let’s take these questions individually.

What makes up a Personal Business Commitment plan?

The PBC contains a list of high-level business goals (typically handed down from the executive and management ladder). The goals could be similar to:

1) Increase sales by 50% by year end

2) Retain 100% current clients and increase 10% of new client

3) Release at least 3 new high-quality, in-demand products/service by year end

4) Reduce incoming Customer Complaints by 50%

5) Resolve 100% of critical and high-level complaints with 72 hours of issue.

6) Resolve backlog of customer complaints by 75%

Once you have your manager’s business commitment goals, you can draft your personal business goals to support them.

Also create an IDP (Individual Development Plan) to accompany your PBC. This plan will outline how you intend to stay up-to-date on the new technology and critical business skills. Include any intentions for external professional coaching, internal mentoring programs, job-sharing opportunities, conference attendance, etc. Make sure your IDP ties in with your PBC and your manager’s PBC goals.

The intent is to have a blueprint for the year. If you know where you are heading, it’s much easier to get there.

For more information on this critical workshop, see https://www.lauraleerose.com/take-command-of-your-performance-reviews/

Who creates it?

In the idea world, the PBC is a two-way street. Your manager would share his/her PBC goals with you (which he/she created from their manager’s PBC and so forth up the ladder). Then you would create your PBC and commit to your SMART goals that will support your manager in his/her goals. Your Business Commitments are just that; commitments to the business to make the business prosperous and successful. (See my articles on always ‘thinking like the owner’ for more tips on this; or subscribe to the weekly newsletter here)

If your manager hasn’t created his/her PBC goals, initiate a one-on-one discussion. Request a meeting in which the sole purpose is to walk out with a set of PBC goals in which tie your PBC.

Who approves it?

Both you and your manager collaborate and approve it. It requires both signatures. Often times, the manager would then have his/her manager sign-off on it as well. It is critical that you have it documented and signed, because a change of manager often occurs. If this documented and signed, you can have something to refer to with the new manager.

How does it fit in the performance rating process?

Once this is created and approved, it becomes a living document. Every time a directive or project is changed, review your PBC to see if the document is still accurate. If your management chain is altered, review your PBC with your new manager to see if the document is still accurate. If you title, roles and responsibilities change, review your PBC to see if the document is still accurate.

Take the initiative to schedule quarterly performance progress reviews with your manager. Use your PBC as the agenda for those critical meetings and request frequent one-on-one meetings in the interim. The more performance-based meetings you conduct with your manager, the less anxiety the yearly review will

Conclusions:

Secrets to Taking Command of Your Own Performance Review

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Laura Lee Rose

Professional development series

It’s natural to shy away from evaluations, judgment, risk of rejection and confrontations. A performance evaluation or performance review meeting with your manager certainly falls into this category. Most of us postpone or even avoid such conversations until it is too late. When we feel we are doing well, we don’t think we need to discuss it. When we feel we are not doing well, we avoid it. In both cases, we’re postponing the cure. The cure, of course, is to take command of your own performance and the management of your own career.

How do we take more ownership of our performance evaluation process? It’s my manager’s responsibility to review me, isn’t it?

This is an easy out. Although it is true that your manager evaluates you, your career and performance isn’t really your manager’s responsibility. Your manager has 10-12 people to manager (as well as his/herself). You are not his/her only concern. You, however, can devote the majority of your time on your professional career and development. You are the only one that can effectively influence your own performance.

Step 1: Take ownership of your own career.

Clearly articulate what you want in your career; what you would like to work on; the type of people you would like to team with; even the atmosphere and working environment. Once you can clearly and concisely articulate it, you can effectively convey it to others in your business network (See my articles on business networking in the professional environment for more tips on this; or subscribe to the weekly newsletter here)

Step 2) Understand how performance ratings are created.

There are at least two parts to the performance ratings. Part one is your individual contributions to the business goals. Most companies are in business to make money. Even when business mission statements announce client satisfaction and quality products as their primary goals; the underlining reason for retaining clients with quality products is so that customers will purchase more products (and/or refer others to purchase more products and services); which will create more sales and prosperity for the company.

Part two is how you compare to other employees in your same rank or band. Most organizations compare their employees (of the same rank or band) across departments. This is because most companies have a policy regarding how many people can get an Exceptional Rating, an Above Average Rating, an Average Rating, a Below Average and even a Needs Improvement Rating. For instance, they may have a percentage policy like 5%, 10%, 45%, 35%, 5% (respectively). This would require all the employees of a certain band or ranking to be compared, ordered and sorted. Once everyone is in sorted order, most companies will draw the line at the appropriate percentage. To do this, managers of the same level meet to discuss their employees and rank them in order. Therefore, the more managers in that room that knows you (in a positive light) the better. This is where your business networking strategies come into play. (See my articles on business networking in the professional environment for more tips on this; or subscribe to the weekly newsletter here)

Step 3: Declare your Personal Business Commitments upfront.

If you and your manager agree (up front) what is expected for an Average Rating, an Above Average, and Exceptional Rating, it’s much easier to achieve. This agreement is often called the PBC or Personal Business Commitment. It is what the metric in which the performance evaluation is cultivated. My upcoming “Taking Command of Your Performance Review” Workshop will go into detail on this topic. It’s a three-hour workshop (75 minutes of presentation content and 90 minutes of actual hand-on coaching of the provided worksheets). At the end of the workshop, you will have a customized PBC and IDP started.

For more information on this critical workshop, see

https://www.lauraleerose.com/take-command-of-your-performance-reviews/

Who writes the PBC? Does my manager or do I?

Conclusions:

If you liked this tips, more can be found at www.lauraleerose.com/blog or subscribe to my weekly professional tips newsletter at http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

The weekly newsletter contains tips on:
1)      Time management
2)      Career maintenance
3)      Business networking
4)      Work life balance strategies

If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Give Reasonable Directions

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Laura Lee Rose

Follow up instructions with reason.

Professional development series

I experienced two very different situations that highlighted the need for explaining the reason for your instructions.

1) A friend received instructions from her doctor to take the next few days off and away from work. My friend agreed to take several days off – then proceeded to continue to read work emails and call into conference calls.

2) A family member wanted to increase their protein intake and purchased some Whey powder to mix in with their coffee. Since the canister’s instructions mentioned that 9 scoops will cover their daily protein requirements, she returned the product because she would not be using 9 scoops in her coffee.

As you can see from the above (very different) examples, different people interpret instructions differently.

But what if the instructions came with the following explanation or reasons?

What if the doctor said: “The reason I recommend taking several days off and away from work is to allow both your mind and body a break from work-related issues”?. I want you to unplug completely for several days to recharge and get well. This means no emails, no meetings, no nothing. Hand off any immediate tasks to your manager and then completely unplug.”

What if my family member understood that the protein supplement is just that, a tool or supplement to add more protein to your current dietary program? You wouldn’t necessarily need to use 9 scoops, if your current meal plan already included protein. It is only meant as a tool to assist you in absorbing the right amount of daily required protein in a balanced plan.

If my friend and family member had understood the purpose behind the instructions, their response would have been more in lined with the intent of the instructions. But by providing just the instructions, we have allowed room for error.

So – how can we, as team leaders and employers, avoid these pitfalls? The first step is to avoid one-way instructions or directions. Although email may be a convenient “instruction” media, it does not assure that the directions were interpreted correctly (or the way you had intended).

Here are some steps to assure that you will get what you want.

Understand the intent or goal of your instructions:

If you cannot articulate the reason for your request, it’s impossible for your employee or teammate to ‘hit it out of the park’ for you.

Verify that every step of your instructions support and are aligned with your goal.

Everything changes. What worked last month may not be relevant today. Verify that your current process is still aligned with your intentions.

For example: Requiring your salaried employees to submit time cards to verify that they are working the proper number of hours.

This procedure may not be accomplishing your true goal. Your goal is probably to make sure your salaried employees are performing and accomplishing the work they are committed to accomplish. You may want to consider weekly one-on-one meetings to verify status on projects and tasks (versus keeping track of the hours they are logging).

Convey both the directions/instructions and reason to your staff/team.

To properly convey the instructions and reason, you need to also include active and empathic LISTENING skills. Merely stating the instructions and reasons, only, do not assure that the message was received properly. You need to also ask Open-ended questions to verify the message was received correctly. This means sending an email-instruction is not sufficient. You need an interactive face-to-face or phone meeting. Some things to validate on that interactive meeting:

Convey your instructions and reason
Ask audience members to paraphrase your instructions and reason
Ask audience members to share what these instructions mean to their current roles and responsibilities
Ask audience members how these instructions will change the way they do their jobs (both positive and negatively)
If any negative changes results, discuss/brainstorm on alternatives to accomplish your goal without negative impact to the team.

Conclusions:

Although these above steps take a little more time upfront (versus merely providing an email directive), it will avoid misinterpretations and some email-churn of Q&A after the project has started. Being impatient or too concise with your direction may cost you in the long run (because your instructions can be misinterpreted and your project derailed). Allowing your team to play a co-creative role in this solution will lead to a more collaborative working relationship.

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Laura Lee Rose

Transforming the way you run your business into the business you love to run

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