Are you part of a business setting in which employees don’t follow directions well? Are you a boss or team leader frustrated by employees who don’t make your assignments happen?
Case in point: A business owner I know held a large meeting with his employees. At the end of the meeting, he invited everyone to dinner to thank them for their hard work. Unfortunately, he left the office and never told his employees where to go for dinner. He assumed they knew where to go.
To try to guess where he meant, his employees went to several places the boss usually goes. However, he wasn’t there.
They all ended up frustrated and angry with the boss, while he sat in the restaurant waiting for them and thinking they blew him off. He became angry, and everyone went home upset. The moral of the story: If you do not tell people where you want them to go, you can’t expect them to get there.
To obtain employee commitment and follow-through, managers must communicate to their team why they need to do things instead of what they should do.
Instructing employees on what to do generally results in their trying to follow your directions without understanding the mission. In addition, they may not even be aware that they are going in the wrong direction, since all they’re doing is following instructions.
The Solution — Provide Goals and Objectives
It is much easier to have your team achieve your goals and objectives if you coach them on why they are supposed to do certain tasks. Tell them your goals and objectives for specific tasks.
It makes it so much easier for employees to figure out what to do to get there because they are actually closer to the action. They most likely will find better ways to do things rather than you having to try to micromanage them with blow-by-blow instructions.
You will build a feeling of trust and commitment if you let them devise how to get things done. Even if they require guidance on what to do, it will be based on a specific objective.
Finally, it is imperative that companies provide and emphasize their mission statements to employees. A mission statement is at the core of any business’ existence. It should be on the walls, in the employee manual and the purpose of every goal and objective.
So, to get employee commitment and meaningful action, management must always direct employees as to why things have to be done rather than just what employees should do.
— John Daly is the founder and president of The Key Class, the go-to guide for job search success. Click here to learn more about The Key Class or to get his book. If you have questions about business or social etiquette, just ask John at johnkeyclass@gmail.com. Connect with The Key Class on Facebook. Follow John Daly on Twitter: @johndalyjr. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.