How To Get People Delivering
Clients raise many different challenges that they face as leaders and managers.
One of the most common questions people ask me is
“How do I get my people to deliver the results I expect from them without being seen as a demanding or horrible boss?”
It would be easy to dismiss this as an easy to resolve issue.
Some might say that as a boss your job is not to be popular but to deliver results.
This may be to some extent right but in my experience there is a huge difference between delivering short term and long term results.
People will understand that in some situations you will need to take a direct approach. Emergencies or something really critical being an obvious example.
So let’s look at how as a leader or manager you can make sure that you get people to deliver without being seen as nasty or horrible.
The first thing you need to understand that different people have different motivations. They respond differently to situations and things. Your job as a leader or manager is to find out what these motivators are. Unless you know what makes people tick, how are you going to get the best from them?
Next you need to make your expectations clear. Sometimes leaders and managers rely on vague job descriptions to let people know what is expected of them. The trouble is these job descriptions are often too generic to be of any value.
When you start to make your expectations crystal clear and express them in terms of outcomes or results to be achieved, delivery goes up.
The third tip on my list is making follow up on progress something that you just do routinely. If the people that you lead or manage recognise that you just follow up as a matter of routine, it is just business as usual.
Next on my list is move from being seen as just wanting answers to giving people the opportunity to account for what they have done.
When you give people the opportunity to account they can simply give an account of where they are, update you on any obstacles and seek your input where they need it.
It is not about people feeling like they are in the firing line and need to justify. Imagine the difference in people if they know that they are not going to be interrogated but just given the opportunity to account.
The final thing I want to say is make a point of praise people for progress as well as completion. Some things take time to complete while others take minutes. For those longer term things by recognising progress you routinely show people that you understand their challenges and are supportive.
The Bottom Line: If you think that as a leader or manager you need to be nasty or horrible to get results, you are way off track. The reality is that bosses who set clear expectations and facilitate delivery get best results from their people.
Duncan Brodie helps accountants to build brilliant careers through becoming highly effective leaders and managers.
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.