Leaders are busy and subordinates are idle. In the final analysis, the leaders did the work of their subordinates, leaving them with nothing to do.
This situation usually shows that there is a problem with the leader's work arrangement, which can be solved with only one move, that is, the leader only needs to do what he should do and leave the rest to his subordinates. So what should leaders do and what can be entrusted to subordinates? What should subordinates do if they don't want to do the assigned work, or if they can't do it well? This article helps you solve these problems.
1. To distinguish what they should do from what their subordinates should do, managers who have just stepped into management positions must first understand that their roles have changed and their thinking has changed: from doing things by themselves to leading others to do things together; Engaged in hands-on, to arrange tasks, counseling others to achieve their goals.
Based on Ramcharan's leadership echelon model, we are clear about our stage and what we should do at the present stage. At different stages, the focus and requirements of the work are different.
? 2. How to arrange tasks for subordinates to take the initiative to accept? After defining the work that managers should do at each stage, let's look at how to effectively assign work to subordinates. Work assignment can be divided into three actions: first, choose the work that can be assigned, second, choose the right person that can be assigned, and third, hand over the work to the right person.
2. 1 Select the work that can be assigned.
There is no doubt that everything within the scope of subordinates' duties should be handed over to subordinates. But this kind of work is usually the main factor leading to overtime work of leaders. There will always be subordinates in the company who are not competent enough for their work. If the leader has no patience to train his subordinates and the task is urgent, he will usually take over this part of the work and do it himself. At this time, the monkey, which should have been carried by subordinates, jumped on the leader's shoulder. Leaders stay up late and work overtime, which is miserable, and subordinates get off work on time, relaxed but without a sense of accomplishment.
For this kind of work arrangement, it is suggested that leaders adhere to the concept of "teaching people to fish is better than teaching people to fish" and take training subordinates as the core. Even at the expense of short-term performance, we should stick to it properly and return the work to our subordinates. If you can't do it well, coach him until he is competent, and never help his subordinates "carry monkeys" again.
The "monkey" who leads and carries employees.
There is also a kind of work, in order to cultivate reserve talents, leaders deliberately hand over what they should do to potential subordinates to complete, so that subordinates can accumulate experience, improve their skills and take over smoothly when the time is right. This kind of work is strange and challenging for subordinates. If you give it to your subordinates, you will usually be at a loss, and you will inevitably make various mistakes in your panic, which will dampen your enthusiasm for work.
Therefore, when this kind of work is assigned, we should pay attention to step by step. For example, if you want to hand over the annual work plan of the department to your subordinates, you might as well take him through the annual planning process of the department first, such as understanding the company's strategy, collecting information, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the department and so on. This process is dominated by you and supplemented by him. Let him observe and study first. After mastering certain essentials, you can try to give him the responsibility of planning for next year. At this time, he is the main, you help. In this way, he will be more confident in doing it and you will be more at ease.
Step by step, step by step
2.2 Choose the right person who can be assigned.
An important task, who would you rather give it to, is actually to test the ability of leaders to know people and be good at performing their duties. If an employee is only willing to do his job well, has no higher pursuit, is unwilling to pay for free, and is indifferent to other people's emotions, feelings and ideas, I don't think you should choose him. People who are contrary to their own characteristics are usually people with leadership characteristics and have the action power to lead people around them to their ideal goals. Such a person is the best candidate.
If you can't find the right person, besides doing it yourself, you can also consider a method, teamwork. Subordinates don't have everything, but "three heads are better than one", you can divide the tasks according to the advantages of subordinates, or you can complete the tasks through complementary abilities.
Team combination operation
2.3 Give the work to the right person.
After the work to be arranged and the right person are determined, the last step is to communicate with the target person and assign the work to him.
In this process, there are two points to pay attention to. First, you assign him not only the task/job, but also the responsibility behind the task/job, that is, you have to tell your subordinates that this matter is given to him and he will be responsible for the result. Only in this way can we stimulate the motivation of subordinates to do things actively and attentively. On the contrary, when a subordinate encounters difficulties in carrying out a job without responsibility, it is easy to find a leader, because in his mind, he is only responsible for carrying out the orders and arrangements of the leader, and failure is the responsibility of the leader.
Employees are full of motivation
Second, don't impose it on subordinates, accept it involuntarily, and easily pass the buck. Before the handover, as a leader, you should clearly explain the importance of the assigned items, the goals to be achieved, the deadline, the difficulties, the skills and experience gained during the completion, and your expectations for him. After saying this, give the choice to the subordinates, "Do you want to accept it or not, you choose".
At this time, there are usually two results, one is that subordinates accept and the other is that subordinates refuse. As a leader, you need to anticipate the results and think of alternatives, for example, whether to give it to the second best candidate or simply do it yourself after being rejected.
Pass the buck, pass the buck
Everything will be fine after the work is assigned? No, actually, handing in is more "laborious" than doing it yourself. If you hand over the job smoothly and you think everything is fine, then you are wrong. Because it usually takes more time and energy to give challenging work to subordinates than to do it yourself. This is also the reason why many managers would rather work overtime and stay up late than hand it over to their subordinates.
Stick to the same goal
When a job is handed over to a subordinate, you only need to insist on one thing, that is, the goal to be achieved cannot be changed. As for how subordinates can achieve it, they are allowed to use their own methods to give him full play to freedom. Don't rush for success, don't interfere easily, respect your subordinates' majors, and don't impose your own ideas on him. Don't interfere too much unless your subordinates are in trouble and ask for your advice. "You don't have to be suspicious of employing people, but you don't have to be suspicious of people."
According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, when Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in the battle of Guandu, he seized some letters of officers and men who had contacted Yuan Shao, but Cao Cao ordered all these letters to be burned. Cao Cao's practice embodies the generosity of "even if you know, don't take it to heart". As a leader, when handing over the work to subordinates, we should be so generous to face it and allow subordinates to make mistakes and degenerate. In this process, subordinates will not only gain valuable experience, but also grow rapidly.
Tolerance trial and error method
You may ask, whether you ask or not, how to control the progress of the work? This is easy to solve, that is, when subordinates accept tasks, they are told to meet and communicate regularly, such as once a week or once a month, according to the progress of their work. We can refer to the "Situational Leadership Theory" and divide the leadership styles for subordinates into four types: (1) Let the mature subordinates take the form of laissez-faire; (2) For subordinates with immature abilities, we should give strong instructions from the side and even give spiritual support in due course; (3) Strengthen spiritual encouragement for subordinates who are capable but lack motivation; (4) Give more work instructions to enthusiastic but incompetent subordinates. Corresponding communication strategies can be adopted according to the maturity of subordinates.
summary
Finally, summarize the main points of getting rid of the busy leadership and the idle subordinates:
(1) According to Ramcharan's leadership echelon model, distinguish what you should do and what subordinates should do;
(2) Screening the work to be assigned, selecting the appropriate subordinates and giving the work to the right people;
(3) If you can't find a suitable candidate, complete the work in a "fighting" way with team combination and complementary abilities;
(4) Don't force the assigned work, but let employees accept it voluntarily;
(5) After the operation, do not interfere;
(6) Strictly demand the work results, allow subordinates to play freely, and make mistakes in the process of completion;
(7) Communicate regularly and control the work progress.