The problem to be solved in the second lesson of the Manager Communication Training Camp taught by Teacher Tuobuhua is: How to arrange work so that orders can be followed?
No matter what level of managers, the daily necessary task is to arrange work. The ability to assign work is also a manifestation of leadership.
As a middle manager, this lesson can be said to be very important. Because as middle-level managers, we are task takers from above, and task decomposers and assigners from below.
As a middle-level manager who serves as a link between the superior and the subordinate, he must not only know how to accept tasks correctly, but also be able to actively guide his subordinates to better undertake tasks.
Because I understand the correct way to start the layout work, in turn, I also understand how to better manage upwards. After all, not all of our leaders are management experts. When we have questions about the tasks we have received, we can also take the initiative to manage upwards, so as to better understand the superiors' intentions and better implement the leadership's decisions.
I once encountered a middle-level leader A conveying the instruction of a leader B: "Print a copy of the XX system and give it to him." Because the work involved in this system is not the responsibility of the leader B. The scope, and A was missing information when conveying it, and only mentioned a similar name, so I asked more: "Are you sure it is the XX system?"
A said categorically: "Yes. ”
Although I still had doubts, I printed a copy and gave it to him. As expected, after a while, A came down and said that it turned out that the leader B was talking about another job, and wanted to know the progress of a job with a similar name to our XX system.
Because A had little knowledge of the work involved in the XX system, and did not ask any questions when receiving instructions from the leader, such a small misunderstanding arose.
A similar thing happened to A again later. Big leader C proposed a work idea. Then the task was assigned to A. A did not think about it when accepting the task, and directly relayed the original words of the leader C to the staff member D.
As a person who needs to implement, after receiving the task, Little D raised some questions from the perspective of implementation. But A may not be thinking and cannot give constructive opinions and guidance.
Little D can only rely on his own understanding to do it. Because I did not understand the true intentions of the leader, I did not consider the problems that may be encountered during implementation. The first draft plan that Little D made based on his feelings was rejected. Later, Xiao D went back and forth many times before finally passing the test.
After listening to Sister Hua’s class, I will think of these actions that A made when assigning work. It can be said that most of them were wrong.
Comparing the formula for arranging work given by Sister Hua: feedforward management, active coaching and review output, A failed to do at least feedforward management and active coaching when arranging work.
In the feedforward management part, in front of several big leaders who assigned her tasks, A did not take the initiative to raise her own questions, ask a few more questions, or put forward her own ideas. She just summarized what the leaders said. "Copy and paste" generally conveyed instructions to subordinates.
As subordinates, Little D and I put forward our own opinions or questions from the perspective of implementation. But A doesn’t know whether he hasn’t thought about it, doesn’t want to think about it, or hasn’t thought about it well. He can’t give any constructive suggestions at all.
This leads to either instruction errors or unnecessary rework.
This aspect reflects the hard skills and soft skills that Sister Hua talked about in her previous class on recognizing people, which are extremely important for people at any level in the workplace. On the other hand, as a manager, especially a middle-level cadre, you cannot just be a "porter of instructions" and relay tasks to your subordinates that you don't even understand.
When Teacher Fan Deng was talking about the book "Replicable Leadership", he mentioned: The Japanese assign tasks to their employees and say them at least five times. The first time: Please help me do something XX. Then ask the subordinate to repeat it.
After the subordinate repeats it, he will ask the subordinate: "What do you think is the purpose of asking you to do this?"
After the subordinate explains the purpose of the task that he understands, the leader will also ask: " Will there be any accidents when doing this? If anything happens, you will report it to me, and if anything happens, you will make your own decision." This is the fourth time.
After the subordinates have talked about possible situations and how they will deal with them. The leader's fifth question will ask: "If you are allowed to do this yourself, do you have any better ideas or suggestions?"
The Japanese's almost "perverted" five-point assignment task The "Task List" given to us by Sister Fa and Hua can be said to be logical.
This also reminds me of what Mr. Liu Run once said in the "5-Minute Business School": "Abnormal quality comes from abnormal process management."
Although we cannot and do not want to be so "abnormal", we should have the concept of managing the process well. Therefore feedforward management and proactive coaching are very important. Achieving these two points means that we have control over the entire task and can predict it. Instead of waiting until the subordinates fail to do something wrong before making futile comments, or constantly redoing and reworking things to show that we have no ideas and poor overall planning capabilities.
The "task assignment list" given by Sister Hua in this class suggests that we reach an agreement with our subordinates before starting the task in terms of background, goals, standards, completion deadlines, and action plans** *knowledge.
I think that through such "feedforward management", both managers and subordinates can establish a complete understanding of a work task.
Managers can understand and think about problems that may arise during specific implementation in advance. Subordinates can also understand the work tasks they are about to perform from an overall and higher perspective, and better exert their subjective initiative.
Another very good tool in this class is the "Service Strategy Template" given by Sister Hua.
It must be said that "Get" is really good at accumulating organizational experience. Teachers in workplace writing training camps, communication training camps, and efficient learning training camps all mentioned the importance of accumulating experience for the organization.
Teachers not only teach us this, but also practice it. The constantly iterated "Get Quality Control Manual" is a model of accumulated experience and the best template for the team's knowledge base.
The third element in the work arrangement formula, "review output", requires us to summarize and output lessons learned after completing a task.
Successful experiences are typical examples that colleagues can learn from; failure lessons are pitfall guides for everyone to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Altruism is self-interest, and the sharer is the biggest beneficiary of sharing. People who are willing and able to accumulate experience for the organization can not only further grow themselves in this kind of review and summary, but also cultivate and demonstrate their own overall view.
We individuals must be aware of the importance of review output for our personal growth. And an organization must also encourage and promote this kind of value that encourages review output, accumulation of experience, and sharing of mutual benefits.
The lesson of "assigning work" should not only be learned by managers, but also by every ordinary employee who has greater pursuits and wants to do a good job. For professionals who can refer to the "Task Assignment List" and "Service Guide" to practice, managers will be more competent and employees will grow faster.
Wujie Academy 2022 Daily Update Day 156