World Class PSO: Daily Thought

Building on yesterday's post...while one cannot truly hold another person accountable for the things s/he must do, there are steps that one can take to motivate people to do what they need to do. A couple of these things were discussed yesterday:

1. Be explicit about expectations

2. Ask the individual to confirm what s/he can and cannot get done

3. Be clear about the implications if the work isn't completed on time and to acceptable quality standards

Like I so very often say to my team, "If you don't tell me that you can't get something done...then you must get it done." The two items above can assist in ensuring that people do what they say what they will do and give you room to discuss and push them when they don't.

Additionally, a manager can use the following tools to promote the behavior and accomplishments that are required for the successful development of the team and the individual:

1. Develop a compensation structure that promotes results (individual and team),

2. Publicly reward those for their accomplishments; those who aren't getting rewarded will feel the pressure to be part of the recognized group, and

3. Review individual accomplishments and ideas with the team, particularly when those accomplishments could result in a process, tool, or template improvement within the business. Allow the team to provide input to key changes based on these successes - be careful not to manage by committee, though.

I still believe that only the individual can truly hold himself accountable, but it is your job as a manager to set proper expectations and set the individual up for success. That includes giving them a forum to discuss challenges and negotiate deliverables and deadlines, and reinforcing the implications when the work isn't getting done as expected.