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Why it’s about the why
By John Carroll
There’s a secret ingredient that can make all the difference in getting things done through others. It’s not about asking nicely, although that’s important. It’s not about providing steps one through five in detail, either. It’s not even about adding some sort of tangible incentive for the task’s completion.
Instead, the key ingredient in task or project delegation is so simple that it’s more often than not overlooked. What is it? It’s the reason why.
“That’s too simple,” you might say. “I say why this is important and it’s more likely to be done well and completed on time?” Yes, that’s true, yet one will rarely see this step included in the delegation of work.
Children in adult bodies
Our younger daughter, Jodye, went through the same phase of growth that many children do, when it seems as if every request from a child’s parents gets the identical response, “Why?” During this phase, there was a short period during which I could escape the question with a single word: Because.
It didn’t last long. When it was over, the question persisted, and I needed a more substantial answer.
What I’ve observed and countless managers have learned through experience and reflection is that adults in the workplace (and elsewhere) are simply children in grown up bodies. They still want to know the answer to their question: “Why is it important for me to do what you’re asking?”
As we grow into adults, we’re no less curious. We’re simply less apt to ask the question for any number of reasons. Here are a few:
• We’re hesitant to appear clueless. When we ask someone why, it may look as if we’ve just landed on the planet and haven’t the foggiest idea what’s going on around here. By asking, we risk embarrassment and the possibility that we won’t be asked to handle added responsibilities again.
• We may be perceived as challenging authority. When we ask a question after we’ve been given work to do, we risk crossing the person making the request. Some managers will take anything other than, “Yes, sir” or “Yes, Ma’am” as an affront. They may see it as negative thinking or even a mild to moderate form of insubordination. The question about why something is important can easily be perceived as something larger and totally different from what was intended—a simple question that helps the person handling the task to connect the dots between this task or project and the big picture.
• We risk looking weak. “If I ask how this task improves our chances of getting the project done on time, she may think I’m not very confident in my own ability.” That reasoning leads to, “If I appear less than confident, I won’t get any more chances to grow and add responsibility in this position and will most certainly be passed over for promotion in the future.”
The question lingers
With this lower likelihood that the person receiving a request for task completion will ask why it’s important, the question doesn’t go away. Instead, it sits off in a corner while the person goes through the motions, having no context on the significance or the criticality of follow through on the task.
After awhile, the team member focuses on how unimportant he must be when he gets little or nothing on what the company is trying to accomplish and how his role supports and fits into the big picture.
Opening the books
There is a systematic way to improve both understanding and communication. Opening the company’s books and educating the entire team on how the organization makes a profit has proven tremendously successful for businesses in every sector of the economy.
Done well, open-book management answers several questions regularly and completely:
• “How is what I do important to the company?” By sharing specific financial information and measuring key result areas, team members begin to see how they fit into the company’s objectives and big picture.
• “How well is the company doing, anyway?” Regular, periodic presentations of the company’s numbers prevent longstanding and often inaccurate perceptions that the company is doing much better (or much worse) than some may think.
• “How exactly does this company make money?” A little fiscal education with team members opens eyes as nothing else can. People begin to realize that a great year means the company gets to keep more than 5 cents of every dollar sold as net profit.
• “How much do mistakes and errors cost the company?” With a conservative estimate of the dollar cost of errors, one can track their frequency and realize that many a profit dollar goes right down the drain with errors in shipments, breakage, theft and inaccurate inventory numbers.
In the second part of this series, we’ll look at specific actions you can take to help increase your team’s business literacy and improve everyone’s understanding of the reasons why.
John Carroll is an entrepreneur, consultant and columnist as well as president of Unlimited Performance Inc. in Mount Pleasant. Visit on the web at www.uperform.com or e-mail him at jcarroll@uperform.com.
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