How often have you heard this (or even said this)…
“How did this happen? I can’t believe this job didn’t get done the way I wanted! What’s the problem with (him/her/you)?”
In our experience, this type of finger-pointing, confusion, and judgement accomplishes nothing. Instead, it often triggers resentment, frustration, annoyance, and a host of non-productive emotions.
So, how do you fix this? The answer is, again, to focus on cause.
To understand ONE cause of why the job wasn’t done the way it was expected to be done, it’s important to focus on ASSUMPTIONS.
You can often start by asking yourself, “What did you or someone else ASSUME – that hadn’t been discussed or negotiated – before they set out to do what you wanted, the way you wanted it done?”
This is important because even though somebody says they can do something, it doesn’t always mean they can actually do it, even if they think they can.
So, how do you make sure they can actually do it?
Based on our experience, there’s only one way you can be absolutely sure that someone is competent to do something you want them to do.
You must be able to answer the following question with a “yes”.
“Have you seen them do the job the way you want, from beginning to end, unsupervised, at least THREE times?”
If you can’t answer “yes”, you can’t be sure the person can do the job the way you want.
This is further nuanced by the fact that there are two other considerations to get the job done the way you want.
First, it’s important to consider the “actual” ability of the other person (can they do it?) and second, to consider their ability compared to your ability in the given subject (can they do it the way you can do it?).
With all that as backdrop, the lists below can help you decrease the chances of things going wrong at work…
1st Consideration – The other person’s “actual” ability
We suggest you DON’T ASSUME that…
- People know what THEY SAY they know.
- People understand what they say they understand.
- People can do what they say they can do.
- People can do what they say they know and understand.
- People know what & how to think about something when they say they are going to think about something.
- People know what & how to communicate something when they say they are going to communicate something.
2nd Consideration – The other person’s “actual” ability compared to your ability
We suggest you DON’T ASSUME that…
- People know what YOU know.
- People understand what YOU understand.
- People can do what YOU can do.
- People can do what YOU know and understand.
- People know what & how to think about something – the way YOU think about something.
- People know what & how to communicate something – the way YOU communicate something.
In conclusion, to get the job done the way you want it done, DON’T ASSUME ANYTHING unless you’ve seen them do the job the way you want, from beginning to end, unsupervised, at least 3 times. Until then, to minimize the likelihood of things going “wrong”, simply re-check the lists above.