Free to Breathe

Here’s a little management technique for you to think about:

 

When you hire someone to be an expert… let them be the expert.

 

I find it incredibly irritating when someone hires me to do a job they don’t understand or want to do on their own. They choose me to manage the process for them and get the results they want.

 

My job is then to understand their intended outcomes and strategize the best way to reach them efficiently, in a cost-effective manner, and in a way that will be a win-win.

 

I have seen this more than once in the professional world; a supervisor will task their employee with something, or hire an outside consultant, to get a specific job done. The person they choose to do it comes highly recommended, is capable and  a proven go-to person.

 

But instead of letting that sparker be free to do what they do best, the supervisor can’t get their grasping little claws out of the process. I have never seen anyone happy with the end result when the process is micro-managed (poorly) by a supervisor who doesn’t know what they are actually doing and is unwilling to remember why they out-sourced the project in the first place.

 

Managers out there, here’s the lesson: Trust people to do their jobs. Define the expectations at the outset. If you need a structure in place that incorporates lots of communication, then put the expectations and accountability pit-stops in place upfront and honestly. And then let people do what you asked them to do… in peace.

 

There are very few things more damaging to the professional relationship than unearned distrust.

 

What’s your major professional pet peeve?