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Communication skills are importantGood communication skills are important to inform the person undertaking the task properly. Inadequate or ambiguous information will lead to problems. |
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Take time to delegate work and to receive work delegated to youThe most common reason for things not going to plan is that work is delegated very casually. And also that delegated work is insufficiently understood. Whether a task is critical or not one should plan to delegate it with sufficient care. If the delegation of the task is done casually then there is a good chance that things will not go as planned. Instead a blame game will start. On the other hand if a task is delegated with care things will likely go as per plan. There will be credit to share. Putting in a little effort while delegating is worth it, it can save you a larger effort later. For tasks that are performed regularly a written step by step instruction document is worth the effort. The one time effort will save the trouble of having to give instructions again and again. Written documents are also better than verbal instructions. They can be reviewed as often as required. |
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Give detailed instructionsA step by step set of instructions are easier to follow. Some tasks may be long involving several steps. For such tasks it is good to include a method to check whether a step has been performed correctly. You should also plan for choices that may be involved. That is covered in the next segment. |
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Plan for right choices being madeIf choices have to be made, make sure the person doing the task has information on:
It may be in certain cases escalation is required. Have an easy to use means of escalation and clearly stated cases where escalation has to be done. Respond within reasonable time to an escalation request. |
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Allow the person receiving the information time to reviewGive the person receiving the instructions time to review. And then an opportunity to clarify doubts. This will save you from the situation of clarifying doubts half way through the task being done. By then it may have become a pressure situation. You can also anticipate if the person is likely to need clarifications. You can give those clarifications in advance while the person is reviewing the instructions |
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Monitor the task if possibleIf a task is being done for the first time plan to see how things are going midway. It is not always possible to predict what can go wrong. A brief check to see if things are going as expected is useful. It will help nip unexpected problems in the bud. |
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Respect the individualAlways remember that we depend on others to get difficult tasks done. We must appreciate the contribution of others, even the ones who do relatively simpler tasks. One way to show our appreciation is by informing them adequately. If things do not go as planned look for the underlying reasons and not for whom to blame. It does not help get the task done if you apportion blame. It helps get the task done if you can find out what went wrong and how to set it right. The person assigned the task should be sure there is no unknown uncertainty involved. As that may lead to unexpected blame. The person assigned the task should be confident that the instructions are clear. There will be a better chance then of the task being done well. |
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Process documents and standard operating proceduresIf it is a one off task you can go with verbal communication. If is a more regularly done task you should consider writing a process document. Specially if the task has multiple steps and involves making choices. Writing a process document is a little effort to be done one time, but it will save you a lot of effort later on. You can update the process document as required from time to time. Some tasks may be very important and an undesirable outcome can be a major problem. For such tasks you should go beyond a simple process document. You should set up a standard operating procedure. This should provide for all possible situations that may be encountered. Well conceived and articulated standard operating procedures are important for mission critical tasks. |
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