SOLUTION 42
LET THEM MAKE MISTAKES
‘Tell me and I’ll remember for an hour; show me and I’ll remember for a day; but let me do it and I’ll remember for ever.’Chinese saying
mistakes are the ultimate teacher
By giving up control to your employees your chances for success are greatly enhanced, but then again so is the possibility for error. As they grow and develop, it is inevitable that your employees will err on occasion; your responsibility as their manager is to help them learn from their mistakes, and to encourage them to carry on in spite of them.
DEAL WITH IT
You must accept that mistakes are necessary on the path to learning, and focus on minimizing their effect. Start your employee on smaller projects that have a greater chance of success. As they gain experience, you can increase the complexity of responsibility and the difficulty of the assignment. Throughout it all, make sure you praise and encourage your employees’ efforts, irrespective of their success (see Solution 44).
CRITICAL FEEDBACK
Feedback is a great way to help employees improve and grow their skills. Here are some tips and suggestions for the best way to give it:
Deliver the good andthe bad Some ‘good guy’ managers give only positive feedback, but when praise is always forthcoming, its value is diminished.
Don’t try to sugarcoat the bad When feedback that was initially positive is followed by a contradictory message, it has little value; if the news is bad, just deliver it.
Give feedback regularly and often It becomes a natural element of the work environment, rather than something to be feared.
Criticize privately When less-than-positive feedback involves just one or two people, deliver it individually and in private.
Praise in public To reinforce the team’s value, praise the entire work group for its collective efforts; this reminds people that teamwork is about performance, not personalities.
QUICK FIX: REAP THE BENEFIT
Although delegation can, initially, increase the chances for mistakes, an often-overlooked benefit is that it lets managers learn from their employees. The person to whom you delegate a task or project will undoubtedly approach the work differently than you would have, and their approach may even be better.