Processes to read your mind
Business owners – SMME business owners in particular – are used to endless firefighting, juggling various requirements, working countless hours, and taking big risks. All of this brings a lot of unexpected frustrations. One of the most challenging things can be managing a team, even if it is just a team of one. This is because your team simple cannot seem to read your mind. You know exactly what needs to be done, what to double check, and where the problems normally tend to crop up. So why can’t your team do this?
This is a problem most managers – especially managers/owners in growing companies – face. When you realise you need someone to assist or take over an aspect of your business, you may be tempted to look for someone like you. This way they can do what
you do. Or, perhaps you’ve realised you have a problem that needs solving, so you hire someone with the specialist skills to solve it.Now, you have sunk money into recruitment, onboarding, and training. You also have the ongoing salary costs. And yet, instead of your life being easier, and having more time to focus on other issues, you have to performance manage your new hires. You wonder why this just isn’t working out, why can’t they do what needs to be done? You’ve hired someone with the right skillset, and yet they are not getting things done the way you need them to. Why can’t they simply read your mind?
The one simple thing to solve this
So how do you prevent hiring the wrong person, or a person with the wrong skillset, and thus prevent the above frustrations?There is one simple thing you have to do, though it may not be easy. You must write down what is in your mind. This means writing down the processes you want your team member(s) to follow. This is a great way for your team to read your mind – you have literally written it down for them!
Now, I know you are going to want to argue: you just do not have the time for this. I will counter with: would you rather spend your time performance managing someone, after hiring the wrong person? This, after having spent so much time and money on bringing them into the fold?A simple step-by-step guide (written by you) sets you up to hiring the person with the best-suited skillset and is a great preparation for training. By writing down what you need them to do
exactly, you can hire the person who can do
exactly that. It will also form the basis for training them, and coaching them through your thinking.So, before you make any drastic decisions, such as hiring or firing someone, take the time to write out your thinking, as a step-by-step process.
This is a problem most managers – especially managers/owners in growing companies – face. When you realise you need someone to assist or take over an aspect of your business, you may be tempted to look for someone like you. This way they can do what you do. Or, perhaps you’ve realised you have a problem that needs solving, so you hire someone with the specialist skills to solve it.Now, you have sunk money into recruitment, onboarding, and training. You also have the ongoing salary costs. And yet, instead of your life being easier, and having more time to focus on other issues, you have to performance manage your new hires. You wonder why this just isn’t working out, why can’t they do what needs to be done? You’ve hired someone with the right skillset, and yet they are not getting things done the way you need them to. Why can’t they simply read your mind?
Now, I know you are going to want to argue: you just do not have the time for this. I will counter with: would you rather spend your time performance managing someone, after hiring the wrong person? This, after having spent so much time and money on bringing them into the fold?A simple step-by-step guide (written by you) sets you up to hiring the person with the best-suited skillset and is a great preparation for training. By writing down what you need them to do exactly, you can hire the person who can do exactly that. It will also form the basis for training them, and coaching them through your thinking.So, before you make any drastic decisions, such as hiring or firing someone, take the time to write out your thinking, as a step-by-step process.