Samantha Gibbins, a former partner and director of one of the most prominent retail chains in New York used to work until late at night solving business problems. Mrs Gibbins and her associates usually left a trail of scrunched up paper balls, paced around conference rooms and went around in futile circles, discussing problems at length to no avail. Due to this becoming a constant occurrence, Mrs Gibbins was exhausted during the days at the office and was even worried during the weekends, the time she should be enjoying leisure and family. The article "How To Decrease Your Management Worries By 50% and Increase Your Employees Output by 50%" seems a good fit, but anyone in her situation would refer to the author of this audacious post naive and an armchair manager. Yet, she is now happy, relaxed and seen as a key developer of people in her organisation. And to her amazement, the steps she took were nearly an exact replica of the steps given in the article. Here is how she solved her worry problems by following the steps given in the article.
Step 1: Write down what the exact problem is, not your worries or concerns. As the saying goes, "a problem well-stated is a problem half solved".
A large portion of Mrs Gibbins time was spent discussing the worries and concerns of her associates and what decision she should take in order to guide her associates.
Step 2: Analyse the root cause of the problem.
As there was a lot of problem stating and debating between associates, they kept going around in futile circles with no solution in sight. As everyone had a view of only a portion of the facts, no one really had a view of the full story. This made finding the root cause of the problem difficult to find and analyse.
Step 3: Write down all the possible solutions to the problem at hand.
- First and foremost, Mrs Gibbins did not allow meetings to take place of this nature again, where the question "what should we do now?" would be permitted.
- She sent a PDF copy of this process to everyone which they must follow before seeing her. This process will be the start and building block of employees becoming less dependant on management. They will be guided through this process as an investment into the employee's development.
Step 4: Scrutinise every proposed solution, writing down the pros and cons of each.
- Pros: Employees get the opportunity to spend time working on their own initiative, analysing data and contacting individuals throughout the organisation. This allows for the employees to gain knowledge and over time, make this process instinctive which will result in quicker fact-finding and problem analysis. In addition, independently finding and using information allows for understanding future problems, therefore upgrading the mindsets of individuals. Doing this in a supportive environment actually helps employees in regards to their self-development which is what all thriving employees desire. This will not only boost morale and the skillsets of employees but will help retain highly skilful employees and motivate those who seem to be falling behind.
- Cons: This will add workload to employees initially and those who do not enjoy their jobs may become even more overwhelmed. This will also require input from other staff members whom the associates that are analysing the problem will contact.
- To counteract the cons, all management from relevant teams should be notified of the development plan and motivated by this resulting in less work for management in the long term. Who doesn't like a plan that results in less time-wasting, stress and bickering?
Step 5: Recommend a solution. At this stage, you can either implement the solution or talk through the process with management for guidance.
Since this process has been implemented, 70% of the meetings that were held due to employees being worried or concerned no longer take place. This is because confusion and worries usually evaporate in the light of knowledge, which is gathered from fact findings. And even in those cases where a meeting is necessary, it now takes only a small fraction of the time to resolve the issue as the meetings now follow a set logical procedure in order to achieve a reasoned conclusion.
Well done Mr Gibbins, you not only solved your worry problems, but you had a significantly positive impact on the company. Employees have acquired vital skills that not only benefit them and therefore the company, but skills that make them more attractive in the marketplace.
During dire times of overwork, stress and worries, any solution so simple and effective may seem like an act of magic and wizardry. But like all magic tricks, once you realise how it works, it's usually simple and logical. Perhaps you or someone you know may be suffering from the same issues as Mrs Gibbins was, perhaps they could learn a thing or two from her. I sure did!
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