How many times has this conversation happened to you?
YOU: “How’s everything going on the Project?’
COLLEAGUE: “Great! I took all of the feedback, made the changes, and it’s done.”
YOU: “Thank you so much! I see how hard you worked on it and I can’t wait to see it on Friday.”
But when you actually look at the project work and review everything that was supposedly “done” your realize at best it might be half-way done leaving you frustrated and upset that you now have to re-arrange your schedule and priorities to do someone else’s work to get the project really done.
The secret to success in this area of business leadership is of course clearly defining and communicating what “done” really means. For better or for worse, what leaders need to do in this 24/7 volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world is set clear expectations for everyone for what is “done.” And that expectation is that “done” does not mean almost done, or started, or ready for someone to take a look at, or “I think-it’s-just-about-done”. DONE means it is “PERFECT and there is NOTHING LEFT TO DO”. Technically speaking that is why DONE is the past-tense form of the verb “do.”
“Done” sounds even better when paired with other words like “great,” “awesome,” “super”, or “fantastic”, as in “Everything is DONE and it looks super awesome.
This is a challenge that seems to be an epidemic sweeping the business world. The goal of this blog is to present leaders with three simple techniques for leading execution to get things done with super awesome results. I have based these suggestion on a review of academic research, leadership models, business simulation facilitation, and real world experiences working with more than 100 Fortune 500 companies over the last 20 years.
(Please note, that for purposes of this blog I have not identified any particular group of employees such as MILENNIALS as better or worse in regard to this issue.)
Here are my three suggestions:
- Be Clear About Purpose and Expectations
Most people think you need to be clear about just expectations. “I would like you to finish this project by Friday and I expect it to be perfect. This is good, but you are missing something; the purpose. The purpose is where the project fits into the overall business strategy. “I would like you to finish this project by Friday because as you know our strategy is product leadership and we need to get this project to market quicker than our competitors. - Be Open and Transparent about Process
If done means done, then project kick-off means project kick-off, scope of work means scope of work, and schedule means schedule. You need to lead and create a culture where things are what they are and people are factual about the current and future state. If the sales team sold something that wasn’t quite fleshed out, then tell the design team the design isn’t quite fleshed out. Don’t let everyone “BS” each other and waste time and resources planning a project that isn’t a real and defined project. Creating a culture of transparency enables you and the teams to identify problems early on before they are too late. And when there are problems, confront them head on and provide feedback to people when they aren’t being accountable to their commitments. - Have a Common and Accepted Meaning for What DONE Means
Set the tone and define for everyone what you think done means. Again, I believe that done means it is super awesome completed and no additional work needs to be out into it. You are going to have to work very hard to communicate this definition over and over in order for people to get it, use it, and embrace it. There will be times when people say something is done and it isn’t and you are going to have to give strong feedback and coaching to get that person to understand how important of an issue this is.
