Welcome to The “Morale Mindset” Publication written by me, David Huynh. For those who do not know me, I am a people-focused business professional who seeks to leverage people dynamics to drive results. Thank you for joining me. If you are not on my email list yet and want to dive deeper into the intersection of results and people with me, you may subscribe here:
At a previous job, I was working on a cross-functional team (e.g., one that included members from multiple departments). This cross-functional team met weekly, and every week, I noticed one particular manager start to divide up the tasks and assign them to other individuals at the start of each meeting. The tasks were all logical and helped us reach the overall goal. However, while sitting in the room, I noticed the body language of the individuals on the receiving end of the tasks. Each of them looked disinterested and unmotivated. Although delegation is a necessary step that can improve overall efficiency, we need to explain the overarching goal and to solicit opinions before delegating or distributing tasks.
Imagine you are trying to explain a sport or board game to someone, who has never seen or heard of that sport or board game before. To demonstrate why explaining the task first can be confusing, let us try to explain golf starting from the task. Now, imagine you know nothing about golf: "The player needs to use a club to hit a ball. The technique of this golf swing is very important. You need to keep your front arm straight like a pendulum and eyes focused on the ball. Additionally, there are a variety of clubs, each of which is typically used for a different distance." If we explain the task first, the golf swing, the listener will still not understand the overarching goal. They will not know why they will need to swing with good form in the first place. Now, let's go through how concepts should be explained.
Explain Goals
Even if the team members, business partners, or clients are in an executional role, if we treat people as minions to accomplish a task, their morale towards us will fall, reducing the collaborative nature of our work environment. Furthermore, if people do not understand the overarching goal, our explanation of the task may be misinterpreted, causing them to work towards an incorrect goal. When individuals know what piece of the puzzle they are solving, they can make sure their individual piece will fit perfectly into the overall scheme. So to ensure people are aligned on the end state, we need to explain the goal first.
Golf explanation: "The goal is to get the ball into a hole in the fewest strokes possible."
Solicit Opinions
Even if we believe there is only one correct solution and want to delegate it, if we jump straight into giving the task, there will not be enough room for people to challenge ideas and discuss any other possibilities. Investing time to solicit opinions will increase the level of engagement the listener has on the overall goal. If they have the ability to contribute, improve, or even question the goal, they will be more invested in ensuring the goal's success. A byproduct of this is also the potential for our ideas to be improved upon. This means that we need to let go of our egos and be willing to listen to ideas from others.
Golf explanation: "Do you have any thoughts on the overall goal?"
Distribute Tasks
Even if we think delegating immediately is the most efficient route to accomplishing the overall goal, doing so without knowledge of the overall goal would leave team members uncertain of the final objective. Spoon feeding tasks to people gives them the opportunity to turn off their brain and stop thinking about solutions. So to develop problem solvers, we should work collaboratively with our team members to agree upon the tasks. Depending on their level of familiarity, this may range from the team member coming with suggestion for approval to the entire team sitting down and discussing collectively. As tasks are agreed upon within the involved individuals, we should look to tie these tasks back to the overall goal.
Golf explanation: "Now, let's talk about the mechanics of the swing..."
Closing Remarks
So whether you are explaining a new concept at work or explaining a game to family and friends, do not start with the tasks or actions, but rather, start with the overall goal, ask for their thoughts on the goal, and then walk them through how the tasks or actions affect this overall goal.