This question and answer series of articles provides scenarios for business owners to find answers to business frustrations. Today I give my tips on having self sufficient employees.
Q: My time seems to be constantly taken up responding to staff questions about a whole variety of subjects from aspects of their normal everyday work to unusual situations and how to handle them. As a result I never seem to get my own work done. How can I get them to think?
This is a common complaint in small businesses, and one of the key reasons they rarely become bigger businesses. The owner is so busy sorting out the myriad day to day issues they can’t focus on the higher level work and the thinking they should be doing on the business. For most, it stems from an open door policy and desire not to be seen as unapproachable. What’s really happening is that you have given staff permission to interrupt and by giving them the answer every time, you are embedding the practice and indicating that your work is of no consequence. It’s time to change all that. Introduce the ‘bring me solutions, not problems’ principle. In other words, encourage them to do the initial thinking. Respond with: I’m in the middle of something right now, can you come back in half an hour, and, before you do, can you give some thought to the issue and bring back two or three options that you believe might be ways to handle it.
They have been relying on you for so long to answer the questions, they have become lazy. And you have been abdicating your responsibility as a manager to help them develop into valuable, thinking individuals and employees.
Watch for Part Thirty-Five of the Q & A series…coming later this week!
Until next time…
P.S. Learn more about working ON your business with my FREE eBook! Get it HERE!