Efficiency: we speak the language of tasks
Most work conflicts arise from misunderstanding of tasks. How to clarify the workflow, avoid misunderstandings and make work more efficient? Let's talk about the military statutes, errors in setting tasks and ways to become clearer for each other.
In fact, there are only two types of tasks: formalized and weakly formalized. The peculiarity of the first is a clear understanding of the performer actions from the very moment of the receipt of such a task. The second type is associated with creative search.
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The ideal non-formalized task was perfectly described in the Russian fairy tale of the same name: “Go there — I don’t know where, bring it — I don’t know what”. In this formulation of the problem there is no explicit answer to the question - why should I do this? The motive is not disclosed for good reason - this is the task for the samurai. People with strong internal motivation.
Absolutely non-formalized tasks in real life, as you might have guessed, does not happen. Often in such a task one or more parameters fall out, but the overall design is respected. Such tasks are called innovative. Almost always, they are based on conflict, they imply an informal approach to solving a problem.
An ideal example of formalized tasks is the military charter . After all, you see, it is difficult to interpret the “Stand!” Or “Fire!” Command differently. Although in reality any task requires an understanding of the context, in the case of military service, all the necessary explanations contain a charter, and its cramming takes several months.
General construction
In tasks of any kind, action is always implied, as well as the participation of the performer and initiator.
Motivation
The task may include motivation - a kind of bun that a person will receive after its implementation. This is very effective - the performer immediately understands what he will gain if he performs the task correctly. In this format, tasks are given to schoolchildren, students, freelancers, etc. Somewhat more complicated is the question of motivation in groups where people receive a fixed salary and where there are no understandable systems for evaluating the work of performers.
I will tell on examples of the five major mistakes in setting problems.
Situation # 1
- Masha, and write letters to customers.
- Okay, chef!
Result: Masha writes a letter to the client, for example, about how well she spent her vacation. Yes, and she wrote it to the beloved client, but not to the one whom we are afraid of losing, and not to the one who expects an urgent response from us.
Parsing: Is this what we need from Masha ?! We need our customers to buy more and more often, be satisfied and come back all the time. More specifics, chef!
Situation # 2
- Masha, and write letters to customers, if they have not yet made a purchase with us in the new year. And not just a letter, but a motivating purchase.
- Okay, chef!
Result: Masha wrote. Three customers. Two of them bought a hole punch for 200 rubles. Revenue: 400 rubles.
Parsing: Is this enough for us? Not? Then why initially we did not enter the target indicator into the task, so that it could be used to measure the result? If the figure were voiced, then both sides (the initiator and the performer) would have formed the correct expectation.
Situation # 3
- Masha, write personal letters to ten clients from this list.
Result: I did not write. Until the end of the working day there were only 30 minutes left, and poor Masha could not go outside unpainted.
Parsing: What's wrong here? Everything is clear, it only remains to do, it would seem. And everything would be decided if you took into account the level of skills of the performer. You need only 10 minutes to solve this task, Masha - 45. This task in this formulation is unsolvable for the performer.
Situation # 4
- Masha, and write a letter to the client?
- Okay, chef!
Result: And with these words, Masha goes to paint her nails, and then for lunch.
Analysis: The problem is not solved, but is Masha to blame? No! She just postponed the task for the evening, and then forgot. Is the boss to blame? Yes, precisely he. He did not limit the task in time and did not control its execution.
Situation # 5
- Masha, and write a letter to the client. Today. Until 13:30
- Okay, chef!
Result: And Masha again goes for a manicure.
Parsing: “What's wrong?” - you ask. Very simple. On the client side, a terrible bitch, Natalya Ivanovna, is working as a secretary. She is 27, but she already requires to call her by name and patronymic. Masha did not solve this problem because she did not want to communicate with the beast. The solution to this problem was not in the sphere of Masha's interests, she was simply scared.
And again we return to the motivation. I will definitely devote one of the following posts to this topic, but now I’ll say briefly: if your employees are not ready for you to leave your comfort zone and overcome your fears, you are a mediocre manager.
It is very difficult to take into account all exceptional situations at the task formulation stage, and in this situation the simplest and most effective task formulation technology will help us - SMART. This is an abbreviation of five English words: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound. Translated into Russian: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and limited in time.
As a result of smarting a meaningless task (“Masha, write a letter to customers”), we move to a smart and efficient way: “Masha, today, by the end of the day, a commercial offer was sent via e-mail with special conditions to ten customers who had postponed a purchase of more than 45 thousand rubles . " It is quite another matter!
At first glance, it is difficult to check each task using five parameters, but try to start smarting tasks and notice the result very quickly. Motivated employees will become much easier to understand you, and the rest will be much more difficult to merge clear tasks.
Remember the words of the statute that I quoted at the beginning of the post? In the army, after the execution of the order, the performer is obliged to notify the senior of the execution of the order, and the senior, in turn, to monitor the implementation. So in a peaceful life - having set a smarted task, be sure to monitor the fact of its implementation.
If you learn how to set tasks and control them, believe me, it will save you a lot of time, mental strength and ensure respect in the team.
In fact, there are only two types of tasks: formalized and weakly formalized. The peculiarity of the first is a clear understanding of the performer actions from the very moment of the receipt of such a task. The second type is associated with creative search.
')
The ideal non-formalized task was perfectly described in the Russian fairy tale of the same name: “Go there — I don’t know where, bring it — I don’t know what”. In this formulation of the problem there is no explicit answer to the question - why should I do this? The motive is not disclosed for good reason - this is the task for the samurai. People with strong internal motivation.
Absolutely non-formalized tasks in real life, as you might have guessed, does not happen. Often in such a task one or more parameters fall out, but the overall design is respected. Such tasks are called innovative. Almost always, they are based on conflict, they imply an informal approach to solving a problem.
An ideal example of formalized tasks is the military charter . After all, you see, it is difficult to interpret the “Stand!” Or “Fire!” Command differently. Although in reality any task requires an understanding of the context, in the case of military service, all the necessary explanations contain a charter, and its cramming takes several months.
40. The order of the commander (chief) must be executed implicitly, accurately and in time. The soldier, having received the order, replies: “Yes” - and then carries it out. If necessary, make sure that the order given to them is correct, the commander (chief) may require a brief repetition, and the soldier who received the order may ask the commander (chief) to repeat it. The soldier is obliged to report on the implementation of the received order to the chief, who gave the order, and his immediate superior. A soldier cannot be given orders and instructions, be assigned tasks that are not related to military service or are aimed at breaking the law. (Chapter 2. Relations between military personnel. Charter of the internal service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation).
General construction
In tasks of any kind, action is always implied, as well as the participation of the performer and initiator.
Motivation
The task may include motivation - a kind of bun that a person will receive after its implementation. This is very effective - the performer immediately understands what he will gain if he performs the task correctly. In this format, tasks are given to schoolchildren, students, freelancers, etc. Somewhat more complicated is the question of motivation in groups where people receive a fixed salary and where there are no understandable systems for evaluating the work of performers.
I will tell on examples of the five major mistakes in setting problems.
Situation # 1
- Masha, and write letters to customers.
- Okay, chef!
Result: Masha writes a letter to the client, for example, about how well she spent her vacation. Yes, and she wrote it to the beloved client, but not to the one whom we are afraid of losing, and not to the one who expects an urgent response from us.
Parsing: Is this what we need from Masha ?! We need our customers to buy more and more often, be satisfied and come back all the time. More specifics, chef!
Situation # 2
- Masha, and write letters to customers, if they have not yet made a purchase with us in the new year. And not just a letter, but a motivating purchase.
- Okay, chef!
Result: Masha wrote. Three customers. Two of them bought a hole punch for 200 rubles. Revenue: 400 rubles.
Parsing: Is this enough for us? Not? Then why initially we did not enter the target indicator into the task, so that it could be used to measure the result? If the figure were voiced, then both sides (the initiator and the performer) would have formed the correct expectation.
Situation # 3
- Masha, write personal letters to ten clients from this list.
Result: I did not write. Until the end of the working day there were only 30 minutes left, and poor Masha could not go outside unpainted.
Parsing: What's wrong here? Everything is clear, it only remains to do, it would seem. And everything would be decided if you took into account the level of skills of the performer. You need only 10 minutes to solve this task, Masha - 45. This task in this formulation is unsolvable for the performer.
Situation # 4
- Masha, and write a letter to the client?
- Okay, chef!
Result: And with these words, Masha goes to paint her nails, and then for lunch.
Analysis: The problem is not solved, but is Masha to blame? No! She just postponed the task for the evening, and then forgot. Is the boss to blame? Yes, precisely he. He did not limit the task in time and did not control its execution.
Situation # 5
- Masha, and write a letter to the client. Today. Until 13:30
- Okay, chef!
Result: And Masha again goes for a manicure.
Parsing: “What's wrong?” - you ask. Very simple. On the client side, a terrible bitch, Natalya Ivanovna, is working as a secretary. She is 27, but she already requires to call her by name and patronymic. Masha did not solve this problem because she did not want to communicate with the beast. The solution to this problem was not in the sphere of Masha's interests, she was simply scared.
And again we return to the motivation. I will definitely devote one of the following posts to this topic, but now I’ll say briefly: if your employees are not ready for you to leave your comfort zone and overcome your fears, you are a mediocre manager.
It is very difficult to take into account all exceptional situations at the task formulation stage, and in this situation the simplest and most effective task formulation technology will help us - SMART. This is an abbreviation of five English words: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound. Translated into Russian: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and limited in time.
| Initial task | SMART options | Smartirovanny option | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specific | Measurable | Attainable | Current | Time limited | ||
| Masha, write a letter to customers | What kind of letter? Commercial sentence About what? With the offer special conditions motivating action Which customers? Postponed clearance purchases worth more than 45 thousand rubles. | How many clients? Ten. | Does the PC and mail work? - Yes Is there an Internet? - Yes Skills enough? - Yes | Does she want to work? - Yes. Is it her responsibilities? - Yes. | When? Today until the end of the day | Masha, today before the end of the day went by email offer with special conditions ten customers postponed the purchase worth more 45 thousand rubles |
As a result of smarting a meaningless task (“Masha, write a letter to customers”), we move to a smart and efficient way: “Masha, today, by the end of the day, a commercial offer was sent via e-mail with special conditions to ten customers who had postponed a purchase of more than 45 thousand rubles . " It is quite another matter!
At first glance, it is difficult to check each task using five parameters, but try to start smarting tasks and notice the result very quickly. Motivated employees will become much easier to understand you, and the rest will be much more difficult to merge clear tasks.
Remember the words of the statute that I quoted at the beginning of the post? In the army, after the execution of the order, the performer is obliged to notify the senior of the execution of the order, and the senior, in turn, to monitor the implementation. So in a peaceful life - having set a smarted task, be sure to monitor the fact of its implementation.
If you learn how to set tasks and control them, believe me, it will save you a lot of time, mental strength and ensure respect in the team.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/286010/
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