Figure It Out… But Not Like That

In business, a leader will try to empower others to lead themselves. However, what leaders often forget is that a person can lead themselves but still have questions for you. As a leader, you act as a guide and as a resource for your team. You might encourage them to be mostly self-sufficient, but that does not mean that you stop leading them. When they come to you with a question or problem, and you want something done in a certain way, you must clearly explain what your expectations are.

If you tell an employee that they need to figure it out on their own, then they complete the task to the best of their ability based on the knowledge they already have or have sought out, then you cannot be upset if they do not perform in the exact manner you wanted them to because you did not tell them what you wanted.

This is especially pertinent when an employee has been in their position for three months or less. The first 90 days of employment are critically important for training the individual and setting them up for success. During that time, you should never expect them to know what to do or how to do something unless you have specifically taught them. Most organizations do not have formal training programs for new-hires, and it is a disservice to both the new employee and the organization itself. You should have a list of the most important responsibilities for each position, know who the subject matter experts are for those areas, and you should train people based on that list. Then, as the individual is trained, keep a record of what they have learned by having them initial next to the responsibility, along with the initials of the subject matter expert who trained them. If they have not been trained on something, you cannot fault them for it. It is your responsibility to ensure that they have the resources they need to be successful on the job.

Expectations that are not articulated often become outcomes that are not wanted and could have been avoided. There are times when it is beneficial to have someone work through something on their own before stepping in, but that only works in the right context. If they have a procedural question, it is better to give a straight-forward answer than to risk them doing something incorrectly. If you do tell someone to figure it out on their own, do not be upset if they do something different than how you would have done it. You can offer guidance for the future, but do not reprimand them for something they asked you about and you chose not to tell them.

The next time you start to tell someone to “figure it out,” ask yourself first if you have prepared them to work through the problem on their own. Again, it is your responsibility to set your employees up for success.

-Meghan Slaughter