How Can I Best Give Directions to my Employees?

Before giving any directions, you need to plan:

  1. What you want as the end result of the communication. Set objectives.
  2. Who should receive the directions.
  3. How you will give the instructions so they will be best understood. That means you have to select the appropriate medium. Would it be better to put the instructions in writing? Or can you just tell the person? And if you do the latter, should you consider breaking the procedure into steps to clarify them?
  4. When will the directions be given. Timing is important. For instance, if it is going to take fifteen minutes to give the instructions, it makes no sense to begin to give the instructions five minutes before quitting time.
  5. Where the directions will be given. You need to identify a place where there will be few interruptions, and external noise will be at a minimum.

Tell Me More

Before actually giving the instructions, find a way to put the employee at ease. You might start the communication with small talk. This time also allows the employee to get ready to listen if his or her thoughts are elsewhere.

After developing some rapport, move on to state the objective or goal of the task. Understanding the "bigger picture" will also help the employee to achieve the end result. After that, you can proceed to give the directions as you thought them through in Step 1. Be sure to state exactly what you want done, how you want it done, and when you want it done.

State the deadline—either for the work as a whole or for various interim steps. If the employee will have access to funds, then you need to be clear about the money available—upper and lower limits. You might also want to forewarn the employee of any problems that he or she may encounter. With your advance information, you will lessen the apprehension when obstacles surface, when some steps take longer than anticipated, or changes in plans may be necessary.

You don’t want to give too much detail. Excessive details only confuse; they won’t clarify. Clarity should be your goal. When an employee questions an instruction, the problem is more likely vagueness than complexity.

To make sure the directions are understood, ask for feedback from the employee. Don’t just ask, "Do you have any questions?" Most of the time, you won’t get a reply. By asking a question, employees tend to think they are giving you a poor impression of themselves. So, instead, ask the employee to tell you in his or her words your request. If the employee has a question, you need to demonstrate you are willing to take the time to answer fully. There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers.

Once the employee gets to work, your responsibility isn’t over. You need to stop by to see if the employee is having a problem or difficulty with the task. The extent of follow-up will be influenced by the expertise of the person doing the work, as well as the complexity of the project. Naturally, with newer and less experienced workers, follow-up checks should be made more frequently. The same rule applies with experienced workers if they are handling a difficult assignment that may test the limits of their talents.

On the other hand, you don’t want to be too obtrusive in your follow-up efforts, especially with seasoned employees, since they may interpret your inquiries as a lack of confidence in their ability.

It isn’t so important that the employee do the job as you want so long as he or she gets the results you want. If there is likely to be a problem, you may want to intervene and discuss, once again, the task. Go over the instructions again, emphasizing where you see a problem arising. If the employee isn’t aware that he or she isn’t doing as instructed, you may have to point up the problem with the work so far.

This process of follow-through is as important as the initial delegation process.