Correct Level of Supervision Evaluating is part of supervising. It is defined as judging the worth, quality, or significance of people, ideas, or things (U.S. Army Handbook, 1973, p304). It includes looking at the ways people are accomplishing a task. It means getting feedback on how well something is being done and interpreting that feedback. People need feedback so that they can judge their performance. Without it, they will keep performing tasks wrong, or stop performing the steps that makes their work great. Use checklists to list tasks that need to be accomplished. Almost all of us have poor memories when it comes to remembering a list of details. List tasks by priorities, for example, "A" priorities must be done today, "B" priorities must be done by tomorrow, and "C" priorities need to be followed up within a week. Double check the important things by following through on them. Strange things can happen if you are not aware of them. Paperwork gets lost, plans get changed, and people forget. If you have a system of checks and double checks, you will discover mistakes, have time to correct them, and minimize any disruptions. Following through may seem to be a waste of your time and energy, but in the long run, it pays off. You will spend less time and energy correcting mistakes and omissions made long ago. Inspiring Your Employees Getting people to accomplish something is much easier if they have the inspiration to do so. Inspire means “to breathe life into.” And in order to perform that, we have to have some life ourselves. Three main actions will aid you in accomplishing this: 1. Be passionate: In organizations where there is a leader with great enthusiasm about a project, a trickle-down effect will occur. You must be committed to the work you are doing. If you do not communicate excitement, how can you expect your people to get worked up about it? 2. Get your employees involved in the decision making process: People who are involved in the decision making process participate much more enthusiastically than those who just carry out a boss' order. Help them contribute and tell them you value their opinions. Listen to them and incorporate their ideas when it makes sense to so. 3. Know what your organization is about!: The fundamental truth, as General Creighton W. Abrams used to say in the mid-1970s, is that “the Army is not made up of people. The Army is people. Every decision we make is a people issue.” Your organization is the same. It may make a product or sell a service, but it is still people! A leader's primary responsibility is to develop people and enable them to reach their full potential. Your people may come from diverse backgrounds, but they all have goals they want to accomplish. Create a "people environment" where they truly can be all they can be. Training and Coaching As a leader you must view coaching from two different viewpoints: 1) coaching to lead others and 2) being coached to achieve self-improvement. Training and coaching are two different things, although some people use them interchangeably. Training is a structured lesson designed to provide the employee with the knowledge and skills to perform a task. Coaching, on the other hand, is a process designed to help the employee gain greater competence and to overcome barriers so as to improve job performance. You might picture it as when you were in school. During physical education, the gym teacher (trainer) taught you how to play basketball. Next you went out for the school team. You had a basic understanding of the game and its rules, but the coach personally taught you by coaching the finer points of the game. Training and coaching go hand-in-hand. First you train people with lots of technical support, and then you coach them with motivational pointers. Both training and coaching help to create the conditions that cause someone to learn and develop. People learn by the examples of others, by forming a picture in their minds of what they are trying to learn, by gaining and understanding necessary information, by applying it to their job, and/or practice. Both coaching and training have a few points in common: Evaluate to determine knowledge, skill, and confidence levels. Define objectives that can be measured periodically. It helps to break them down into step-by-step actions (action steps). Clarify direction, goals, and accountability. To foster accountability, involve the person or team in the decision making. Encourage peer coaching by reminding them that everyone has a stake in each other's success. Coaching is more than telling people how to do something, it involves giving advice, skill-building, creating challenges, removing performance barriers, building better processes, learning through discovery (the aha! method), etc. Deal with emotional obstacles by helping them through change, reviewing and pointing out ways that they hold themselves back, comforting them when they become confused, etc. Give feedback by pointing and hinting towards solutions, rather than directly critiquing errors. Lead by example! Demonstrate the desired behaviors.