The team is doing relatively well. The supervisor is very challenged and very annoyed. She has the feeling that her employees are incompetent.
Background
If a job is not done correctly, the supervisor has two main options:
A) Back to the sender
B) Do it yourself
Variant A requires a little courage. For many people, telling someone that his or her performance has room for improvement means entering the learning zone.
That's why many managers prefer option B. It's quickly done and not so bad. After all, it takes more effort to explain it instead of doing it yourself.
Anyone who tells themselves such things is sabotaging themselves! Of course, it is easier to fix the mistakes of others yourself instead of confronting them. The consequences, however, are fatal: the others learn either that everything is ok or that the boss is already watching. And they get used to it.
Antidote
As a manager, you shouldn't ask yourself: "Which is easier? But rather: "What is more effective?"
It does not matter how big the error and the correction is. It is much more important to bring employees into the optimum pressure(cf. LN model). Depending on the situation, the antidote to the do-it-yourself trap looks different:
| No. | Situation | Antidote | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trifle that the MA should know | Returned to sender promptly and without any fuss. | Very effective supervisors clarify their expectations early - on the simple issues. This makes it much easier for them later on. | |
| When it has to be quick | Do it yourself, prompt feedback to sender: You did it, it had to be done quickly, please look at it next time | Sometimes variant B is needed. However, feedback is then absolutely essential, otherwise you are caught in the compensation trap | |
| MA overwhelmed | Sitting together: Let's see together how you can make sure this doesn't happen again | Return to sender is only effective if it does not overburden the sender. This is where the line manager is required to act as a coach to help the employee progress. | |
| It happens repeatedly | In the context of 1:1 feedback: It happened several times - I expect you to master this - how do we solve this? - When do we check the result? | If unwanted patterns become ingrained, they must be brought to light! Feedback rules help here. |
Related articles
- The do-it-yourself trap is related to the sponge-over trap: those who always iron out mistakes made by employees themselves say "sponge over it".
- Feedback rules against unwanted patterns
Sources
Picture: Christian Nänny
Text: Stefan Heer