Plan, Track, and Don’t Assume

I moved this past weekend and since I have a home office, it was a double move. I’ve never felt so worn down after a move. What surprises me is this particular move was designed to be much easier than usual since both Wayne (my guy) and I are so busy. We started paying rent on the new place on the 18th to ensure we had plenty of overlap on both places for a nice “controlled” move. Plus, we hired a moving company so we’d have to do less moving ourselves and could save time.

Our previous move also included overlap between the places but we did nearly all the work ourselves, making about 20 trips back and forth over time to move boxed items. Wayne rented a truck and hired a couple of guys standing outside Home Depot to do the heavy lifting for the furniture. The guys were done and the truck returned within about 4 hours. We were completely settled in within a day or so of the furniture being moved.

This time we moved some boxes but left most for the movers so they could take the boxes with the furniture on Thursday, the 24th. Our plan was to be out by the end of Sunday, the 27th, but it was close and we still have a lot of boxes to unpack. So what went sideways with this move?

We relied too heavily on others doing the work and didn’t create a workable action plan so this would actually BE a relaxed move within the deadline. So, what does this have to do with companies and employees? I see similar situations play out in companies. Joe assumes Mary will complete all or part of a project but Mary didn’t realize she was supposed to, may not know how to do everything, or know when it needed to be done. Then Joe’s mad when the project isn’t done on time and blames Mary.

If Joe creates the project or is in charge of it, he needs to develop the various tasks required, delegate them to the appropriate employee, and include a deadline so everything stays on track. In theory it sounds simple. However, as I can attest, it’s never quite that simple because there so many things that can go wrong or be forgotten. You need to be very detail-oriented to ensure everyone fully understands their roles.

Certainly there are times when Mary just doesn’t do her tasks but, more often, the problem lies with the project’s manager. It is your “task” to outline the project completely and make sure everyone truly understands their role. The bigger picture of this is communicating to your employees what your company is about and how they each fit into its success. If you want to make your project or your company a success, make sure everyone understands why they are doing something and how all those pieces and roles connect to one another.

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