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Managing Effort or Outcomes. Improve Your Management Approach · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Managing effort or managing outcomes.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Which is best?
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Choose the right option for the right situation and the right person, and you get better performance or better outcomes.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Much happier, more engaged team members.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: You get to create great development opportunities regardless of their expertise, and you save yourself a lot of time and effort.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you get it wrong, you are likely to have lower performance in your team.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, demotivated, unhappy team members.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Third, you're gonna have much more limited growth opportunities for team members, and lastly, you're gonna have much less time personally as you have a lot more problems to resolve directly.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Choosing how much to do of each, you're managing effort or outcomes can be pretty tricky.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: The best option depends on the situation, the people involved, and what you're trying to achieve.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: There are a couple of simple approaches or rules of thumb which will make getting the right balance a lot easier for you, and I'll share these in a bit.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: To help you balance managing activity or results so that you can stand out from your peers, I am sharing firstly what exactly do we mean by managing effort, activity and tasks.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, how managing outcomes or results is different and why it can be better.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: And third, seven approaches to choose the best option, managing effort or managing outcomes.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: In the summary section at the end, I'll share with you vital tips for how you need to change this balance as you progress up the management ranks.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: I know so many middle and senior managers who get this wrong and it sets them back months, if not years.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Don't let this happen to you, so do stay for this.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, firstly, what exactly do we mean by managing effort, activity and tasks?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Managing effort is when you help a person step by step through an activity to get a desired result.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: You are managing each step or task of the activity, i.e.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: monitoring completion of each step.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: A classic example in sales, you know you track the number of phone calls made, the number of meetings completed, and the number of proposals sent out.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: When managing activity, you stay close to the work being done, almost working alongside team members.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: You are involved in what they are doing.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Micromanaging is one extreme of managing effort or managing activities.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: When you first start managing others, you'll be managing effort or managing activity.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is absolutely normal.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: New managers or junior managers contribute directly and work alongside their team members to hit team goals.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Your expertise in doing the tasks and activities within the team is likely to be better than your team members.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Managing effort or activity is a necessary management style and very useful in specific situations.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Let's compare managing effort or outcomes next so you understand exactly what the difference is, and then we'll go on to discuss how to use each in the best way to increase team performance and results.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles, and if you're new to this podcast, Enhanced.training provides resources and courses for you to build management expertise and confidence to lead any team to their best performance.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: To gain more in-depth management expertise and take years off getting promotions, visit us at enhance.training, select courses, and take a look at all the different options to build your management expertise, stand out from peers and bring your next promotion closer.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Visit us at enhance.training and do take a look.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, secondly, how managing outcomes or results is different and why it can be better.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: When you're managing outcomes or managing results, you are not overly concerned or involved in how those results are achieved.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: You don't measure or check completeness of the activity that should lead to the results you want.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, you focus on measuring or checking the outcomes or results produced by team members.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: A loss of activity might go into producing a single result.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Measuring results means the manager is more removed from the activity and only understands performance much later in the activity cycle.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is more hands-off or higher level management styles.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Going back to our sales example, when you are measuring outcomes, you might only measure the number of sales won and the total revenue generated by those sales.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: The key points: what you track, measure, and manage is later in the work cycle, and you're typically much further away from the work.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: When the results are good, you assume all the activity producing those results are also good.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: This makes managing the work easier and less time consuming for the manager, assuming that all is going well.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Those doing the work also have a lot more responsibility and autonomy when the manager is focused on managing results.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is why results matter more than activity in many situations.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Managing results can be extremely useful in many circumstances and very painful in others.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's cover when to focus on activity or results.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: So seven approaches to choose the best option, managing effort or managing outcomes.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: There are seven factors that I suggest you consider before you decide to focus on managing efforts or outcomes or choosing what balance you're going to strike between the two.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: These are firstly expertise or capability of the worker or team, secondly the level of repetition within the team, third the importance or impact of the result, fourth the risk level of getting the desired result, fifth the clarity of the goal and ease of measuring activity or results, sixth the amount of time you have, and seventh the level of development desired for the other person.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Taking each one in turn and discussing when you should focus on managing activities or results.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: So firstly, expertise or capability of the worker or the team.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: The more capable or the greater the expertise of the person doing the work, the more you should manage results.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Managing results is very useful when they know more than you in terms of how to achieve the desired results.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Use this approach for high performers.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: The lower the expertise or capability, the more you should manage effort to reach the results needed.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Use this approach for inexperienced, junior or new staff.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Second, the level of repetition within the team.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: If the team or the team member does the tasks and activities every day and consistently produces great results, then focus on managing results.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: If they do the activities irregularly or they produce very inconsistent results, focus on managing effort and activities more than results.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: This factor is closely related to expertise, but it is not the same.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Third, the importance or impact of the result.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: The greater the importance of the desired result, or the greater the impact on your team or the business, the more you should manage effort or manage activity as well as the result.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: This approach is to keep you close to the work and give you indicators of likely results as early as possible.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: This gives you more time for course corrections and overcoming problems.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, the risk level of getting the desired result.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: The higher the risk levels of getting the desired result, i.e.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: the unpredictability of getting that result, the more you should manage effort.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Again, you should this is to keep you close to the work and to find out problems, etc.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: much earlier in the work cycle.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: When the risk levels are low, managing results is usually a lot easier and more sensible.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, the clarity of the goal and the ease of measuring activity or results.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: The more clearly you can define the results that you need and the clearer the steps are to achieve that result, the more you can manage results.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: When the goal is vague, ambiguous or hard to measure or hard to control, the more you should focus on activity.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Your ability to and the ease of measuring activity or measuring results is also key.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if you can't measure activity, how can you be good at managing effort or managing activity?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Sixth, the amount of time you have.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: The time you have is precious.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: To get great team results, you need to use your time where it is most effective.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Prioritize your time and focus on managing effort where that risk is high, where the least expertise is and where the highest impact is.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: When you're confident others can get the results needed, where the expertise is high, etc., managing results is usually the most sensible option.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Seventh, the level of development desired for the other person.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, how much development you want to provide to the person doing the work is an important factor.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: The more you are managing results, the more opportunity the person doing the work has to take responsibility, to think, to problem solve, to plan and to work autonomously.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: This creates great development potential.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Always flex how much you manage effort or outcomes based on where the other person's expertise level is.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: The further they are outside of their comfort zone, the closer you should stay to the work and the more support you should provide them to ensure success.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Always consider all of these seven factors when managing activity or results.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: You need to judge how to prioritize each factor in terms of the importance against each situation you face.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: There is rarely a right or wrong.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Usually choices are better or worse in terms of getting the desired results in the time frames needed.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: The more you consciously consider all these factors, the quicker you'll build your expertise.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, both managing effort and managing outcomes are very valuable management styles.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: The best managers correctly flex their approach to the situation they face, who is doing the work, and the other factors that we've been through.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: There is rarely a right or wrong.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: The best managers gain the expertise to consistently choose the best options.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Choosing the best option in each situation will give you better results than an average manager.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Keep experimenting and developing your own expertise.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: As you progress through the management ranks, it becomes more important for you to let go of the detail and allow others to take responsibility for that detail.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: As you become more senior, you should spend more of your time managing results and less managing activity.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: When the results are worse than you expect, that is the time to dive into managing the activity.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: This makes best use of your time and allows you to manage a lot more people, projects, and work while still getting great results.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: One of the common reasons managers struggle as they move up a level is they have not adjusted the balance between managing activity or managing results.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Keep experimenting with different balances until you get the best results.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Always consciously consider this balance every single day at work.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: As a reminder, the seven key factors that change your approach to managing effort or outcomes are firstly expertise or capability of the worker or the team, secondly the level of repetition within the team, the importance or the impact of the result, fourth the risk level of getting the desired result, fifth the clarity of the goal and ease of measuring activity or results, sixth the amount of time you have, and seventh the level of development desired for the other person.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on managing effort or outcomes, how the best managers get it right, please email me at support at enhance.training and I'll get back to you.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to visit us at enhance.training, select courses, and take a look at all the different options to build your management expertise, stand out from your peers and bring your next promotion closer.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Visit us at enhance.training and do take a look at these.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks very much for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.