Without effective follow-up, the necessary momentum needed to work toward completion of an initiative often sputters and results in a disappointing outcome.
A genuine offer of assistance can carry all the feedback required if what you really want to say is "I'm concerned you're missing something"
Checking in is not micromanaging, but if it feels that way to others, you might "solve the feeling" by having your team member initiate the check in.
"We've got four milestones defined in this project. Along the way please let me know when we've crossed each milestone so the team can cheer on our progress."
Especially with the "younger generations," the follow-up or lack there of can also come down to one main point, with two subcategories. Fear, Trust, and micromanagement.
Maybe they are all one point, but many bosses, potential leaders and those in my leadership school regularly bring up the two subcategories of trust (the lack there of) and micromanagement (another trust issue.) Where fear comes into play is, people don't want to be labeled as a micromanager, or someone who doesn't trust their team. This is where establishing the culture at the hiring process and beyond comes in.
I liked that it begins with the leader explaining what their follow-up will be. It sets the tone. At the very beginning, the culture has to be one of accountability and reliability. Those two points demonstrate the follow-up. If I fail to follow-up then I am demonstrating I'm not reliable, and likely I blame someone else for my failure, further demonstrating that I'm not accountable.
Love the discussions around this topic. The evil side of man side of me equally enjoys watching those who give out passion pleas on the topic, then purposely fail to follow through. Then watch them either bow their head down when you look at them, or just shrug their shoulders.
If your team is asking you not to follow up as much, because they think it is micromanagement, then it is probably time for a team dialogue.
Taking time to explain what your follow up will be, either at the end of each meeting or by way of some regular discussion, is an important step as you point out, Steve.
Wondering by what you preface in your comment above... do you think this is a uniquely generational challenge?
Though I have experienced the concern of micromanagement from people at the tail end of the Gen X's, but mostly it is the Y and Z generations.
This could be in part due to perception, ours and theirs. As a "Boomer" (the very tail end) I see checking in as letting me know how things are going and providing assistance if needed. Because trust is the foundation of relationships, and Y and Z generations tend to be relationship based, they may/seem to perceive follow-up as the lack of trust. A different, but similar perception issue is, my generation tends to look at those asking "Why" as questioning our "authority, experience, or knowledge," while their perception is to try and understand the purpose of doing something.
Though I do believe there is a lot to the generational component, education, who and how you are raised are equal components. This is why, I believe the leader establishing the follow-up chain is critical. The leader could even use the term, "accountability partner" to help with the follow-up.
To use a term from Star Trek, End games of the Shire, staring Batman, the leader of today needs to be part protocol droid. He or she has to be able to speak a lot of languages in the modern work environment to get the maximum effort and productive from the people they lead.
This can start to feel like micromanagement real quick. How do we check in several times without coming across as lacking trust?
A genuine offer of assistance can carry all the feedback required if what you really want to say is "I'm concerned you're missing something"
Checking in is not micromanaging, but if it feels that way to others, you might "solve the feeling" by having your team member initiate the check in.
"We've got four milestones defined in this project. Along the way please let me know when we've crossed each milestone so the team can cheer on our progress."
Good morning,
An interesting discussion point.
Especially with the "younger generations," the follow-up or lack there of can also come down to one main point, with two subcategories. Fear, Trust, and micromanagement.
Maybe they are all one point, but many bosses, potential leaders and those in my leadership school regularly bring up the two subcategories of trust (the lack there of) and micromanagement (another trust issue.) Where fear comes into play is, people don't want to be labeled as a micromanager, or someone who doesn't trust their team. This is where establishing the culture at the hiring process and beyond comes in.
I liked that it begins with the leader explaining what their follow-up will be. It sets the tone. At the very beginning, the culture has to be one of accountability and reliability. Those two points demonstrate the follow-up. If I fail to follow-up then I am demonstrating I'm not reliable, and likely I blame someone else for my failure, further demonstrating that I'm not accountable.
Love the discussions around this topic. The evil side of man side of me equally enjoys watching those who give out passion pleas on the topic, then purposely fail to follow through. Then watch them either bow their head down when you look at them, or just shrug their shoulders.
Humans can be very interesting.
Be safe.
If your team is asking you not to follow up as much, because they think it is micromanagement, then it is probably time for a team dialogue.
Taking time to explain what your follow up will be, either at the end of each meeting or by way of some regular discussion, is an important step as you point out, Steve.
Wondering by what you preface in your comment above... do you think this is a uniquely generational challenge?
Though I have experienced the concern of micromanagement from people at the tail end of the Gen X's, but mostly it is the Y and Z generations.
This could be in part due to perception, ours and theirs. As a "Boomer" (the very tail end) I see checking in as letting me know how things are going and providing assistance if needed. Because trust is the foundation of relationships, and Y and Z generations tend to be relationship based, they may/seem to perceive follow-up as the lack of trust. A different, but similar perception issue is, my generation tends to look at those asking "Why" as questioning our "authority, experience, or knowledge," while their perception is to try and understand the purpose of doing something.
Though I do believe there is a lot to the generational component, education, who and how you are raised are equal components. This is why, I believe the leader establishing the follow-up chain is critical. The leader could even use the term, "accountability partner" to help with the follow-up.
To use a term from Star Trek, End games of the Shire, staring Batman, the leader of today needs to be part protocol droid. He or she has to be able to speak a lot of languages in the modern work environment to get the maximum effort and productive from the people they lead.