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Communicating Instructions

Last month we looked at how to make more time for yourself by delegation. But if you do this, then you have to be prepared to give instructions to staff first to make sure that they can carry out the tasks you want them to do efficiently.

There are several ways you can do this. The quickest way is to tell each worker verbally what you want. For many tasks this will be sufficient. However, there is always the danger of misunderstandings, especially if you are giving long or complicated instructions.

Research has shown that within three days people forget about 90% of what they hear and 80% of what they read, but they only forget 45% of what they read and hear.

Important or complex instructions should always be written down so that you have a permanent record. You can then pass these on in either letter or email form. Alternatively, you can have a section on the company’s internal website which workers can refer to.

Once you have sent written instructions, it is always a good idea to discuss them with the workers concerned. This gives you the chance to ensure that they are fully understood.

Another method you can use for giving instructions is to have a meeting of all the workers involved. This is very useful if you have to give the same instruction to a large number of people. It is obviously much quicker to talk to twenty people in a group than it is to talk to each one individually.

If the instructions are simple there should be no misunderstanding. However, if the instructions are lengthy or complex it would be best to send a written copy to each person before the meeting. You would then use the meeting to discuss the instructions and answer any questions.

Before you give any instructions, think carefully about what you will say. Try to make them as clear and simple as possible, otherwise your workers will make mistakes and a great deal of time and effort will be wasted correcting them. So a little extra time spent at the beginning could save you a great deal of time later.

Once you have given your instructions you must check that they are being followed. Good managers check regularly that the work in their department is being done correctly. If you don’t check and things go wrong, then you’ve only yourself to blame.

If you have targets to meet, check that enough work is being done to reach those targets. Check for quality, check for quantity, check for progress. In other words, check everything that affects the efficient running of your department. And providing you do it with the right attitude, the extra attention you give to your workers will encourage them to work even harder for you.

As this is the last blog post before we have our Christmas break, I hope those of you who celebrate the event have a wonderful time. If you don’t celebrate it, then I still hope that the coming year will bring all my readers peace, happiness and success.

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Susan Metcalfe - head of Business Training - discusses business, training and work issues. Come and join in the conversation or just enjoy the read!