Mom is ALWAYS right

Despite all the time we spent trying to convince ourselves that mom didn’t understand or that she didn’t know what she was talking about, life has proven, time and again, that she knew everything and was always right.

Today we discuss how valuable mom’s admonitions are when we set out to build and manage our business team.

“Clean up your room. We don’t live in a pig’s sty!”

Why was mom so keen on cleanliness and organization? Probably because chaos tends to leave people confused and unproductive. It’s the same with our businesses. When tasks are scattered and day-to-day business functions seem to have no rhyme and reason, the business will suffer. One great way to stay organized is to make a list of things that need to be done and delegate some of those responsibilities, with plenty of specific instructions, to trustworthy team members.

“It’s always nice to share.”

Your toys were yours and only you knew how to play with them the “right” way. But mom always insisted that you share. Perhaps she knew that when we share what we’ve been given, everyone can be happy. You may be the boss, but letting other share in some of your responsibilities might just make for a happier team, a happier business, and certainly a happier you.

“Patience please.”

You were supposed to show your younger sibling how to tie their shoes. Mom gave you that special task. But as you see your sibling royally screwing up this rudimentary task, you leap in, tie the shoe, and declare the task completed. The problem is your younger sibling is now in their thirties and they still don’t know how to tie a shoe. In business, we know we need to delegate and so we do. However, when we see something not being done the way we would do it, we jump in, fully believing that is has to be done “this” way and not “that” way. If we can follow our mother’s sage advice and show patience, we might see that there are, indeed, more successful way of doing things than what we would have done. Along with patience, it’s wise to offer guidance, but ultimately leave the task to the person you gave it to and see what comes of it. You never know, you might end up with better team members for it.

“I’m going to give you to the count of three!”

Why does she count? I hate it when she does that. Mother counted because she knew she might get action out of you if you knew that you had a deadline. In this case, the deadline was in exactly three seconds. While we should probably give our team members more than three seconds to complete a task, deadlines are a good thing. Deadlines help us sharpen our focus and organize more efficiently.

“Mind your own business.”

Mom always seemed to care that we worried less about other people and worried more about ourselves. It works the same way when you got to delegate tasks to team members. If you gave them a job, there must be a reason for and so let them get down to the business you gave them. You don’t need to micro manage, especially since that undermines the whole concept behind delegation.

“It’s better to tell the truth.”

Mom knew that truth-telling breeds trust and respect. When you assign a task to a team member, it’s best to give thoughtful, polite, yet truthful feedback. They need to know where they stand and how you feel the project is going. And as long as you can be gracious about it, they’ll respect your suggestions and return the favor by delivering better results come deadline time. On the other hand, if we deliver feedback in drill sergeant mode, we often find resistance and both momentum and creativity are impeded.

“Mind your manners.”

What are the magic words? Okay, so the words “please” and “thank you” may not make anything disappear or perform other fantastical feats of magic, they do have a splendid and very favorable effect on our team. As you delegate out at task, be sure to sneak in a “please.” Once the project is completed, especially if the final results is =beyond your expectations, be sure to express gratitude. A sincere “thank you” is sure to promote a feel of job satisfaction among your team members and the scene is then set for the next task to be a smash hit.

Mom was always right. Somehow she knew the solution to every problem. She spoke such simple truths, but as we’ve found, they apply to most anything. Delegation can mean the difference between success and failure. And if we can master the art of delegation, we might be able to achieve a happier more productive team.

 

Carla Kroger

Carla is the founder and secret weapon behind Daily Administration where she works with small businesses assisting them in establishing manageable marketing strategies that attracts, engages and enrolls clients. Along with the Daily Administration team, she works with her clients to establish processes for profit¬able and repeatable growth.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below

Leave a Comment:

[Free Template] 60 Second B2B Online Traffic Plan

The more interaction and engagement you have, the more traffic you can generate.

Increase your engagement and traffic with this fill-in-the-blanks template today.

Get FREE Instant Access!