I Didn’t Know

Years ago, as a new manager, one of the first things I realized was that I didn’t produce anything. Or, at least, I didn’t create many tangible results. I don’t know why this was a surprise to me, but I just never thought about it. As soon as I had employees, I quickly realized that they were the ones doing the work. So, if I didn’t produce or create anything, what did I do?

This is a common struggle I see in many new managers. As a manager, my purpose was to create high performers on my team.

What and How

I came to realize that it all comes down to one fundamental question and it is a question I help others leader’s ask themselves.

“Why do employees need you as a manager?”

Some people will say managers are to tell their employees what work to do. But, that’s only necessary for employees who don’t know what to do. Once the employees know what do to, they don’t need a manager to tell them.

Some people will say managers are to tell their employees how to do the work. But, that’s only necessary for employees who don’t know how to do the work. Once the employees know how to do the work, they don’t need a manager to tell them.

Once employees know what to do and how to do it, what’s left?

What Managers Must Know

The primary function of a manager is to identify the obstacles that keep their employees from being high performers.

Solve Your Own Problem

Sometimes the obstacle is something your employee can overcome themselves. Coach them and help them to determine how to overcome their obstacle. If the employee can overcome the obstacle, they should and use their manager as a resource to help them figure out how to resolve it.

Sometimes the obstacle too big for the employee to overcome themselves. The obstacle may be an organizational policy or another employee or manager they don’t have the influence to change. As the employee’s manager, you may have to step in to remove the obstacle by escalating an issue.

At the end of the day, you make sure obstacles get removed for your employees.

Late Weekly Report

I had an employee who could not get a weekly report to me on time. Each week, she sheepishly turned in the report late. At that time, I wasn’t in tune with identifying and removing obstacles. I eventually asked her why she couldn’t get the report to me on time. She was good about taking ownership but she didn’t want to admit that she couldn’t resolve the obstacle that prevented her from turning in the report on time.

The obstacle? The database with the information didn’t run on time which didn’t give her enough time to produce the report. It was someone else’s responsibility and she didn’t have the influence to change the database run times.

So I escalated for her and worked with a manager in another department to change the database run times. Obstacle removed.

So, What Are You Going To Do?

What is keeping your employees from high performance?

• Ask them what they need to perform at a higher level.
• If they can remove their own obstacle, support them in identifying possible solutions and implement the change.
• If they can’t remove the obstacle, determine what you need do to remove it for them.

When was the last time you asked your employees what they need to perform better?

What have you done to remove obstacles in your organization?

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