"I'm sorry, I wrote three emails to product development, but they didn't manage to adapt the product any sooner. That's why I couldn't deliver the customer's order on time," the employee explains to his line manager.
If such statements are made in your department, they are a symptom of a lack of clarity. Clarity about who is responsible for achieving a certain result. In any case, the employee in question does not feel responsible for fulfilling the customer's order on time. The result: discussions and recriminations.
This is the opposite of what you want as a manager. Because you want: good cooperation, smooth processes, projects to be implemented within the calculated time and budget, deliveries to reach the customer on time and flawlessly, etc.
To achieve these goals, management often strives for more control. To guarantee that every piece of the puzzle really fits together, that everything comes together to form an overall picture.
The question is: How can you align your teams and employees with this overall picture? With processes defined down to the last detail - processes for more control? This works until something unforeseen happens. And you and I know that: In the project business in particular, things that cannot be planned always happen, but what really gives you and your team clarity and direction are principles.
Fixed principles for successful collaboration
I myself had an unplanned topic a long time ago, which was about cooperation in leadership and results in projects. During the analysis, I came across four principles that all topics had in common. And since then, these principles have accompanied me in all situations in life, not just professionally, and they have always worked, no matter how big the challenge. The beauty of it is that there is nothing to argue about, nobody will say NO to it. The OSTHUS Compass is made up of the following principles: Results, Responsibility, Trust and Learning.
Let's take an example of how these principles can be applied in practice: "You lead - and I don't want to be surprised." I agreed this with a manager. And it also includes: "If I am surprised, I can intervene". What is behind this statement? It refers to results-oriented action and responsibility for results. It shows that I trust my counterpart. At the same time, I wanted to say: "Come to me if you have a problem - and in good time, i.e. before a nasty surprise threatens."
Let's assume that the employee from the initial example had internalized this sentence. How would he then have behaved? When the employee gets stuck in the consultation with Product Development, he proactively turns to you as a manager in accordance with these principles. Together you look for a solution - before the customer's deadline expires, then the result comes. And the task does not come back as a nasty surprise, as a boomerang.
Leadership with principles
If you have committed to these principles yourself, as a team or as an organization, there is no more finger-pointing and discussions: the focus is on the result, so your people proactively try to rectify the mistake. They think outside the box, help each other - and draw the consequences of their own actions. They learn from their own mistakes and continue to develop. And if things don't go according to plan - and they certainly will - you can always use the principles to provide guidance.
However, further development also requires a certain feedback culture on the part of managers. I am not entitled by status to give my employees feedback. I get this authorization. You will see: You achieve the greatest impact when people give you the right to tell you their point of view. This applies equally to colleagues, employees and children.
Write to me, I'm curious: What principles do you use to lead?