The year end is only three days away. Many are on vacation. And business owners are stretching to close the figures for year end. Exactly on this moment, imagine you get notice from municipal corporation for not paying the profession tax of employees. Or your production manager is panic for not having a raw material item for immediate production.
We, like everyone else, react.
How do we respond?
We question people for the creation of problem, ownership of problem, cause of problem.
But we miss prevention of problem.
“Why haven’t you paid the tax on time?” we question the accountant. ‘Why wasn’t the order placed in advance? We question the purchase manager. Accounts and purchase guys, like everyone else, pass on responsibility to the next person. Then from one to the other. You continue to question people. Why wasn’t this done? Who made this blunder? Why didn’t you tell me?
This is the reality that each of us faces every day. Let us compile statistics on these issues. Then it reveals that 90% of them are repeated. Only the frequency changes. Majority are daily or weekly, some are monthly and a few occur yearly.
Asking Questions
It is time to alter our response from ‘questioning’ people to the pro-action of ‘asking questions’. We already experienced the recurring problems and know their frequency. Let us begin by asking questions to the stakeholders in advance so as to drive them finish on time.
- Train them if they lack skill
- Support them if they lack capacity
- Set targets and timeline if they do not focus
- Follow up if they miss a priority
- Appreciate them if they finish on time
- Reward them if they add value
Questioning is a reactive strategy. Regrettably, it fosters fear and resentment. Asking questions brings out the best in people. It exemplifies proactive leadership. People who are positively challenged, ignite their inner fire for excellence.
