How Leaders Can Start Improving Instruction Giving

By Ruth Graham


As a leader, one has to know how to properly give instructions to his subordinates otherwise they will not be able to deliver the desired output. Often times when the output is not up to standard or simply not good at all, the fault lies within the instructions that were given to the subordinates. As a leader, one must reflect on himself and start improving instruction giving to make it clear.

The art of delegation first lies in the subtle art of proper communication. One has to know how to properly communicate the message to the people under him in a way that is clear, concise, and understandable. This will make him be able to do better in work and also avoid miscommunications of any kind with people.

When one becomes a leader, he has to first stop being in the mindset that his employees or his subordinates are there to serve him. That said, he should put a lot of emphasis on training his employees. He should never assume that his employees know what he wants them to do even if he has not given them proper instructions or trained them yet. One of the ways to do this is to avoid jargon for newbies and create a good training program at the onset.

Second, one has to focus on training and orientation. As early as the start, leaders or bosses already have to start training the subordinates of what is to be expected of them so that they will understand instructions in the future. As stated above, do not assume that subordinates know what to do even before being oriented or trained.

When one gives instructions, it is advised that one do it step by step so that his subordinates can follow it. Making it step by step prevents confusion on what exactly should be done. Another thing to take note of is to always be patient when explaining the instructions as to not miss anything.

One other tip that one can do is to make sure that the instructions are written down or sent as a soft copy. A lot of managers send emails with complete instructions and have them CCd to other staff so that there is no blaming. This also helps bosses keep on check who takes responsibility for the tasks.

Finally, as a leader, one has to create the culture of openness and cultivate the attitude of asking questions no matter how stupid they may sound. The failure of most leaders is that they criticize their people for asking amateurish questions which will eventually make them scared to ask anything at all. Cultivating a clear path of communication is the best way to good results.

As one can see, giving instructions is not just about telling people to do this and to do that. Rather, it is about communicating to people what exactly should be done and having them learn what to do. As long as a leader knows how to instruct his people properly, then his people will definitely be able to produce good results that are up to standard or even better.




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