Another of my pet peeves is when someone says "I'm so busy doing status reports, that I don't get a chance to do real work".
If someone says that, my best next step is to count to 10 and breathe deeply to keep from exploding.
Make this perfectly clear - reporting is part of the work. It is not something you do in addition to the work. The curse of working with other people is that communication is critical. If you don't notify anyone that the work was done, it isn't done.
For example, I may delegate a task to an employee. I explain that another department needs some data and I ask them to put it together in an Excel spreadsheet and email it to them by Friday at 1 pm. The employee, as part of the task, has to notify me that the task was done. It may be as simple as cc'ing me on the email that contains the data.
If the employee never notifies me, I have no idea the task was completed. I would then provide feedback that explains the task isn't "done" until all reporting is completed.
What this means is that everyone needs to consider reporting when evaluating the requirements of the task. In the example above, the requirements would be that the data would be compiled and emailed in an Excel spreadsheet to the other department AND I would be notified that it was completed.
If someone thinks reporting is "getting in the way" of work, they do not understand their job or the nature of teamwork.
Commentaires