The Art of Giving An Order
A manager is bestowed the responsibility to assign tasks to their staff, do performance monitoring, and ensure that the work is done in an effective and timely manner. There are generally two approaches of giving an order to your staff. While some managers tend to apply the hard approach, others are willing to better their leadership skills by changing the way they distribute tasks into a softer approach.
The reason some high-positioned people tend to choose the hard approach is that it is seemingly easy and quick. However, giving direct orders can actually decrease the motivation of your employees. When your staff are not offered the opportunity to give feedback or have their own voice, their productivity level can be negatively affected.
It is believed that a softer approach contributes to a more positive outcome, because the way the task is assigned is carefully crafted with the intention to include and respect the staff. For example, the hard approach such as “Finish the report by tomorrow” gives the impression that they just to need to do as they are told. This statement can be reformed to be “softer”: “It would be great if you could get the report done by Friday.”
To make your employees feel more involved in the decision-making process (that will potentially boost their performance), it is recommended to re-phrase the instructions, such as the following:
Would you mind working late next week?
Is there any way you can…?
Do you mind…? / Would you mind…?
Would you do me a favor and …?
I was wondering whether you could…?
I’d really appreciate if you …
It’d be a great help if you could…
