As a manager, it is worth considering three ways to get things done. Before you just do the work, consider if it makes sense to tell someone else how to do it or to coach someone. In this post we will cover the tactics and benefits of all three:

Doing the work yourself
Telling someone else how to do the work
Coaching someone

Doing the work is often the most efficient way to get something done. If you have experience doing the work this is the fastest way to complete work. When you do the work you are mission-critical, and without you the work does not get done. When you do the work, you are a model for the behavior you want to see from others. Modeling behavior can be a powerful tactic for influencing others.

Telling someone how to do the work provides a blueprint. You spend time giving explicit instructions. Someone else performs the work. When you are telling someone else how to do the work, they are following orders. Those doing the work don’t necessarily understand why they are doing what they are doing. Those doing the work gain experience performing the specific tasks they are told to perform. You benefit from having memorialized the specific process you want to be followed. However, you may have created a mechanical Turk.

Coaching someone to do the work may seem similar to telling someone else to do the work. In both cases you are not performing the work. A key difference with coaching is the worker gains professional development and understanding. You support someone else doing the work in the future without your involvement.

I often think of coaching as goal-oriented rather than task-oriented. I work to communicate the outcomes and objectives rather than the process by which they will achieve the outcomes. Similar to delegation knowing what outcome you want is important to free you from dictating tactics.

I check-in on the progress to the outcomes in regular sessions. I may ask for detailed plans or resources required to achieve the outcomes. I let the person doing the work create these plans or request these resources. I give feedback on progress to outcomes (not a preference of tactics). The time taken is longer and the learning is beyond perfecting rote learning.

How do you decide which tactic makes sense? Ask yourself how often you do the work versus how critical is it that you do the work? Consider every opportunity to develop someone else by helping them perform work you would normally do.