Pay Attention to Details

Do you balance your strategic self with your tactical self? Even though the more responsibility we get the more strategic we should become (managers are paid to be more strategic than supervisors who should be more strategic than technical team members) we still must pay attention to the details.

Details left unattended tend to drift away from the level of quality you expect.

High performance leaders follow-up. They pay attention to details. They trust people to handle their tasks AND they follow-up to make sure that their trust is rewarded.

The work is seldom done just because it's delegated. The details still matter.

Supervising for success requires relentless attention to detail.

Is that micromanaging? It depends. Once you know that someone is completely capable of handling a set of details without your help, then of course allow them complete responsibility on that. But until you're sure, simply assigning something is no assurance that the details will be right.

That's one of those things that makes being a supervisor so hard -- and so rewarding at the same time.

-- Doug Smith

Front Range Leadership: Training Supervisors for Success

doug smith training: how to achieve your goals

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