Result-oriented task description: Incentive for intrinsic motivation
Employees create a to-do list and check it off in the next eight hours - that's how many workdays go. This threatens a loss of motivation, which slows down turnover. Coach Boris Grundl knows the solution: the result-oriented task description (EOA).
Triggers of low morale and unsatisfactory results are often found in a leader's feedback culture. If team members only receive feedback on their work to date during the famous annual review, criticism about inadequate performance hits them particularly hard. Clear areas of responsibility and accountability are lacking here. A results-oriented assignment of tasks (EOA) establishes both. The following thought experiment illustrates how it does this.
Hit the bullseye
A female archer is given the task of shooting a bull's eye. Thus, her task is to fire arrows. She sets herself the goal of hitting the center of the target. If the archer pursues her endeavor with perseverance and focus, she achieves the result that the arrow is stuck in the center of the target.
With this scenario in mind, it quickly becomes clear why working through tasks has little effect. If arrows whirr through the air without an end point, they land meaninglessly on the ground. Setting clear intentions, on the other hand, brings visibility to achievements. If employees know how their performance will be judged, they can tell early on whether they are on the right track.
Thought is half done
The distinction between goal and result seems small, but a change in thinking leads to smooth workflows. Most often, people formulate their goals in the future tense: "I'm going to shoot the arrow in the bull's eye." With a results orientation, however, the person goes on a mental journey to the point in time when he/she has delivered the desired result: "The arrow is in the bull's eye." If employees only look at the goal that is in the far distance, the path to get there seems arduous and riddled with difficulties. In contrast, teams in which all participants have already reached the end of the journey in their minds generate a kind of pull. In joyful anticipation of feelings of success, members develop solutions out of their own motivation in order to circumvent unexpected obstacles. In our understanding, being results-oriented means "focusing on the part of the results I can influence and becoming the best I can be there."
Three letters with great effect
Leaders record all of these findings in a comprehensible results-oriented task description that is accepted by the other person. In this description, managers record which measurable result is considered achievable in which period of time for precisely this person. If the end lies in the distant future, intermediate steps serve as small motivational boosters along the way. Formulated areas of responsibility reveal potential overlaps. Planners can also identify gaps and use the opportunity to close them ahead of time. Another advantage is that, in the event of vacation or sickness, those helping out have access to a detailed list of the status and next steps of the project.
Author:
Boris Grundl is the founder of the Grundl Leadership Institute. With face-to-face and online seminars, books and a training platform, the GLI, which employs a good 20 people, provides further training and bundles scientifically validated findings on the topic of responsibility in the "Responsibility Index". More at www.grundl-institut.de and www.verantwortungsindex.de or also here.
