2-3-7 working with others: Commander's intent

"Commander's intent" is a management term in the army, and it reflects a very good and efficient management approach used extensively in the jobs of emergency that need fast thinking and decision making like the military, policemen, firemen, emergency doctors …etc. And it says:

Never tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them do it their own way

-          People just HATE to be told how to do their jobs in details. If you ever experienced that, it is kind of insulting and demeaning to  just be told what to do in details

-          The detailed orders and know-how is part of the micromanagement courses, it is useful at some cases but to use it all the time is one of the most uncomfortable and inefficient ways to communicate with your team/ employees/ people in general

That is related to many things;

-          making people around you feel comfortable and trustworthy

-          make them feel safe so that you can influence them more

-          make them flexible to changes and not just paralyzed when a sudden change occurs

-          saving tons of time trying to communicate the detailed know-how to them and respond to the changes in the plans

-          letting them feel responsible and that they are not just tools, but part of what they do

-          encouraging the creativity and ingenuity in them by letting them do stuff their own way and handle the hurdles themselves

All you need to do is just give them the two WHYs (why to do this, why THEM to do it), and give them the very clear objective (you can be very detailed and specific here to make them understand what exactly do you want), and then let them find different ways to do what you want.