When it comes to employee performance, many entrepreneurs have high standards. You might even call them perfectionists. That means they’ll often have a lot of feedback and input anytime someone asks their opinion. In fact, for many, problem-solving is what they live for. Some even create problems to solve – that is a topic for another column.
But sometimes, being too free with your feedback is expensive. In truth, sometimes keeping your mouth shut as a manager can be the wisest strategy. That’s where the 80% Rule comes into play.
Let’s say you have an employee approach you and ask for feedback on a project they are running. Right off the bat, you immediately see some areas that could be better run. However, the danger in opening your mouth to offer feedback and direction is that you will cause your employees to lose their sense of ownership of the project.
The moment you decide to give significant feedback, you’ve now assumed ownership of that project. It becomes your work, not theirs.
If a project is mission-critical to the firm’s survival, all bets are off. But for anything less sensitive than that, you should keep your mouth shut if a project is 80% on target! Or rather, you tell your employee something like, “Great job – now jump on it and execute the rest.”
You could have helped that employee reach the point where performance met 100% of your expectations. But then, you’d lose their heart and soul in the process. You’d rather have an employee who is 100% committed to a project that is only 80% of the way there than have someone only 80% committed to something you thought was 100% on target. See the distinction?
Another strategy to use when a subordinate requests feedback is to ask him or her, “Is that the best you can do?” Often, this question alone is enough to incentivize really driven staff to say they will take another crack at improving it.
The employee is still doing all the work; you’ve only asked one question, which means they’ll remain engaged and retain their sense of project ownership.
But if an employee says yes, that was their best effort, and it was still 80% good enough, then you say, “Great job — run with it.” This is particularly true for a project that will not damage the business if it isn’t perfect.
If there are opportunities to improve the performance, a great question after project completion might be, “How could we have made that even better?” A top-level employee will almost always have ideas for improvement.
There is a story about a leader who had an employee working on a project and came to discuss it after he had sent the final product to the leader to review. The leader asked if this was the best the employee could do.
The moment you decide to give significant feedback, you’ve now assumed ownership of that project. It becomes your work, not theirs.
The employee admitted he could do better and asked if he could work on it a bit more. A week later, he came back and again, the leader questioned, “Is this the best you can do?” The employee admitted that he could improve a few areas, and made those changes. A third time, he came back, and the question came again. This time, the employee was sure this was the best work he could have done. At that point, the leader said, “Then, I’ll read it now.” While the story feels a little manipulative, the employee continued to own the project and did the best work he was capable of without the leader diving in to help and taking ownership.
This same rule also applies to parenting. If your kid comes home from school with a project or a paper and asks you for feedback, use the 80% rule to determine how you respond.
Again, you want your kid to own their work and to feel a sense of accomplishment in doing it themselves without help from mom or dad. It’s more valuable this way. If your kid is about to fail the semester, maybe the higher stakes make your decision a little stickier. But it will always be more valuable for your child – and your employees – to own their work. This is the proper foundation for an engaged workforce.
