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time or become frustrated" lets followers know you're accepting some of the responsibility for clarity and success. |
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Tip 891: Take into account the frequency of the task. |
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If you're telling someone how to complete a series of tax forms, expect that you'll have to tell them again each year for several years. Why? They don't do the task often enough to remember. When you know there'll be a time lapse between repetitions of the task you're teaching, plan for forgetting. Leave an example, model, or written instruction for a refresher. One time around won't do it. |
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Tip 892: Choose the appropriate medium through which to give your instructions. |
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If the instructions are simple and concise, you may give them orally. If they're complex and will need to be referenced over and over, write them down. Or consider an audio or video recording, a class, or a live demonstration. Should instructions be light or serious? Be entertaining or matter-of-fact? Sometimes the delivery medium motivates people to understand the message. |
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Tip 893: Build instructions into the product or process. |
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Either make information accessible or forget it. Manuals are not the answer. The number of manuals on average-knowledge workers' shelves grows proportionately to their own or the company's pocketbookwith each purchase of a new clock, electric blanket, spreadsheet package, printer, or insurance policy. Who reads manuals? Nobody. The needed information lies buried somewhere, but who has the time to search for it? |
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Through the years, my husband and I have used this "build-in" principle to create fun for our children's Easter egg hunts. We hide the candy-filled basket and plant clues on cards hidden around the house and yard. The children tackle the whole treasure hunt, instruction card by instruction card. When the first card leads them to where the second-clue instruction card is hidden, they retrieve that new card of instruction and begin searching for the third clue. Even in serious work situations, build-ins help. |
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If your information is complex enough to record for later use, then record it so people can find it. Build instructions into the item or process. |
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