Do It Right the First Time! Sounds good. Why redo the work when it saves you time and money to Do It Right the First Time? Why spend money on warranty work, returns, or lost productivity if organizations can prevent all of that?

Want to see things done right the first time?

 

Here are 7 ways to get there:

1. Leadership Commitment

Leaders can lead and pave the way into a culture of doing things right the first time. They can also undo any commitment to do things right the first time with one email, one text, or one sign-off approving something that isn’t done right the first time. People follow the leader.

2. Treat Work as a Process

Anything that needs to be done is a process with defined inputs, outputs, relationships, tools, methods, authority, and parameters. If you omit some of this definition, the person doing the work has to fill in the blanks. Assumptions will look bad on both of you.

3. Be Clear and Unambiguous

The best employees may be able to figure out vague requirements; others may take a “that’s close enough” approach. It won’t be. Specificity is your friend.

4. Define the Time Frame

Be specific about when things must be done by. When there are multiple conflicting priorities, it is crucial for leaders to help prioritize by defining expectations about time frame and deadlines. When there is no time frame, there will be assumptions. The hassle created by those assumptions when work isn’t done when needed will take time off your clock. Set the expectation that work will be done on time, but then define the “when.”

5. Define How

Values, norms, ways… every organization has them by intention or by default. Unless an organization wants to be generic, its leaders should know who the organization is, what sets it apart from others, how it will behave, how it will not behave, and how to attract and keep those wired the same way. If you fail to define the “how,” you condone all kinds of means to the end result of the work promised. That may not look like your marketing message on your website. You don’t want that.

6. Measure

We pay attention to what we measure. Define what will be measured and what success looks like. Then do. Don’t leave measurement to the realm of sales and finance jobs. A major complaint that employees frequently have with performance appraisals is that they have no idea what they need to improve. Fix that by teaching people the value of measurement. Involve everyone in meaningful measurements of their job success.

7. Celebrate

Don’t only use measurement to see where you’ve done right and where you need to improve; use it as a reason to celebrate. It’s the best. Another major complaint employees have with performance appraisals, is that they don’t get recognition for the good things they do. Change that. Celebrate the small wins, the big wins, and even the effort that went into the ones you didn’t win. Everyone loves to hear, “Well done!