节目资讯
刊物:职场秘诀
日期:2009-01-10
难易度:High
关键字:delegate, robust, comfort zone
Advanced Studio Classroom is on the air.
Welcome to Advanced Studio Classroom.
We’re glad to have you here today as we finish our lesson on How to Succeed at
Work.
This is Doris Brougham, (Chinese).
Welcome, everyone.
We hope that we are going to be able to get more suggestions for you to do as we
continue our lesson and finish it up today.
Let’s hear from our other panelists.
Winnie, tell us something about this lesson that you’ve learned so far.
So far, I think it’s making me realize how I need to think about work and really
prioritize what I do and think about the bigger picture,
because it’s so easy for me to do the day-to-day and lose sight of what’s really
important.
That’s very good, Winnie.
And what about Ryan? Ryan, have you thought about anything else since we’ve
started talking about this subject?
Right, I’ve kind of thought about how I need to prioritize and not use... um...
use my time wisely and not use a lot of, uh, what do you say, time killers or
stuff like that.
Right. Watch for those time-eaters. They eat up your time, I’m telling you.
You know.
And we do really learn a lot as we study together.
So this year, in Advanced class, let’s all decide that we’re going to spend time
on things that are worthwhile or that we enjoy.
And we’re going to find out today how we can share our work.
And we can really share and delegate but we don’t have to lower our standards.
Wow, that’s going to be a good subject to talk about, isn’t it, today?
Yes, it is.
So open your magazines to page 18 where you can share work and add skills
without lowering standards.
You know, sometimes I think when I have other people do things, they might not
do it as well as I do.
It lowers the standards.
Do you think everybody thinks that sometimes?
A lot of people do think that.
And they think that ”I’m right. Everybody else is wrong.”.
But that’s a really bad way to think.
Well, I’ll tell you one thing, you’ll be very busy if you think that way because
if you’re gonna do everything yourself, you won’t have time to enjoy life.
That’s for sure.
If you keep thinking that your way is the best way or the only way, you’re going
to be very, very tired.
So I like to think mine is one of the ways and I like to share my work.
So that’s why I’m sharing it with you today.
Isn’t it fun to be on the radio and share with people all over the world?
Yes, it is.
Yes, it is.
And then you should share with other people what you’ve learned too.
But we can find out more about this on page 18.
So let’s have the question of the day.
You can share work and add skills without lowering standards.
Question: I find it hard to delegate tasks to others.
A coworker told me I have ”control issues.”.
My boss says I need to stop being a perfectionist.
But I feel that I need to do it all myself to be sure it’s done correctly.
Help!
Well, help is certainly a good word to say right there, because if you find it
hard to delegate things...
And what does delegate mean?
Delegate basically means to give my task to someone else.
OK.
And some people find it very hard to delegate.
If you find it hard to do that, then you’ll have what we call here, ”control
issues.”.
What are control issues?
Control issues is when you feel like you need to be in charge of everything.
Or else it won’t be done right.
Or else it won’t be done right.
A lot of people might say, ”You’re a control freak.”.
That’s right.
You have to control everything.
You can’t control the weather though.
Don’t try, right?
We’d like to control it, but we can’t.
Can’t even predict it accurately all the time.
Right.
And you know, if your boss says, ”Stop being a perfectionist,” then you get kind
of hurt sometimes, ”Well, don’t you want me to do a good job?”.
”You want me to just be what we say in Chinese - (Chinese)?
No.
But I want to do a good job.
But a perfectionist is someone we’re going to talk about more, and they feel
that they are the only ones who know how to do it.
So they... they have a hard time.
They’ll never have time to have fun, will they?
No.
They wonder why they have to work all the time, 24/7.
I’m not a perfectionist and I still have to work a lot.
But you know...
But I’m gonna delegate some of it to you now, right?
So let’s go on to the answer to this question: How can we delegate and be sure
that the job is done well?
That is a good question for today, isn’t it?
It is.
It is.
Well, let’s read on on page 18.
Let’s finish the left-hand column.
Answer: perfectionism and control create a powerful, performance-limiting trap.
Changing your approach to sharing work will open up more robust possibilities.
Your first step is to explore the dynamics that lead you to maintain tight
control.
If errors have been costly in the past, then letting go of control may seem
risky.
But you can make strategic decisions on which work to delegate and how closely
to maintain oversight.
(Music).
Well, line 6 says - this is a good sentence - perfectionism and control create a
powerful, performance-limiting trap.
What a sentence, Winnie.
I’m gonna let you tackle that one.
It is a big one.
Well...
I’m delegating it to you.
Why, thank you.
Ha, ha, ha, ha.
Um, perfectionism and control, uh, is what we talked about, is when you feel
like you need to have everything in your power.
And performance-limiting trap.
A trap is something that catches you and it limits you or stops you from doing
what you otherwise could be doing.
OK.
Does that make any sense to you now, Ryan?
Yeah, it makes more sense now.
OK.
So changing your approach - the way you do it, the way you share your work.
If I change the way... Instead of saying, ”I’m gonna do it all myself,” if I
say, ”Let’s all do this together,” then that’s gonna open up more robust...
robust possibilities.
What are robust possibilities?
That sounds like a coach saying something like that?
What does that mean?
Robust usually means strong or very healthy and powerful.
OK. So if we do something together, it’s probably going to be richer and better
than if I do it because I don’t know everything.
I’d like to tell you that. I don’t know everything.
So if you know something, and you know something, then it will be better if we
do it together.
We kind of hear the phrase: There’s power in numbers.
That’s right.
That’s right.
And so that’s what we call teamwork and team goals.
Some people have to do everything by themselves.
They are usually perfectionists, aren’t they?
Like that phrase, there’s no ”I” in teamwork.
That’s right.
It’s everybody together, isn’t that right?
Now perfectionism does not just mean doing a good job.
It means saying that it has to be absolutely perfect.
And I don’t think that we can be perfect.
I think only God is perfect.
People are not perfect, right?
Exactly.
Certainly true.
We’re human.
Yeah, we are humans. Even machines aren’t perfect, and you get a nice, new cell
phone or computer and it has problems, and it’s brand-new.
I mean, nothing is perfect, right?
You might think, wow, it’s really cool, and then a few months later, oh, it’s
slow, it’s overheating.
Yeah.
Or you get a new car, it looks so pretty, but sometimes some things don’t work.
So nothing is perfect.
It’s good, it’s excellent, but not perfect.
OK. So what’s the first step? Then we have to do is, how can we really get out
of that habit of being a perfectionist?
What... What’s the first thing we have to do here?
The first thing you have to do is explore the dynamics that basically led you to
maintain this tight control.
OK. So why am I... have to be a control...
Why do I think I’m the only one?
What made me do that?
Probably because somebody made a mistake and then somebody said, ”Well, how come
your team made a mistake?” And then I said, ”OK. After this, I’ll do it
myself.”.
Maybe that’s how it happened, do you think?
Yeah.
Maybe sometimes if you delegate a task once, and then they make a little
mistake, then you think, ”OK. Can’t trust them anymore. I’m gonna do it myself
now.”.
Oh, boy.
Instead of giving them another chance, explaining what they did wrong, and
helping them improve.
Yeah, I’ll tell you this, Ryan’s become quite a good teacher here, isn’t he?
Very good.
Good, Ryan. That’s very good.
So change the way you do it.
Share your work and you’re gonna have a better job.
So find out how you can work together.
And it says here you can make strategic or very important decisions on which
work to delegate.
In other words, if some people are better at one thing, I’ll give it to them.
Maybe I give you a job and you’re not that good at it.
Maybe I’ll give it to Winnie and she’s good at it.
Well, next time I say, ”OK, you do something else,” so we don’t feel bad about
it; we just give it to the one that can do it better.
Keep track of how things are going and assign the jobs to the people who can do
them.
That sounds pretty logical, doesn’t it?
Exactly.
It’s pretty linear, huh?
Yeah, very linear.
Good.
Well, I think that’s a good start, but there’s more to talk about here.
So let’s take the second column and do a couple of paragraphs there.
Also, consider the benefits of successful delegation.
You may have seen positive outcomes and high morale.
Remind yourself of these examples when you’re trying to ease up on control.
And be open to learning from someone else’s way of performing a task.
You may be more in your comfort zone with detail work and less comfortable with
strategic thinking.
Consider which aspects of your job are a stretch, and be clear about your
strengths and development needs.
Your goal is to become comfortable with knowing what you don’t know - and then
to use this knowledge to grow.
(Music).
Well, there are benefits of successful delegation.
And it says: Consider them.
Now what are some of the benefits of successfully giving jobs to others?
Can you think of any?
Yes, sometimes there are some jobs that maybe I don’t do very well.
If I try to do it, it’ll take me longer than someone else.
It saves time.
Exactly. It saves time.
One thing, it saves time, right?
Saves time and maybe I don’t do it that well.
Someone else might do it better - a more quality job.
That’s one thing. Then it could save time.
And the other benefits?
Well, it says here that you can have high morale, which means that people you
work with will feel better about themselves and feel better about working
overall.
Right.
That’s true.
Like... What if we say, well, I’m the only one that can do it, then everybody
else feels they’re not very important because, you know, you’re the only one
that can do it, and then the morale is bad.
Now morale is a very common word but it’s a good word.
What does the word morale actually mean?
Yeah, it’s kind of the group atmosphere.
You know... if it’s good morale, then people are happy.
Yeah.
If it’s bad, then people don’t want to come to work; aren’t enthusiastic.
Right.
In Chinese, I think we say (Chinese), you know.
The whole atmosphere is different.
And if we say, ”Look what we did together. We’re all happy,” then there’s good
morale in the office, isn’t there?
But if I say every time you do it, Winnie, it’s no good, then the morale is very
bad, right?
Yes.
So I think one of the benefits is good morale with your classmates.
It saves time, the people you work with.
And I can see another benefit is you have more free time to do some other things
you might want to do.
Because if you do everything yourself, you’ll have no free time.
That’s sad.
We need to live a little bit, not just work every minute, right?
Yes.
Have time with your family.
Have fun, you know.
No time to have fun in Taiwan and explore.
Yeah, and go out and eat Chinese food at the night market, huh?
Yeah.
So we really do need to share with other people, and then we can have good
teamwork and I think it... gets more done, and people are happier.
We probably will keep us from getting sick because stress makes us sick.
Wow, it’s probably good for our health.
Who knows?
Yeah.
That’s a benefit.
I’m going to delegate more next time.
OK.
But... be open to learning, here in line 5, from someone else’s way of
performing a task.
Are most people really open to other people’s way of doing things or not?
Some people are, some people aren’t.
Some people, like our perfectionist, and think, ”I do it right. My way is the
only way.”.
But if you’re open, then you can see the positives in other people’s points of
view and see how that can actually benefit the situation.
What if you’re not that kind of person that’s open? Do you think we could
actually stretch ourselves a little bit and become more open?
I mean, you cannot say, ”I’m not that kind of person and that’s it,”.
Do we have to settle for that?
I think sometimes it’s just easier when you’re so used to thinking or doing
things a certain way that you keep doing that.
But I think what I found is when you are open to learning, you become a more
happier person and you trust other people more.
But what if you’re not that kind, Winnie? I mean, you’re sort of in a bad habit.
Let’s say you’ve been doing it this way, and then you read this and said,
”Uh-oh, I had better change.”.
Can we change or not?
Do you think we can?
I think it takes a lot of hard work sometimes.
But by baby steps, meaning step by step, little by little, I think all people
are capable of change.
So don’t be afraid to look at yourself and say, ”Well, I have a few things about
me that aren’t perfect, but I am going to change it.”.
It’s up to you.
It’s up to me, right?
We have to determine that.
And so I would say - I’m very positive about it - we can change.
I know.
I’ve changed a lot of things that I used to do.
As I got older, I feel, ”OK. Well, I’ve got to change.”.
And we hope that we can change.
Don’t stop changing.
No matter how old you are, we have to keep trying.
And I think we have to be open to learning from other people.
I’m still open to learning from other people and we need to keep that way, don’t
we?
Yes.
Yes, of course.
So don’t say, ”I already know how to do it. I don’t wanna know.”.
And that way, you’re finished; you’ll never be successful.
You won’t go along with people; you’ll be hard to work with, right?
Yes.
Well, we do though feel when we do things our way, we have what we call a
comfort zone.
Who knows what a comfort zone is?
Comfort zone is an environment, a place that you are comfortable, you’re used
to.
Maybe if you’re from America like me, a comfort zone might be America, where
you’re from.
Um, and then maybe something like, for me, Taiwan would be something very
different.
So I have to make a lot of changes if I want to get out of my comfort zone.
Right.
Well, you know, when you’re comfortable, like... for instance, even in your
house and anything, if you’ve got the furniture you like and everything,
but if you go out someplace where you have to sit on the floor - maybe you go to
Japan and you’re eating in a restaurant, you have to sit on the floor - it’s not
your comfort zone.
So we’re more comfortable to the way we’ve been brought up.
But we need to get out of that sometimes and not just say: I’m more comfortable
this way and that’s the only way I’m going to do it.
That’s part of our change, isn’t it?
It’s part of growing up, I think.
Should be.
Right.
So you consider things about your job that you’re not used to doing.
You say, ”Well, I’m not used to speaking in front of people, but I’ll learn,”
and that stretches you.
So some aspects of your job are a stretch for you.
What happens when you stretch?
You can do more.
You have more capacity, don’t you?
When you stretch, you... you learn more; you can do more; you learn more about
different ways to do things.
Um, maybe your way isn’t the best way in every situation, even though you may
think it is.
Well, you know, I find people who go on trips sometimes from American.
They go overseas and... and they have to live in a way they didn’t live maybe
someplace, and they say,
”Oh, that was really a stretch, that summer tour, you know. I really
stretched.”.
Or you have to live with people of a different culture.
It stretches you a lot.
So we all need to keep stretching ourselves, or we’re gonna just get stiff and
never be able to move.
So this...
Remember, we need to keep flexible so we can stretch, don’t we?
Yes.
What about jobs?
Do certain jobs stretch you more than others? I hope that Studio Classroom will
stretch you more, Winnie.
(Background Noise).
But that will stretch your teaching, won’t it?
Definitely.
When I come here, I need to think about teaching to students where English is
their second language rather than their first.
And this is something very different to what I’m used to.
Oh, when you were teaching in New York, you’re teaching more in the classroom.
So being on the radio, does that stretch your teaching?
It certainly stretches my teaching because I need to plan differently.
I need to think more carefully about how to speak and... and how to say a
certain word.
And so that really challenges how I view teaching.
So we’re all being stretched today, aren’t we?
That’s good, you know.
Because when we stretch, that means we’re still flexible, we’re not just hard
and can’t be moved.
So be clear about what you can do and then you’ll become more comfortable later
on as you say, ”Now, I don’t feel so bad about being on the radio or being on TV
or doing something else.”.
Keep stretching yourself so that you will be pliable, you will be more useful
not only to your company but to your family, to the world.
And we’ll be more useful to everybody.
So then I would say that’s a very successful person if they keep on stretching
themselves.
I agree.
I definitely agree with that.
The more you stretch, the more you learn, the better you can be used in the
future in different capacities, different ways.
That’s true.
Well, we do have to finish our article.
It’s a very stretching article to think about.
But let’s finish it today by starting in line 15 and see how we can start to
dothis.