If you have ever owned a cat, you know that they are proud of their hunting skill. Sometimes they will show off that skill by bringing their latest "kill" to their master and dropping it at his or her feet. When your cat brings in a dead rat and drops it at your feet and then walks away you have to stop whatever you're doing and clean up the mess.
It's the same with your employees. If you let them just bring you their problems and then walk away you lose an opportunity to train them and you give up some of your time to do their work.
Wally was always available to help when I ran into a problem, but he expected me to do my homework and try to work it out first. If I was stumped and took a problem to him he usually coached me toward a solution. But if it was someting I couldn't solve he would step in and work out a solution. The goal, of course, was to develop my ability to solve more and more on my own.
How "No Dead Rats" Works
Wally's policy was simple. If you had a problem you couldn't solve you were to bring it to him as soon as possible. Don't wait until a problem escalated into a disaster. Address it as soon as you could. But when you brought the problem to him, make sure it wasn't a "dead rat".He expected you to tell him succinctly what the problem was, but also what you had done to try and solve it and why that had not worked. You were also expected to tell him what you thought the best solution was and what you needed him to do to help.
He would think about what you told him and then either ask you questions that would lead you toward a solution, tell you what you needed to do, or take it on himself and tell you what he planned to do.
By doing this Wally was able to continue to train and develop his employees, coach them toward being able to resolve more and more complex problems, and limit the amount of time he had to spend doing their work so he had more time to do his own work.
Why "No Dead Rats" Works For You
- Training
One of a manager's most important jobs is training your employees. When you use a policy like "no dead rats" you have a vehicle for training all your employees, from superstars to the newest person. And you have multiple and frequent opportunities for that training. - Coaching
Some members of your team are more skilled than others, better trained, better able to solve problems, but they still need coaching. With this policy you can stil coach the superstars from time to time while you focus your efforts on those team members who need more coaching. Coaching goes beyond training to reinforce the desired behaviors. - Delegating
One of the best things a manager can do is to improve his/her skill in delegating. The "no dead rats" policy makes you a better delegator. That's good because when you delegate effectively it is beneficial for you and for your employees. They get greater career opportunities and you get more time. - Focus
This policy encourages both you and your employees to focus on what's important. For the employee, the policy creates a requirement for them to think issues through rather than chasing after every thread. For the manager, it reinforces the need to only work on the big issues, the ones that can't be handled by others. Yes, you can handle the little things, but that's not what you're there for. Leave those for your team while you tackle the critical things. - Time management
There never are enough hours in the day for us to do all the things we need to do as managers. That's why delegating and focus are so important. They are part of an overall time management plan you have to practce every day. When you stick with a policy of "no dead rats" you take a major step toward effective time management.
