Control of execution of instructions

Untimely and incorrect fulfilment of the manager’s instructions is a common problem in modern companies. The reason for this is the lack of motivation of employees. Realising that no one will evaluate or check their work, they stop taking it seriously. The efficiency of the staff decreases, the situation in the team destabilises, and the company does not make enough profit. Regular monitoring of task fulfilment will help to avoid problems with the fulfilment of assignments.

How control over the execution of orders works

Almost all companies have a hierarchical structure, where the manager gives orders to subordinates, specifying deadlines. To achieve results, it is not enough to set a task for your employees. You need to make sure that everyone understands the essence of the task, and monitor progress.

In a small company of a few people, this is easy to do. In large companies, with a large number of employees performing a variety of tasks of varying complexity and volume, it is important to set up a clear system of control over the execution of assignments, which is a systematic review of the work of the company’s personnel.

By controlling the fulfilment of the manager’s assignments, it is easy to detect deviations from the result, the actions of employees, to make adjustments.

Types of control

Assignment control can be:

• Preliminary. It is carried out at the phase of project preparation. Before assigning a task to an employee, the manager clarifies whether the employee has the resources and ability to fulfil the assignment.
• Inbound (conceptual). It is conducted in order to understand whether the performer knows that he has assignments. How he understood the assigned task, how he will solve it. It is entrusted to the assistant managers.
• Intermediate (current). Its purpose is to evaluate the performance of the work. What has been done by this stage, whether there are problems or delays in completing the task. All identified deviations are notified to the supervisor. If necessary, he makes changes to the task.
• Final (concluding). Evaluates whether the goal has been achieved by the deadline. The results obtained are compared with the planned results. On their basis, the manager draws conclusions and makes further decisions concerning the functioning of the project.

The assignment control system is based on the joint work of the manager and his deputies. The assistant fixes tasks, checks deadlines for their fulfilment, assigns responsible persons. He reports on the progress of work to the manager at regular intervals. For this purpose, a written report is prepared, which contains information on how many assignments the employees have received, which of them managed to fulfil them, and which of them did not.

The system of control over the fulfilment of assignments shall be approved in writing, and employees should be notified of this in advance. The main provisions of the system are fixed in the company’s internal documents. Subordinates should understand how assignments are set up and who controls them and how. The accompanying documentation should specify the forms of reports for submitting final and interim results.

The written approval of the system’s provisions is essential for the company. It is only possible to hold an employee liable for failure to fulfil the duties assigned to him if they are recorded in writing. The same applies to bonuses, rewarding employees based on the results of their labour.

How to get your subordinates to fulfil their assignments

In order for the executors to listen and hear the manager, his instructions should be adequate and competent. The more vague the wording of the assignment, the worse it will be executed.

Other common mistakes that interfere with the fulfilment of management’s instructions:

• Stretching the deadlines for assigning a person responsible for a task, which leaves little time for its fulfilment.
• Limiting the authority or time of the performer.
• Assigning a large number of performers to a single task.
• Lack of a clear plan for employees to work independently without waiting for orders from a supervisor.

Employees will be more responsible in performing tasks if the following principles are followed:

• Proper motivation. The contractor should be aware of how the tasks he has completed will affect the prosperity of the company and his financial well-being. Employees should be reminded that they will receive bonuses or other rewards if the task is successfully completed.
• Written fixation of contracts in special programmes or annexes. They should contain information about the assignment of a responsible person, deadlines for task completion. Subordinates should be aware of the assignments given to them and know that they are controlled by the head of the group (department). This will not give an excuse to claim later that nothing was known about the task or it was forgotten.
• The shortest possible way of communicating information to the subordinate. For this purpose, you can use various schedulers, electronic organisers, in which all information about the task will be “in plain sight”.
• Feedback to management if unforeseen problems arise in the performance of a task. The supervisor should listen to comments, corrections from the executing unit.
• Developing a unified system of rewards and punishments that each team member understands.
• Moderation in control. It is not worth turning control over the execution of documents and assignments into total surveillance of every action of the staff. Employees should be able to work independently, without being distracted by trifles.
• Mandatory tracking of each task with analysis of results.

Communication between executors and responsible persons (secretaries, assistant managers) is important for the effective fulfilment of assignments.

The SMART goal-setting system demonstrates positive results in organising joint cooperation. According to this methodology, managers’ tasks should fulfil the following criteria:

• Specificity. The assignment contains instructions on how, when it should be done. A responsible person has been appointed to oversee the process.
• Measurement, evaluation of the result obtained.
• Achievability. The level of the assigned task must meet the deadline. The task must be achievable. Objectives must be realistically achievable.
• Adequacy. The assignment should correspond to the qualification, knowledge level, capabilities of the employee, be directly related to the work process.
• Setting a due date. Each process should be limited by a time frame.

Automated programmes help to simplify control over the execution of assignments at various levels. They facilitate interaction between management and employees, including those working remotely.

Applying task managers to organise work with subordinates, it is possible to rank cases by degree of importance, using tags, colour highlighting. This will allow the manager to be aware of what stage the task is at, what the employees are doing.

Automated HR monitoring systems bring all tasks into a single system, from where they can be retrieved for viewing at any convenient time. Using electronic schedulers, it is possible to manage the company remotely, from a tablet or other digital device.

LeaderTask to control execution of orders

A convenient app for working with personnel. Designed for installation on any electronic device. Allows you to establish authorised control with delegation of authority in a single system. The programm functionality includes:

• creating tasks with assignment of importance, deadlines, and statuses;
• assignments, assigning responsibility;
• finalising errands;
• creation of projects, sub-projects;
• list of employees, departments in one window.

You can view the tasks of employees by clicking on their avatar. The extent to which the assigned task has been completed is shown in the frame. Its green colour means that the task has been assigned to this employee. If you are that person, the colour of the avatar frame will be red.

In the errand window, you can:

• correspondence between the contractor and the customer;
• assign a date for the task execution by setting a mark in the calendar;
• attach files, reports.

The executor will be reminded of the assigned task by all devices at his disposal, where he will receive a corresponding notification.

LeaderTask helps to systematise the document flow in the company, to organise the accounting of tasks with tracking of the degree and quality of execution. The programme is equally convenient for entrepreneurs, heads of large companies, and managers due to its many functions:

• individual, group access to assignments;
• “task in focus” options;
• settings of notifications about changes in orders;
• visual cues: urgent, attention, pay attention.

To ensure that the task is completed on time, it is important to assign a person to the task. By assigning a task to a specific employee, you don’t have to worry that it will be left to chance. When an employee receives a task, he marks it as “in progress”. When it is completed, he sets the status: “ready”. It will appear in the section: “Ready for delivery”. The responsible person will receive a notification to confirm the execution.

Using the LeaderTask application, it is easy to control the execution of tasks, always keeping them in sight. The scheduler is comfortable to use. It works efficiently on Windows, Android, MacOs, iOS with synchronisation across all platforms.

With the help of the application it is convenient to organise work with remote employees. The staff will feel the presence of their superiors and realise that they are expected to take specific actions within the set deadlines. The scheduler will monitor the work of the remote employee and report on its fulfilment to the management.

Conclusion

Competent, systematic control over the execution of assignments ensures full coverage of all the company’s tasks for the successful running of the business. Secretaries and executive assistants play a leading role in this process.

Implementation of a control system should start with correct tasking. Tasks should be assigned a name of an employee and a due date. It is more convenient to use automated tools that simplify personnel management to check and control the degree of task fulfilment.

An additional means of controlling tasks is reports that inform about the status of task completion. Reports should be generated according to the following criteria:

• level (reports within a department, organisation);
• frequency (daily, monthly, quarterly);
• of an approved format.

You should choose a monitoring method taking into account the peculiarities and scale of your business.