Deliver Results Not Commitments
Feb 5th 2008Nik AgarwalCollege Help
Photo courtesy of acerin
While in college, many students have a tendency to relax and take things casually. During important opportunities, these same students will do a complete 180 and commit to delivering impressive results. I remember a few months ago, a friend of mine committed to creating a fundraiser and running it herself. She presented some excellent ideas on how to encourage everyone to donate and she was very loquacious about her passion for helping the less fortunate. When it came time to actually deliver on what she said, let’s just say, I was left with a very bad taste in my mouth.
Listen Before Committing
The problem here is that too many people have ambitious ideas with no plans on how to actually go about accomplishing their ideas. Moreover, many people commit to delivering something without fully understanding what it is that they need to deliver. Hence, it is essential, imperative if you will, to listen and understand what is being asked. That way, you can then assess whether or not you need/want to commit.
Ask Before Committing
So we covered the listening part. Are you ready to ask questions? Needless to say, we cannot understand everything and it should be natural for us to ask for clarification. There is nothing wrong in even asking someone to repeat what they said or rephrase their speech. Not understanding what you are committing to is a great way to de-value your personal stock and should serve as a wake-up call. By asking the right questions, you’ll be able to make a well-informed decision as well as meet or even exceed the expectations of the person you are committing to.
Impress By Delivery
Remember that girl I talked about? She has an inherent tendency to impress others by making lofty commitments. Sure, the people on the other end might be impressed and feel confident in her. However, when it comes time to see the final results, what do they actually see? By impressing through commitment and failing to impress by delivery, you simply cause disappointment for others with no further value in your personal stock. More people are impressed if you deliver a product or service that exceeds their expectations. More people are disappointed if you cannot deliver on everything you committed to. So why impress others by committing when you can easily impress people by delivering the results they expect?
Complete the Commitments First
In the last point, I mentioned that you should impress by delivery, not impress by commitment. Before you go “above and beyond” the call of duty, be sure to successfully complete and achieve the commitments you made. If there is time left, feel free to add value to your work. For instance, let’s say you committed to tasks 1 through 5 and you accomplished tasks 1 through 4. Now, suppose you decided to do other tasks in the hopes to create value but skipped task 5 because it could not be completed by the deadline. In the end, you did not deliver what you committed to. Certainly, you added value, went above and beyond, and completed tasks 1 through 4. However, what if task 5 was a critical task that somebody was depending on? Do you see the picture that I am trying to illustrate?
Add Value, Some Restrictions Apply
In the last point, I talked about how you can go ahead and add value to your commitments. This usually means going above and beyond what you committed to and the expectations of the person(s) you committed to. The trick with adding value to your work is to ensure that:
- it does not take too much time
- it supports the primary commitments
If an extra task(s) take(s) too much time, you may want to reconsider it so that you do not deliver your results past the deadline. If you can complete additional tasks before the deadline and be ready to deliver them before the deadline, consider adding value to your commitments. However, what if the person you committed to is asking you to make more commitments? Simple, understand the commitment, request additional time if you think you’ll need it, and abandon all value-added tasks until you complete the new commitments. Going above and beyond is a great concept, but you should only execute that concept only if you can deliver everything prior to the deadline.
If an extra task(s) is unable to support your original commitments, you may wish to reconsider it. Remember, you cannot determine the added value of your tasks. Only the person receiving your results will ascertain the value of the additional tasks. For instance, say you committed to delivering a report on different computer monitors and you included another report on computer speakers. The person you delivered the result to would undoubtedly be surprised but would find little value in your added report. Now suppose that report on computer speakers outlines how particular computer monitors support speaker attachments. This may prove useful if those specific monitors are covered in your original report. See the difference? Only add value if it supports the original results that you committed to delivering.
Add Value Beyond The Delivery
Whenever I deliver a report or complete necessary commitments, I do my best to follow-up with the persons I delivered my results to. This way, I can assess their satisfaction with my work as well as remedy any issues they may have. This is a special type of value that you are adding to your work. It shows others that you care about your work and want to ensure that your work is up to the expected level. Most companies practice this value-added service and you may now it as the “customer satisfaction guarantee.” You do not need to necessarily guarantee your work, but following up and fixing any issues is a sure way to create extra value with little work. And let’s not forget, you’ll have one happy customer who will appreciate your work even more.
