Turns out it is pretty important to get stuff done. I found out something as we went from 1 employee to 30 employees. Getting things done yourself is a very different skill than helping others get things done. Sure, there are some similarities. Being detail oriented and having good time management skills are certainly critical. But there is something more to it than that with a group of people
You need to be able to provide a definition. There is a wide spectrum of needs among different employees. Some folks with a lot of drive and initiative simply need to be given a framework within the larger company goals. Other folks are less experienced and so need more detail. The important thing here is to avoid micromanagement. The only thing I've found that works is to avoid comments on How and focus on What To that end, the Socratic method works pretty well.
The second pillar in managing execution is measurement and feedback. An ongoing process works well. Personally, I'm a big fan of defining metrics in a collaborative manner. As a team, you and your employee try to determine what metrics measure success within the larger strategic framework. After that exercise its the employee's responsibility to give regular updates. This provides transparency and clarifies responsibility.
One of my regrets at GrubHub.com has been not having this figured out earlier. Its probably been my biggest growth area. One of my personal goals is to continue to improve this until I get to be the kind of execution expert described here
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