Welch's 21 Steps to Management Greatness - 10
Follow up
Why is follow-up so important to a business leader? To Jack Welch it was one of the crucial elements of success for his reign at General Electric (GE).
His thoughts were you had to "Follow up on everything. Follow-up is one key measure of success for a business. Your follow-up business strategy will pave the way for your success."
The reason why it's so important is because of what following up on things disciplines you to have to do. For example, it means you've got to keep track on what you've said to people in the company. We've got to keep copious notes and keep up on all our communications throughout the day.
It also demands a manager to communicate continuously and to leave nothing unturned as far as conversation goes. It's not an option to simply clam up and speak nothing to a company and its people. As long as it's done right, most workers appreciate that a business leader cares enough to do it.
More than once I've heard about people that worked for Welch amazed that he cared enough to check up on what projects they were working on and the progress they were making. It has to be understood in the context of how big of a company GE was even back then.
They were not only impressed that he was interested, but were also impressed in that he did what he said he'd do by keeping in contact with them.
Following up on things also keeps our people on their toes in a healthy way. They know that they are being measured and timely results are expected. I know of many workers that liked this because they were challenged to try to outperform the expectations put upon them - and many times they did.
The only thing we all have to be careful of is not following up in a way that badgers or micromanages our people. Workers like to be challenged and noticed, but not in an obnoxious, pushy way that takes the joy out of their jobs.
Other than that one caveat, follow-up should be a crucial part of our everyday duties.
Other Jack Welch Resources:
Jack Welch's advice to MIT Sloan students
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