Sometimes I get so busy I don't really evaluate the tool or skill best suited for a task. This applies both at work and at home. It's easy to conceptualize this issue with the picture included with this article. The reality is often a bit more nuanced (well, not usually at home). There are a variety of drill types and manufacturers. Depending on the situation, several may be suitable but at times only one is the right tool. Making these kinds of decisions is relatively easy and quantitative. Right tool selections happen for every kind of tool and construction equipment every day. It might make sense to standardize some and dig into the less standard, high cost or high risk selections and work tasks.
The trickier tool selections occur when we start thinking about people and soft skills. Does this meeting need significant patience and listening or does the team need a push to a decision point? Some people generally respond better to intensity or loudness (we are in construction after all) but there are quite a few people that work best with a little encouragement. As team members and leaders, it is our job to select the right tool for use with each person and situation.
Another situation that is tricky is scoping team needs and identifying the right people for the jobs. It's cliché but past performance does not guarantee future success. A Rockstar on a job that required a ton of political consideration and action likely would struggle, at least initially, to lead an intensely production based job. Someone who can push a production job might struggle mightily on a politics heavy project. As team leaders, we need to select the right person for the right job. Do we need immediate success? Will certain skills weight heavily later in the project? Will they be able to work well with the other team members? Most of us have seen great sports teams that may not have the most talent win the big game or win it all. Just like a team of sports talent won't win if it's not made of the right people, a construction team won't win if it doesn't have the right people.
An added complexity in selecting people is really knowing your people, what makes them tick and what they want. They may be great and high achieving in one job or area but they may have dreams of something totally different. If they get assigned to roles where they have previously been good, they might burn out because they don't truly like the work. Work hours can also be big. Someone might have in years worth of long hours but may be interested in positions with a little more personal time allowed. In other situations, someone may have been happy in less intense positions for years but now wants to work a bit more and take on a new challenge or two. We've got to find the right positions for people because if we don't they usually will. And if they don't, the performance of the team might suffer and other team members might start looking for a different team.
To combine the right tool and right person discussion, we need to pick the right tool and right person. Putting the right tool in the wrong person's hand will create a losing situation. The right person with the wrong tool has a pretty good chance of getting by. Putting the right tool in the right person's hand has a good chance of great success.
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