Why won’t my people do what I ask?

The simple answer to the question is likely you. 

As a leader or manager, if people aren’t doing what they are asked, the reason is usually you are doing something wrong.  You may not have explained what is required sufficiently, you may not have trained them properly, or likely you have not established the proper culture and/or environment for your organization.

Fortunately, the frustration you feel as a manager can be overcome.    

I have encountered many managers, owners, and supervisors who have exasperatedly said, “I am just going to have to “crack the whip” to get things working.” Similarly, managers have told me they will impose “their will” come “hell or high water” on their people.  Unfortunately, those are reactions to the symptoms of their problems and won’t likely work.  Punishing people, in my experience, doesn’t gain “willing cooperation.” 

Dale Carnegie wasn’t wrong when he said the best leaders rely on “willing cooperation” from their people to achieve their desired results.  Perhaps in the short term you can bully, intimidate, and impose your will; however, yelling and blowing up rarely works over time. 

If it does work, it won’t work for long.  Negative types of management tend to destroy morale, increase resentment, increase turnover, and stifle connection, collaboration, and innovation. 

Instead, look effective leaders look beyond the symptoms.  Effective leaders ask, “Why won’t my people do what I (we) am asking?”  Then, effective leaders will listen to what is said and create and implement an action plan tailored to their people.

Why don’t people do what you ask?

Your people don’t understand – Many managers believe they explain new things well to their people.  Unfortunately, when asked what they understand, those same people will demonstrate they did not understand either what was said or what is expected of them.  To rectify these scenarios, have a few trusted people critique new systems or procedures before implementation, (red teaming: https://salestrainer.blog/revisiting-red-teams/.  Red Teams will proofread and “poke holes” in new directives and help identify and correct issues before training your entire team.  Red teams are an invaluable tool for getting your people involved and dramatically increasing training effectiveness. 

Your people haven’t been trained or trained well enough – Many managers express their frustration with the failure of a new procedure or process without realizing the failure was caused by them not investing enough time in training.  Training is the one advantage all organizations have almost complete control over.  Be patient, “hold the hands of the people who need extra help”, and incrementally improve both the training and processes using ongoing incremental and inclusive “lessons learned” meetings.

People are afraid of making mistakes – As a manager or owner, how do you react to mistakes?  Are you understanding and encouraging or are you the type of person who doesn’t tolerate mistakes?  Depending on your answer, “YOU” might be the reason why you are having issues.  Develop a culture within your organization that makes the consequences of mistakes a learning experience rather than a punitive situation.  Fostering “mentor” relationships between your people can dramatically reduce common mistakes and anxiety. 

Your people think their way is better – This can happen when people have a great deal of experience and have been successful.  Trying to introduce change into successful organizations can be even more difficult than trying to change an unsuccessful organization.  Effective leaders listen to their people’s concerns, are open to the consideration their people might be right, and engage in effective two-way communication to explain the change and reasons why the changes are necessary.  Simply implementing new systems and processes should never be your path. 

Your people don’t want to do it – Don’t be surprised that this might be the reason why your people won’t do what you ask.  If what is asked is difficult or doesn’t offer any benefit to them, particularly if you are dealing with volunteers, no one should be surprised if people don’t cooperate.  Failure to heed this lesson in introducing a new system or procedure will make implementation difficult and ultimately unsuccessful.  Addressing “why” a new system or process will benefit the organization and help them is key when faced with successfully leading change.    

Your people don’t trust, respect, or believe you.  – Trust and respect are earned every day and in every interaction with your people.  Consistency, fairness, empathy, and making good decisions will earn their trust and respect; if a manager or supervisor simply demands or expects trust, everything they try to do will be much more difficult, if not impossible.  I cannot overemphasize the importance of earning the respect of your people, I have listed a few simple ways to accomplish this task,

a) Treat all your people, your customers/clients, and everyone else you interact with daily with respect, and listen to their points of view, ideas, and suggestions. 

b) Help your people whenever they have a problem regardless of how busy you might happen to be.

c) Constantly appreciate and acknowledge the skills and experience your people have on a particular issue or problem. 

d) Say “thank you” more times than you think you do.

e) Avoid “overloading” your people with additional tasks, especially when they are already stressed. 

f) Never complain to your people about how busy you are. 

g) Adhere to the same rules your people are expected to follow yourself. 

Solicit new ideas, solutions, and comments from your people.  Gaining “willing cooperation” from your people will be enhanced if they are encouraged to contribute their thoughts and suggestions to new systems and processes. 

Use the FAB concept.  “FAB – Feature, advantage, benefit,” as an organization leader, whenever implementing new systems or processes, this concept will help answer the question, “What is in it for them?” A leader who appreciates and uses this concept will be more successful and less frustrated when asking their people to respond to change. 

There are many reasons people may not do the things they are asked.  The above list highlights some of the more common ones.  Successful leaders try to anticipate problems, and more importantly, they trust and respect their people by including them in the process of managing change.  In my experience, the frustration that managers experience when trying to implement change or get their people to do what they want; is usually caused by them.  There is no secret to gaining “willing cooperation,” effective leaders must engage in this behavior with every interaction and execute it daily. 

Good luck,

Paul