"Thou doth process....not enough!"

How well do you know someone? Not in terms of their favourite dish, movie, ball team, etc....how well do you know them from a business perspective? Have you got inside their brain?

What do I mean?

The best indicator of how someone works is to look at their process. "How" did they get to their end result? That is...at times....an issue with managers...they tend to focus on the 'results' and not look at the process.

The Philadelphia 76ers basketball team had the phrase 'trust the process' but let's not focus on them because ultimately....they didn't. They are not the right example.

The process is about the quality of the work that goes into getting to the end result. How is someone putting together their information? How are they reacting to the diverse situations that occur during the journey? Are they able to communicate clearly how they are gathering details? Are they putting together the right details? Do they have structure to their journey?

These questions (and more) will determine the true person on how you can judge the quality of their work versus just looking at the end result.

If I were to try to make a basket and took 20 tries...I would miss but I would also make some. There would be some great looking shots and other would be terrible but if you were to only look at the ball going through the net and not my form....you would have no idea if I was a bad, good or great player. You would only know if the ball went through the net.

Same goes for work. You can not have a fair assessment of anyone by just looking at the end result. You will only have...the end result.

By looking at how the person was working through each and every scenario and staying in the mindset of the 'work' will allow you to have more trust and ultimately give your team the freedom to move the way they should.

Does this person look at every angle of a problem? Are they willing to ask for help when needed? Do they work independently? Are they digging deep enough into their project to uncover all pieces? Work well with others? Many questions that can determine the effectiveness of an employee. Also, if you are genuine leader you will not only ask these questions you will want to know them for their own success. You don't want to be someone who is leading a team in a downward spiral.

Look into the way the person has got to that point and understand that by seeing HOW is more more important than the final buzzer.

Over time you will be more successful with this approach because you will truly KNOW that person and understand that you need to trust...the process.