"Can I Go Home Now?"

Put yourself in the shoes of a manager for a moment (if you are not already one). Your employee comes up to you with a confident smile on his face and says, "I've finished all my work and would like to leave early." What would you say?

There are two options that are common, but not necessarily good. The first is to give the person "busy work" (stuff to do that does not really need to be done, for the sake of keeping them busy). Most people would resent being given work that does not really need to be done. As a result, nothing significant is getting accomplished, and in fact it is counterproductive because of the decline in the employee's attitude. The second common option is to say, "Sure, go home early and have a nice day!" This option could become a problem with employees who get into the habit of leaving early and therefore cut corners to do it more often.

I'd like to suggest a third option: Giving the employees a list of important things to do when their normal work is done. These things should be ones that are always good to do. Here are some examples of what I'm talking about:

1. Make sure everyone on my team is ready for everything this week.
2. Make sure everyone on my team is ready for next week.
3. Spend time looking back at trends or lessons learned.
   
4. Spend time looking around at the current state of the organization. Talk with the people that your organization serves to see if their needs are effectively getting met. Encourage the things that are going well and identify the things that need improvement.
5. Spend time looking ahead. Consider the mission statement of the organization and any master plan that may be in place. Then identify a couple of steps me and my team can be taking in that direction.
6. Do some self-improvement to help myself or others become more effective. This training might include formal training (attending workshops), but more easily reading a book that is relevant to my line of work or observing another person who is doing something well.
7. Look for someone else who is struggling with their load and offer to help them.
   

These are just some examples. They may not work for people in all positions. A manager should give careful thought to what their employees should do. However, there are a couple things that may help the employees take greater ownership in the tasks. First, the manager may let the employee be involved in developing the list. Second, the pronouns should be phrased in the 1st person (me and my) rather than 2nd person (you and your).