How do you know when something’s done?

In a world of seemingly endless tasks and action-items, the ability to know when something is done is extremely important.  Even if you know when something is done, what do you do if someone on your team doesn’t seem to know when a task is complete?

Not knowing when something’s done relates to the problems of “analysis paralysis” and what I call the “perfection paradox.”  Analysis paralysis, as you may well know, is when someone continuously analyzes a set of options over and over seemingly without end.  The purpose of this type of behavior may be due to a lack of confidence, fear of making a mistake, fear of failure, poor decision-making skills, as well as other behavioral challenges.

The perfection paradox, although similar to analysis paralysis, is all about the fear of being less than perfect.  Of course, having a fear of not being perfect is certainly less than perfection, thus the paradox.  This is a particularly common challenge for high-achievers.  This can cause a lot of challenges in decision-making as well as completing tasks.  After all, if a decision is not made or a task is not completed, then the individual may feel that they can’t be judged as being imperfect.  Of course, this strategy can’t last forever as decisions must ultimately be made and tasks ultimately have deadlines.  In the meantime, however, a lot of time and energy is wasted as these individuals dance around the completion of the decision or task.

So, what do you do when you have someone on your team who has this particular issue?  First, it is important to bring it up during the course of supervision.   During a one-on-one conversation, talk to the individual about their perception of their ability to make decisions.  While they may be unaware of their issue, it is even more likely that they are unaware about how to resolve it.

Through the discussion, you can simply ask the question, “How do you know when you’re done with ___?”  If they can’t tell you, then it would be a great time to coach them on identifying completion criteria which are simply the observable evidence that a decision is to be made or a task to be called complete.

Of course, another component of the issue could simply be related to confidence.  Through years and years of hesitant conditioning, individuals develop unproductive habits that become deeply ingrained.  Bringing the issue out into the open is the first step towards its resolution.  Once the individual begins to demonstrate positive behaviors relating to completion, reinforce and encourage the individual as soon as possible.