The 5 Reasons Your Team Isn’t Following Through | Ep 882

Alex Hormozi presents a structured "star" system aimed at tackling employee performance issues within a business setting. This approach is designed to facilitate conversations about performance in a way that feels less confrontational.

The 5-Step "Star" Process For Performance Problems

The "star" framework consists of five steps, each serving as a crucial part of the problem-solving process to ensure employees are sufficiently informed and equipped to complete their tasks effectively.

Employee Awareness of Task Requirements

The initial step in the star process is to ensure an employee is aware of a task's existence. Hormozi highlights the importance of this step, pointing out that an employee cannot complete a task if they do not know it needs to be done. It's about confirming clear communication of expectations.

Ensuring Employee Understands Specific Requirements and Expectations

Subsequently, an employee must understand specifically what is required of them. Hormozi stresses the importance of specificity in instructions. Rather than vague directions, he suggests using clear, actionable statements to indicate the exact actions required, such as providing a report on nice paper by Monday or changing behavior with clear, example-driven directives.

Assessing Employee's Task Skills

The third point of the framework involves evaluating whether the employee has the necessary skills to accomplish the task. For instance, if an employee is unsure how to compile a TPS report, it implies that their capability has not been properly assessed. Hormozi asks whether the employee knows how to do what's needed, focusing on the match between task requirements and employee skills.

Confirming Employee Knows Task Deadline

Knowing when a task needs to be completed is also critical. Hormozi emphasizes the importance ...

Alex Hormozi underscores the significance of clarity in instruction and expectation-setting for optimal work outcomes and efficiency.

Clearly Documenting and Communicating Instructions and Requirements

Clear communication of tasks and expectations is crucial for success in any business operation. Alex Hormozi reinforces this by using the example of asking for a TPS report. Hormozi insists on the need for explicitness in the instruction, including the report's format and the method of delivery—whether that be via print, email, or presentation.

Avoiding Vague, Ambiguous Directions

Hormozi criticizes vague instructions, such as "be less creepy," based on the premise that without concrete direction, different individuals will have varying interpretations of what is required. He points out that the greater the proficiency and competence of an individual, the more one can afford to be broad in issuing directions. Conversely, for less experienced personnel, instructions need detailed precision.

Breaking Down Complex Tasks Into Specific, Tangible Steps

Breaking tasks into manageable steps is essential, particularly with less experienced workers. Hormozi suggests that rather than asking a junior marketer to run an entire marketing campaign, it would be more effective to ask them to write some emails, defining a specific and tangible step in the complex task.

Providing Written Documentation and Following Up Verbally

Documenting instructions and communications is vital in the workplace, and Hormozi stresses that in his company, if something isn’t recorded in writing, it might as well have never occurred. He champions the idea of writing down instructions and then reinforcing them with an email to prevent misunderstandings. Though he does not explicitly mention verbal follow-ups, the concept is inherent in his assertions about the necessity of concrete and clear communication. Additionally, Hormozi includes the concept of training through documentation, demonstration, and duplication, which means writing it down, showing it being done, and then supervising as the trainee performs the task.

Aligning On Deadlines and Timelines

Employee Estimating Work Time Required

The assessment of time needed for a task is another foca ...

Alex Hormozi discusses various strategies for motivating and enabling employees to succeed, focusing on the importance of training, removing obstacles, and building a culture of accountability and performance.

Identifying and Addressing Skills Gaps Through Training

Providing Hands-On Training and Support to Build Competence

Hormozi states that when an employee doesn't know how to complete a task, like putting together a TPS report, the solution is training. The training procedure involves the trainer doing the task in front of the trainee, followed by the trainee doing the task in front of the trainer until they can perform it independently.

Breaking Down Complex Skills Into Smaller, Learnable Components

While breaking down skills isn't explicitly mentioned, it's implicit in Hormozi’s approach that more complex tasks have more skills that need to be taught. Complex terms like "be kind" can be harder to train than more straightforward tasks. Therefore, it's important to identify which part of a task someone doesn't understand and teach that specific skill. This leads to a chunking down process where skills are transferred in smaller, manageable parts, such as teaching data formatting so an employee can prepare a TPS report on their own.

Confirming the Employee Can Execute the Work Independently

After identifying specific skill gaps and addressing them through training, the goal is to have the trainee independently perform the task. Hormozi emphasizes the importance of specificity in training and confirms that the employee can execute the work, such as preparing a TPS report, independently after the training process.

Removing Obstacles and Empowering Employees to Solve Problems

Uncovering Hidden Roadblocks or Constraints

Hormozi talks about obstacles getting in the way of an employee's tasks, providing examples like a chef lacking eggs or an employee's laptop not having enough RAM. Identifying these obstacles is the first step to empowerment.

Assessing the Employee's Resourcefulness and Problem-Solving Abilities

Hormozi frames certain struggles as skill deficiencies that can be overcome. Before providing additional resources, it's important to assess whether employees have sufficient problem-solving skills to overcome simple obstacles on their own, such as finding ingredients or faster Wi-Fi.

Providing Resources and Support to Overcome Challenges

While not directly addressed, the transcript implies a need to provide clear written instructions and hands-on training to allow employees to ...