The SLII Model
I recently took a class on situational leadership. The instructor advised us to immediately teach the skills we have learned to help us remember the material. So I decided to share my knowledge in this blog. The class taught me the SLII model.This model can be used on people you manage. You can even use it to assess yourself. It is a good self-assessment tool because you “help” your bosses on how they can manage you better.
This model has four strategies depending on the task. It isn’t based on the individual. This is because individuals respond differently to different tasks. Usually, when people are given a task, they fall into four categories:
1. Enthusiastic beginner—This is when they don’t have the skill-set to complete the task. But they are enthusiastic and motivated to do it.
2. Disillusioned learner—This is when they don’t have the necessary skill-set to complete the task. And they are not very motivated to do it.
3. Capable but cautious performer—This is when they have the skill-set to do the job well, but they’re not motivated or confident to do it.
4. Self-reliant achiever—This means that they have both high competency and motivation to do the task.
As I mentioned before, these are task oriented, not people oriented. For example, if you’re a HTML wizard and love creating websites, creating a HTML web site from the ground up would put you at category 4. But if you’re not a programmer and your boss wants you to create a database driven website using Java and mySQL, You can be either at category 1 or 2 based on your motivation.
So How do You Deal With These Four Types of People?
1. Enthusiastic beginner
You just have to give a lot of direction and information. It is almost micromanaging. When I first heard this I thought it was crazy because I hate being micromanaged. But it made a lot of sense. If I was doing something that I wanted to do, but didn’t know how to do it, it would be great if someone helped me find resources, checked on my status, and to just hold my hand when I’m stuck. If the manager just gave me a, “you can do it!” pep talked and walked away. I would be lost.
2. Disillusioned learner
You need to be a coach. You need to hold their hand for the task and also listen to their complaints and concerns and motivate them accordingly. This means you have to micromanage them on their tasks and also listen to them.
3. Capable but cautious performer
Since they already have the skill-set to do the job, you just have to give them motivation to do it. Most of the time, you don’t need to give much motivation. You just need to listen to their concerns and complaints. Also, you can get them to contribute their ideas on how to complete their task and give them a lot of confidence on their skills.
4.Self-reliant achiever
You just have to give them the lead and back off. You should give them feedback on how they’re doing. But it’s mostly hands off. They can self manage.
This is a simple formula that can work well. Of course, people don’t fit into categories nicely, and there might be other issues. But I remember my old manager—who took this class—using these strategies on me. When I think back on it, I remember being very impressed with my manager—since he was the first one to address my concerns that way. So this method have a lot of merit.
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Interesting, do you think NVQ assessors can use Situational leadership?