How To Provide Support

[Anachostic]

A few years ago, a former employer of mine sent me and all the lead developers to a professional advancement class and I want to share the core elements of that class with all of you. This concept can be applied to every aspect of your life, but I hope it will be applied to how you provide support to your fellow community members here at ZuneBoards.

In the class, we learned that everyone goes through four phases of personal development when faced with a new task or challenge. I'm sure you all will recognize them because we all do it. It is human nature.

The first stage is called "enthusiastic beginner". The person is excited to start but has no clue where to begin. Think of when you were going to do something for the first time. Did you get a new musical instrument, a new computer, a Zune? Were you going to take a new class, learn a new language, ride a motorcycle? Then you know the excitement. You visualize yourself using/doing it and being happy.

The second stage is "disillusioned learner". This is where the person has gotten a little guidance, they charge ahead and realize it's not that easy; they are now way over their head and scrambling for help. They are hyper-critical of themselves and doubtful of their ability. Now think of the first snag that interrupted your enjoyment on your new hobby. Computer crash? Error messages? Something else unexpected?

How long you stayed at stage two and how soon you got out depended on the level of leadership and support you received. Every stage requires a different method of leadership and the leader has to recognize what stage a person is in. If they apply the wrong level of leadership, it can stall or completely prevent progress.

If a person is in development stage 1, you as a leader have to give very specific instructions - step by step - because the person doesn't know anything. They are excited to get started, and that is a positive thing. Whatever instructions you give, the person is going to plow ahead with them because they are excited to start. If the instructions were not specific enough, or the task is to much for the instructions you gave, they fall into stage two.

When the person hits stage two, you have to continue to provide detailed instruction, but you also have to ramp up moral support. You have to convince the person that they can do it. Remember, the person doesn't have the skills yet to figure things out on their own. We've all been there for something in our lives. We turned to friends, family, teachers, and anyone that could explain the unknown. Maybe you even read the manual for your new cell phone.

Progressing from stage 2 to stage 3 is very much like a gradient, because every new concept will pull the person back into stage 2, but they will build on previous knowledge and confidence to push forward to stage 3.

Stage three is when the person is capable, but unmotivated. Think of a time where you said to yourself "Why bother?" or "It's not going to matter what I do." You feel unappreciated and apathetic. Anyone working in fast food, this stage is for you.

As a leader, you guide a person out of stage three by keeping moral support high, but you can reduce your instruction to general concepts - the person has the skills to figure out those concepts. Give praise and recognition for past accomplishments. Give positive rep points with a personal comment. Make the person feel like they want to use their skill.

Stage four is when the person is capable and self motivated. You do not need to give moral support and you can instruct in general concepts. The person is self sufficient and fully developed.

Now, lets consider some cases how mismatched leadership messes things up. If a person is at stage 2 and feels completely overwhelmed (which is going to be the majority of support cases here) and they receive leadership at a stage 3 or 4 level. The instructions are generalized - not specific - and the moral support may be there (if giving stage 3 leadership). But any moral support given doesn't help because the person don't understand the instructions. The teacher gets frustrated and so does the student. Nobody wins.

What if the person is at level 4 and you start giving them detailed instructions as if they were level 2? That's going to demoralize them and push them back to level 3. No one wants to be micromanaged.

If we're going to do this right and we're going to have a solid, friendly community, everyone needs to understand this. And everyone needs to treat each other with respect.

This is a very long post, but if anyone wants more explanations on anything I discussed or how different levels of leadership and development interact, please post your questions here. If you have a story that illustrates how a perfect match or a terrible mismatch of leadership to development level affected you, please share it.