Review People’s Work

After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. Matthew 25:19

A friend of mine shared some frustrations recently—her boss requires people to submit lengthy and detailed reports of their activities, but apparently never actually reads them.

“He checks his e-mail to make sure we’ve submitted them on time,” she said, “but he asks questions I’ve already answered in the report.”

In this parable, Jesus tells of three servants who were each entrusted by their master with an amount of silver. On his return, each servant presented the results of their investment and received an appropriate reward for their efforts.

The story is about being a good servant, but there’s also a lesson in it for leaders:

People feel devalued if an assignment isn’t inspected, especially if they’ve put in extra effort to do a really great job.

Honor your people by reviewing their work and rewarding them for a job well done.