These days, most supervisors onboard the ship would delegate the tasks with efficiency goals in their minds, but they need to understand that efficiency we can do with THINGS, and effectiveness we do with PEOPLE! This is why most employees would always be in a more productive version of their capabilities; this is the reason why many great employees with considerable potential would leave our company. It is not because of money but because of the environment made by ineffective communication with their supervisors. 

We are all creative-minded people, skilled, and we should know how to lead our teams to their maximum capacities—striving to become compassionate, emphatic leaders who would create an environment where everyone would consistently produce their best, even without being monitored time. We can inspire all our subordinates and always find the best conflict resolution for the guest or crew members. Those proactive leaders should be made through this specially projected training that I designed to give my modest contribution to the cruise line industry.

DELEGATION

There are two types of delegation onboard cruise ships. Gofer delegation, imposed by most managers," do this," " do that," "go for this," or "go for that" style of delegating tasks, works only in the short term; it gives results daily, but it does not last. Often, employees will feel extra pressure from this management style, and in the long run, they will become less productive at their work. The gofer delegation is always focused on methods, and it could be more creative. The other, more creative left-brain style of the delegation that I was promoting on board was "stewardship delegation." It has a significant difference in approach and allocating the tasks. Instead of methods, this is a result-driven management style, where we should empower employee trust. It takes time in the beginning, but it's time well invested. Stewardship delegation involves clear, upfront mutual understanding and commitment regarding expectations. It clarifies guidelines, resources, accountability, consequences, and desired results. 

The following question got me thinking: Can we impose a gofer delegation style on the cruise ship and physically monitor our entire crew's performances? Can we be at two places at the same time? Not possible, indeed. Standards and procedures are made to be followed to protect our safety and achieve our daily, monthly, and yearly goals and targets. However, management can not always supervise every single staff member and run around from one employee to another to tell them, " Do this, do that."Our efficiency will be questioned if we do so. Our employees will reach burnout; they won't feel trusted, validated, and acknowledged for their job. By creating and transferring our management style to the Stewardship delegation, we should invest our time in building trust with every team member. Management should become the one who will always seek to understand and only seek to be understood after that. We should also encourage an open-door policy and share transparency regarding company goals and expectations. We should look for a way to discover every employee's unique skill set, promote people, and make them feel important. If we make those crucial steps, crew members will become proactive even when management is not around. When we build trust and clarify company goals, we will undoubtedly impact the working environment. We should be transparent about financial targets, goals, and expectations. It is also much needed and appreciated to offer our guidelines and sincere support in obtaining the crew's daily tasks. Understanding your employee will have significant long-term results. How much money are cruise ship companies worldwide spending because of the huge turnover rate? Most of the crew members are not leaving the ships because of salary or anything else but the management itself. It means that it could and should be prevented.

The cruise ship company wants to spend money on something other than quality Leadership training. Instead, they are spending an enormous amount of money due to a huge turnover rate. That needs to make more sense. Enthusiastic and knowledgeable, passionate leaders are the true difference makers for the crew members' life on board. It comes down to little details, consistent empathy, compassion, and understanding. Those leaders are making a positive difference, but sadly, there are few of those remarkable leaders across the fleet. Predominantly, most managers treat their employees like a robot. That has to be changed in the future, no doubt about that.

Enthusiastically, I could Imagine being a Leader of a team of 20 highly motivated, skilled, and consistently determined employees! This team can achieve any task and reach any company goal because they feel part of the WIN-WIN mindset. Win for themselves and Win for the company. When the company acknowledges crew members with deserved praise, we all go a long way toward developing the relationship to determine our project's success.

Sometimes, I ask staff members:

" What was your best work experience last year?" Then I would study their answers and work hard to intensify and replicate those circumstances as widely as possible.

My goal was always to inspire. Putting the extra in the " ordinary" might help the company a lot. The recipe is straightforward. The way to get ordinary people to do extraordinary things is to develop practical habits. We can either inspire and motivate all these people working away from their loved ones or let them perform at the " minimum required level," just good enough to keep their job safe.

How powerful is that? The slight difference in our daily approach can lead to the highly increased productivity of our employees. I am not talking about financial rewards or threatening our employees with their job security. I am not talking about being a strict boss to keep our staff on their toes. I am talking about a new level of effectiveness. How do we get the best out of our teams? And even more importantly, how do we maintain high-performance standards? How do we inspire people daily? Those are the questions that will determine the company's future...