The KRA Triangle is a management tool that addresses lack of initiative by analyzing and balancing knowledge, responsibility, and authority to empower employees and improve productivity, ultimately driving business success.
Primary Implication
When employees struggle with delivering assigned results, they likely have a knowledge problem to fulfill their responsibilities or the authority to own the results of their actions. People without knowledge or authority will never be successful in owning the results of their actions.
Overview
Anytime management has to push harder and harder to get things done through orders, it’s either a knowledge, responsibility, authority, or communication breakdown. The KRA Triangle is an easy-to-use tool to help identify what is causing a lack of initiative. If it’s a communication problem, the RAD Triangle helps people avoid communication breakdowns caused by poor dialogue as a result of unclear reality and affinity for the subject being discussed.
If contribution problems remain and communicating expectations isn’t the issue, training to increase knowledge is the first step in the KRA Triangle to help people contribute more. The KRA Triangle starts with knowledge. Either the person lacking initiative has the knowledge to do what is being asked of them, or they don’t. For most people who struggle with initiative, their desire for additional responsibility and authority will increase in that activity or subject as their knowledge increases.
When one truly understands the subject they are being trained on and sees how it will help them perform their job, they are more likely to put the newly gained knowledge directly into action. The benefit of knowledge is the fact that knowledge develops confidence.
When one knows something, they have certainty regarding it. Without certainty in the skills people need to perform their jobs, employee productivity will lack. These productivity problems manifest as follows:
- Lower output quantities
- Poor quality
- Slower production speeds
- Higher costs from low-efficiency rates
While effective communication solves most problems, it doesn’t solve all problems. Neither does knowledge and responsibility. If knowledge and understanding exist for a specific responsibility but results fall short, what’s likely missing is the authority to act.
Without the authority to act, the KRA Triangle is out of balance. More communication isn’t the answer. Training and development on how to use delegated authority are how you help your people become accountable for the results of their actions.
Managers who use the KRA Triangle are those who know how to engage their employees to be and do their best. They do this to help their employees have a sense of accomplishment from their work on their way to generating higher sales and profits that lead to sustainable cash reserves
