THE ART OF DELEGATING

By Paul Winters

 

 

 

 

 

Wait!   Stop!    Before you delegate the task of reading this article to someone else in your organization, please read it yourself. If you're the boss, chances are you could stand to fine-tune your delegating skills.

If you're the one who takes assignments, knowing the art of delegating may help you to ask all of the right questions so you can successfully complete the task.

The simple, straightforward process of delegating often becomes ineffective because of what I call the "seagull” style of management. We've all seen this management style in full flight. First of all, these managers are reactive planners (see our previous article on decision-making) — that is, operationally competent people who "know" they can handle whatever happens. Secondly, they either don’t understand or don’t use the art of delegating.

Let’s see how it works and see if you recognize yourself or your boss.

To initiate the process, an issue comes to the attention of the manager via telephone, mail or personal discussion.  Since reactive planners must take some form of action to the issue, the “delegation” generally means the manager marches into a subordinate’s workplace, does a lot of flapping around, makes a lot of noise and then deposits a smelly substance on top of the pile of work already underway.  Unfortunately, the pile of work represents previous “delegations” deposited in a similar manner.

Too shell-shocked to remember how it all started, subordinates just begin digging into the freshest part of the pile when the next issue arises. In comes the seagull again. The last crisis is put aside and work begins on the new one. Assignments pile up. Subordinates can never quite finish a task because more tasks keep being added.

As time passes, an old, uncompleted assignment will surface again.  At that point the manager will rush squawking back to the subordinate’s pile of assignments, dig out the old item, freshen it up and deposit it on the top again.

It should be apparent from this visual that, not only can this delegation style create stress in the organization, but nothing ever seems to get done.

Like the other management techniques we teach our clients, good delegation is a step-by-step process. When your management team has a job to do, using these steps is in your best interest, because you don't want to fail and you don't want your subordinates to fail.

For leaders and managers, delegation involves assessment or evaluation, and communication. For subordinates, it involves the qualities being assessed — capability, capacity, and authority — and again, communication. (As noted in our series of articles last fall on succession planning, capability and capacity are two different things: capability is the basic fitness for the job, while capacity is the resources/time needed to get the job done.)

Assuming that the basic groundwork of decision-making has been accomplished, it's time for the boss to begin delegating tasks to subordinates, according to the following guidelines:

1)      Assess each individual's capability to handle the assignment, considering such qualities as:

·        intelligence — just plain strong enough brain power;

·        initiative — ability to stay focused on starting tasks and seeing them through;

·        people skills — ability to gain cooperation from others when needed;

·        self-confidence — ability to work independently and effectively without constant direction.

2)      Assess each individual's capacity to handle the assignment, considering such factors as

·        time — does this person have adequate time do this job along with all of his or her other duties?

·        tools and resources — does this person have the tools required to get the job done? Does he or she know where to get the necessary information and help?

·        adequate training —is the person trained to perform the assigned task?

It should be noted that a seagull manager is likely to delegate tasks without sufficient awareness of subordinates' capacity to accomplish them. In particular, as shown in our opening scenario, the seagull tends to ignore time constraints placed on staff by tasks previously delegated. Prioritizing tasks is the boss's responsibility, but capable employees can help achieve this by suggesting priorities. Employees can also keep the boss reminded of each task's priority, including the task most recently assigned.

3)      Assess each individual's authority to carry out the tasks assigned. This is a separate issue from capacity. Even though a fully capable employee may have the necessary time, tools, and training to complete the job, other factors such as seniority, experience, and history (or lack of it) within the organization may stand in the way of setting up an effective chain of command through this individual.

4)      Finally, everyone working on the project, at all levels of responsibility, needs to consider communication. Managers must ask, did we properly communicate the assignment? Depending on the capability and capacity of the project team, this means checking with employees about what they think the assignment is, even going so far as having them put it in writing. The communication process is not complete until all parties have exactly the same understanding on all aspects of the assignment.

Project goals, time commitments, checkpoints, and due dates must be clearly expressed, as well as overall company standards of quality. Managers must make sure that team members have access to resources, including those resources under management control. Also, it's up to managers to provide a clear understanding of the reviews and measurements that will govern the team's performance.

In short, managers are responsible for building communication and listening skills in themselves and their team, making sure that everyone who is expected to accomplish tasks has heard and understood these tasks.

Subordinates are responsible for building their own skills and making sure that their bosses fully understand the team's capacity. They should also communicate concerns over any perceived roadblocks and assure that they have the information necessary to get the job done.

As an individual employee ascends the ladders of capability, capacity, and authority, the communication of delegated tasks will become broader and less specific. For example, say a report must be regularly hand-delivered to an office across town. With a new employee who hasn't done this job before, you spell out the procedure with the proper release forms, details of the route, delays to avoid, floor and suite numbers, persons expecting the package. An employee who has performed this task several times may simply need to review the fine points. A fully seasoned employee will need nothing more than a brief "Create the report and get it to X by Thursday.”

Do you have any seagulls in your organization? It would be unusual if you didn’t.  Making them aware of their style and the impact on the health and success of the organization is important. If you are the culprit, try out the concepts presented in this article. If you are the seagull’s subordinate, remember to use discretion and diplomacy in explaining the impact their style is having.