Ask Andi: How do we delegate? I’m doing the work of four people. And I run this company. I want to step back so others may step up. Successfully. What do you have to say about it?
Thoughts of the Day: Learn to delegate – you’ll get more done. Delegation is such an important skill to learn. Can you – or any other person for that matter – handle all those tasks? Do you have the knowledge, skill, energy, and time? To delegate is essential. Business owners struggle to overcome their basic instincts of pitching in. People are most highly engaged when they are challenged. Giving up control yields significant rewards for the owner.
Learn to delegate to get more done
Think of the business owner as a juggler. Each day keeping balls in the air. A key job is to build a team of jugglers. A group can handle a workload substantially greater than what the owner can juggle alone.
Most business owners are characterized by the entrepreneurial mentality of, “I’m on it, I’ll make it happen.” They step into situations to get things done, help out, to rescue people who are in trouble, and to make things come outright. Unfortunately, that behavior can get in the way of allowing other people to learn how to take on their own juggling load.
It’s better if the owner steps back and learns to delegate. Let people try. Teaches them how to recover when they make mistakes. When people ask for help, instead of providing direct answers, learn to ask:
- What do you think you should do next?
- What are your options?
- If you try that, what do you think will happen, and is that what you want to have to happen?
- How did you get here, what did you learn that you can apply the next time?
Think of decisions and actions as the balls being juggled. When someone tries to throw a decision the owner’s way, throw it back. Let the original juggler decide, take action and learn.
Succeed with strong delegation skills
People down line in the organization can be disruptive. They see the owner as of the person in charge and want contact with the source of power – the ultimate juggler. They throw balls into play, to the owner, past the juggler it should go to, who may lose momentum and focus watching the ball go by
Redirect downline players to the people they report to. Follow through to be sure they learn how to work with their direct managers. Check that managers are doing a good job working with their direct reports.
The owner has to practice distance – being aware without being involved. Find out how much each direct report can handle, and how much each direct report can handle. Watch how all jugglers perform, without pitching in pick up the load. Educate, train, and coach players so they build their skills.
Some owners shy away from delegating, fearing that their staff will get overwhelmed or resist the additional workload. In fact, most employees today say they don’t have enough decision-making authority. They are not allowed to contribute as much as they could. And they are looking for greater opportunities to participate and take on additional responsibility.
Design step-by-step workflows removing you from the process
High levels of engagement happen when people are working to solve meaningful problems. Show people how their tasks fit into the whole. Give people purpose by helping them see the importance of what they are doing.
When new tasks are in play, plan additional time to complete them. Allow for errors. Focus on training people to try, recover, learn and build capacity.
When people get overwhelmed, reduce the number of balls they’re juggling. Help them to get their stability back. Offload assignments to an interim player. Build confidence by letting people master the load they’re juggling before throwing new tasks into the mix.
Through delegation, the organization builds momentum and capacity to perform. The owner is freed up to work more on the business, not so much in it. There’s time to observe how everyone is performing. Time to get away from the business to recharge. And there’s time to plan what’s next.
Looking for a good book?
Turn the Ship Around! How to Create Leadership at Every Level, by David Marquet.
