Delegate to Accelerate Success
by
Ed Sykes
During the
first season of the television reality show, The Apprentice, Donald
Trump would give the ultimate winner the dream job of working for him,
running one of his divisions and earning $250,000 per year. On the final
episode, the choice came down to two candidates, Bill Rancic and Kwame
Jackson, for the “ultimate” job. Both were very qualified. Bill Rancic
was the owner of a successful Internet cigar business grossing over one
million dollars a year, and Kwame Jackson was a graduate of Harvard
Business School and most recently worked for the prestigious Wall Street
investment house, Goldman Sachs, as an Investment Manager.
In my opinion, the decision on who would receive the job came down to
one thing…delegation. Both Bill and Kwame delegated tasks to their “team
members” and achieved success. However, Kwame was asked several
questions by Mr. Trump relating to how Kwame handled one team member,
Omarosa Manigult-Stallworth. Mr. Trump wondered why Kwame let Omarosa
get away with lying to him and not working with the other team members
to make the project successful. Kwame responded to Mr. Trump that he
didn’t know he could fire Omarosa. Mr. Trump stated that Kwame should
have asked if he could fire Omarosa.
Bill Rancic got the job. This drives home the point…learn how to
delegate to accelerate success both for you, your organization, and your
team.
If we know it is an important key for our success, why don’t we
delegate? Here are some of the excuses I routinely hear:
* No Time – I have no time to teach a team member the tasks.
* No Energy – It takes a lot of energy to follow-up and keep team
members on task for success.
* I Can Do It Better – I know what needs to be done and can do it better
and faster so I’ll just do it.
* Why Should I? – Why should I train someone to do my job?
Why? If you are in a leadership position, your job is to take the time
and the energy to train others to do more so that the you, your team,
and your organization are more successful.
Well, what are the
benefits of
quality delegation?
1. You
multiply yourself
– The more
you delegate, the more you create team members that can accomplish much
more in much less time. You are known as someone who gets things done
with self-directed teams.
2. You
create a motivated group
– The more you delegate, the more your team members are motivated
because they see you as someone who trusts them and their abilities to
get things accomplished. Because your team is motivated, they take more
initiative to create solutions, be more creative, and are willing to
take on more responsibilities.
3. You
master stress and time management skills
– You are forced to prioritize your tasks and realize that there are
tasks that you do not need to do, yet would be perfect tasks to develop
your team members. By learning how to prioritize your tasks for
delegation, you will be less stressed during the workday and go home at
the end of the day satisfied that you accomplished more.
4. You
are known as a person who develops people
– The more you delegate, the more you will be known within the
organization as a person who develops people. Remember, even when you
think no one is watching, someone is always watching the way you achieve
success by developing your people. Whether it’s management, other teams,
departments or divisions, someone is watching. The word will spread
about how well you develop people. The results, management will see you
as a developer of people; and other employees, both inside and outside
of your organization, will fight to work for you because they know you
have a motivated, creative working environment.
5. You
create opportunities for yourself and others
– By
delegating tasks to others, you can then take on more advanced tasks
that will prepare you for future opportunities when they become
available. This is the main reason why the excuse “if I delegate my
tasks to my employees, then they can take my job” doesn’t fly in my
book. Another reason why you delegate tasks is so that you can develop
yourself for future promotions, monetary, and career opportunities. For
example, if you want to become vice president for your organization and
you know that skills B, M, Z are required by all vice presidents, then
delegate any management tasks that you have already mastered to your
team members so that you can then ask for more “vice presidential”
tasks. When that position is available within or outside of the
organization, who do you think will have the inside track? You will!
Because you can say you already have the skills of a vice president,
while developing the people behind you to fill the void when you are
promoted. Also, as a leader, you never want your team members to be with
you in the same position forever. Thus, delegating tasks continuously
prepares them for opportunities that may come their way.
So how do we successfully delegate tasks? Here are my seven steps to
delegating tasks to achieve success. These tips can not only be used in
your organization for more success, but in every aspect of your life to
accomplish more.
1.
Understand the Task
Make sure you understand the task so that you can clearly communicate
the task to the person undertaking the task. You must also understand
what barriers and resources are required to succeed.
Also, you must understand what tools you have to make the task
successful. Along with resources needed, if the person isn’t progressing
on the task, what options do you have as a leader and manager to make it
successful? Questions you can ask is, “Can I provide additional
training?” or “Can I acquire additional tools?” Or if they are not
suited for the task, ask these questions, “Can I reassign them?” or if
they turn out to be detrimental to the project or team, “What actions
can I take to alleviate this situation?”
Make sure you click on the “Delegation Checklist” link at the end of
this article to receive your f*r*e*e copy of this important tool that
will give you the tools to make the best decisions when delegating
tasks.
2.
Find the Right Person
Find the person who is motivated to take on the task. You may have
someone who has the skills to do the task but is not motivated to do it.
This situation will not work. However, if you have someone that doesn’t
have the skills, but is highly motivated to learn and is excited about
the opportunity, then this is a good candidate for delegation. The
person must also be motivated to take on this task for the good of the
group as well as his/her own motivations. You might ask, “How does this
assignment help you achieve your career goals?” It also helps the person
has good communications skills to express any concerns.
3.
Communicate the Task
Take the time to clearly communicate the task. Communicate the
expectations of the task. And most importantly, communicate the
ownership of the task. What I mean is that the person assigned to the
task will be ultimately responsible for the success of the task. When
communicating responsibility for the task, let the person know the
consequences of not completing the task and the rewards of completing
the task. For example, you might say something like this:
“Mike, this report to justify the new computer system is important
because if it is not done on time our division will not have the tools
to meet our customer’s needs. By putting together the report by the June
15th deadline we will qualify for the new computer system which will
allow our division to exceed customer service expectations, increase our
organization’s bottom line and earn you a bigger bonus and positive
exposure for future opportunities. I know you will do what it takes to
make this happen.”
Note: If possible, show the employee how to do the task. Telling and
showing the person delegated the task enhances the probability of
his/her understanding and being confident with the task.
4.
Provide Resources, Remove Barriers
Now is our opportunity to make sure that the person we are delegating
the task to has the resources. Whether it is the time, people, or
technology, it is our responsibility to find out after understanding the
task, picking the right person, and communicating the task to provide
the resources for success. I have seen time and time again in a variety
of organizations where the person delegated the task has the ownership
for its success but doesn’t have the resources to be successful. Take
the time to ask the following question, “What resources will you need to
be successful?”
Also find out what barriers might be in the way to successful completion
of the task and eliminate them. This could be people, organizational
restrictions, or lack of knowledge. For example, with people, the task
you assign might require the person assigned the task to work with
someone who has a “challenging personality.” Knowing this, you could
make sure that this person with the “challenging personality”
understands the importance of this task so that he/she does not hinder
the success of the task.
Note: Let the person delegated know that you have an open door should
he/she have any questions concerning the task. Open communication is
important for this arrangement to work.
When you provide resources and remove barriers for the person delegated
the task, you are ensuring complete ownership for the success of the
task.
5.
Guarantee Understanding
Make sure when the person leaves the meeting, that he/she understands
exactly what is expected. The typical interaction between a manager or
supervisor and the employee is the manager asks, “Do you understand
everything we discussed?” and the employee of course says, “Yes.” Then a
week later the manager is disappointed with the results of the task and
asks, “What happened?” and the employee says, “I didn’t understand what
I was supposed to do.” We set that employee up for failure by not taking
the time to make sure he/she understood what was expected to make this
task successful.
By asking the question, “Mike, do you understand the task at hand?” you
receive a closed-ended, or yes or no, answer. It doesn’t give you one
ounce of information on whether the person understands the project.
By asking an open-ended question, “Mike, please share with me your
understanding of what is required to make this task successful?” the
person giving the answer is required to give a comprehensive answer
detailing his/her thoughts on the task at hand. The answer will give you
an indication as to whether the task is understood or not. Also, at this
point, the employee may give you in the answer a totally different and
better way to accomplish the task.
6.
Encourage Success
Let the person delegated the task know that you have confidence in
him/her. Remember, in most cases, this task is new to hi/herm and by
communicating that you have confidence that he/she will be successful
gives the confidence to succeed. You might say something like:
“Mike, I’m glad we had the time to go over this task today and you
understand what is required to be successful. I am excited and confident
that you will make this task your own and put your unique spin on it. I
look forward to hearing about your progress on this task and the
successes along the way to its completion. Thank you for undertaking
this very important task.”
7.
Follow-up, Reward, Follow-up, Reward
This is where I go back to The Apprentice. Kwame’s follow-up, or lack of
appropriate follow-up with Omarosa, could have led to his team’s failing
and morale going down. It did lead to Kwame not getting his dream job.
Here are some tips for good follow-up:
* Make sure you know the level of follow-up required. One factor is the
person you are delegating the task to and his/her level of knowledge and
confidence concerning the task. Ask! Some people may want much
follow-up, while other may require little follow-up. It also depends on
how difficult the task is to complete.
* Make sure you have scheduled follow-ups. Before you leave the first
meeting, make sure you schedule your first follow-up; whether it is one
day or week, schedule that first follow-up.
* Reward progress at each follow-up meeting and in public if possible.
Show appreciation (Read my article, “Appreciate to Motivate”) in the
meeting and, if possible, in public so that everyone is motivated to do
more.
* Correct to get back on track. In most cases it may be as simple as
showing the correct way of doing the task or brainstorming so that the
person responsible for the task will come up with the solution. This
will keep the person and your team motivated toward the end result. Or,
in Omarosa’s case, what steps do you need to take to get the project
back on track? Possibly retrain, reassign, minimize, provide corrective
action or the ultimate action…terminate the person if he/she are
knowingly disregarding your organization’s policies and procedures.
Believe me, “Omarosas” are rare if you have taken the necessary steps
along the way to pick the right person.
Follow the steps mentioned and you will be well on the way to enjoying a
successful career, business, and life and accomplishing far more in less
time.
=======================
Ed Sykes is a
professional speaker, author, and success coach in the areas of
leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team
building. You can e-mail him at
mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at (757) 427-7032. Go to
his web site,
http://www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint,
and receive the free ebook, "Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy
Professional."
Article Source:
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