How to Delegate Meaningful Work

          The hallmark of good supervision is effective delegation.  Delegation is when supervisors give responsibility and authority to subordinates to complete a task, and let the subordinates figure out how the task can be accomplished.  Effective delegation develops people who are ultimately more fulfilled and productive.  Supervisors become more fulfilled and productive themselves as they learn to count on their staff and are freed up to attend to more strategic issues.

Delegation is often very difficult for new supervisors.  Many supervisors want to remain comfortable, making the same decisions they have always made.  They believe they can do a better job themselves.  They don’t want to risk losing any of their power and stature.  Often, they don’t want to risk giving authority to subordinates in case they fail and impair the organization. Finally, delegating takes time and effort to prepare the information and communicate desired results. It may seem easier to do it yourself, rather than take the time to show someone else how.

Delegating the tasks you have mastered will free you up for more challenging work that develops you; and will build your employees’ skills and abilities. You want to foster employee involvement and employee empowerment to enable your team members to deliver their best effort at work.  These tips for successful delegation will help you help your employees succeed when they are most empowered. 

Employee - select an appropriate employee, one with the right level of experience and time.  If you select an employee who will need training, be sure to account for this in your presentation of the project or task.

Big Picture - whenever possible, give the person a whole task to do.  (If you can’t give the employee a whole task, make sure they understand the overall purpose of the project or task.  If possible, connect them to the group that is managing or planning the work.  Staff members contribute most effectively when they are aware of the big picture.)

Establish Expectations - make sure the employee understands exactly what you want them to do and when you want it completed.  Ask questions, watch the work performed, provide examples, or have the employee give you feedback to make sure your instructions were understood. Include in your expectations a list of outcomes or ways the task must be completed grouped by importance: “must haves,” “nice-to-haves,” and “non-directed.”

Authority - give authority to match the level of responsibility.  Be sure to let the employee know when they can make decisions and when they need to consult you.  Below is a list of delegation levels with examples of when to use each one:

·         Tell – the delegate has low ability; the project must be done a particular way; surprises are not acceptable

·         Sell – the delegate has moderate ability; the project must be done a specific way

·         Test – you have ideas but are open to other ideas and insights

·         Consult – the delegate has moderately high ability; others might have innovative ideas or know more than you do

·         Delegate – the delegate has high ability; you can define the vision and don’t need to know the how

Checkpoints – identify the key points of the project or dates when you want feedback about progress.  This is the critical path that provides you with the feedback you need without causing you to micromanage your direct report or team.  You need assurance that the delegated task or project is on track.  You also need the opportunity to influence the project’s direction and the team or individual’s decisions.

Closure – after the task or project is completed, meet with the employee to review how the delegation went. 

·         Did you select the right employee?

·         Did the employee have enough authority to keep the project moving? 

·         Were the timelines realistic? 

·         Did the employee have access to tools and training necessary to complete the project? 

·         Were the instructions clear and concise?

When you receive the delegated work back, give yourself enough time to review it thoroughly. If you accept unsatisfactory work, the employee does not learn how to do the job properly. Go over your review with the employee step-by-step, so that they can learn your review process and understand more about the desired results. Of course, if their work is good, make sure to reward the results using your highly-honed feedback skills.

Are You Ready to Try To Take Over the World?

          Before you hire a business coach, you've got to be able to answer one question: 
Are you ready to make a change?
          If you want to leave a legacy, you have to be prepared to answer the tough questions.  Maybe you already own a business, maybe you are just getting one started, or maybe you have an idea for a business cradled in your thoughts.  The first thing I ask when I look at a business plan, or hear an elevator speech, or talk to an owner about their business is:  

"What are you going to do that's different from what you are doing right now?"

          You have a choice, my friend.   You can continue to run your business the same way, with the same tools, and the same people.  Do not make the mistake of expecting different results.  This can be a very comfortable business, with adequate returns and satisfaction with a job well done at the end of each day.  You may even excel at Steady Eddy, and win all sorts of Steady Eddy awards (Best Place to Work, e.g.).    

          Or, you can brace yourself for opportunity, and follow in the footsteps of the Brain, from the cartoon series Pinky and the Brain.  Given the opportunity, the Brain will take a chance, risk everything, and go for broke.  The Brain's entire business model is simple:  Try To Take Over The World.
          If finding yourself in the same place, doing the same thing year after year is not what you want, then be prepared to get hurt, be prepared to be ridiculed, be prepared to give it everything you've got and then, you guessed it, Fail.  
          If you truly want to Try To Take Over The World, you will have to change what you are doing.  You may have to change everything you are doing.  You may have to fire your best employee.  You may have to fire yourself.  You might fire your best employee, then yourself, then discover that the two of you were the only ones keeping your business afloat.  You may have to discontinue production of your favorite, best-selling product.  
          Are you ready to do that?  You might not just lose money, you might run your business right into the ground.  But you will have learned some things.  You will know what not to do next time.  Because you have to want this bad enough to give this answer after failure:  

          The first step is to find someone who is business-savvy, and willing to take the gloves off in evaluating your business.  Face it, the business world is brutal, and mean, and it doesn't care if you tried your best.  Excuses don't feed to the bottom line, results do.  When you find that person, let them in to your business, show them everything, then have them write a Management Letter.  I'm not talking about the letter the auditors give you once a year that kindly mentions "deficiencies" and suggests areas for improvement.  I'm talking about an in-your-face, brutally honest evaluation of your business strengths and weaknesses.
          After you've read the letter, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, wipe the blood off your face; and ask yourself again, are you ready to make a change?  What is your capacity for change?  Are you prepared to get beat up, knocked down, and laughed at?  Are you prepared to sacrifice the very things that you think make you successful (such as your position as leader of your business)?  If your answer is yes - emphatically "yes!"  Then you are ready to transform your business into something more than a living.

"The Brain: Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering? 

Pinky: I think so, Brain, but this time, you put the trousers on the chimp."

Advisers & Mentors & Coaches (Oh My!)

          Dorothy's journey through Oz was guided by a well-defined path and several types of people.  Alongside the villainous witches, there were friendly advisers and imperfect coaches.  Without each of these types stepping in and playing out their roles during Dorothy's struggle, she may never have made it home to Kansas.  What is the difference between an adviser, a mentor, and a coach; and why do we need all three?
          Advisers are people along the journey who have in-depth knowledge about our conflict at hand.  An adviser would look at our situation, listen to our goals, and offer a solution.  In Dorothy's case, her first encounter was with a group of advisers - the Lollipop Gang.  Their advice was clear and easy to perform, "Follow the Yellow Brick Road."  The Gang did not then join Dorothy on her mission, or check back in with her to see how she was doing.  The Gang was not invested in Dorothy's success.  
          A mentor is someone who can offer guidance, who has connections to smooth the way, and who has already traveled the path.  Dorothy's mentor was the Good Witch, Glinda.  Glinda popped in to check on Dorothy's progress, introduced Dorothy to the right people, offered insight into Dorothy's path and conflicts, and generally wanted Dorothy to succeed.
          Dorothy had three coaches on her journey home, the Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man.  These people traveled alongside Dorothy, experiencing her setbacks and successes.  All three were fully invested in her journey.  A coach knows the individual, primarily in the setting of the challenge, but also to some degree personally.  The coach's role is to help Dorothy along the path to her goal, through training, encouragement, cajoling, pushing, and sometimes tough love.  A good coach is not a quitter, and the joy of success is shared.

          In Dorothy's story, the appropriate person seemed to show up at the right time.  In real life, how do you know when to invoke which person?

• Adviser:  when you have a technical question, or you want to know the best course of action for a specific circumstance.  Contact your lawyer and your CPA when you are wondering what type of business entity you want to use.
• Mentor:  when you want to know how to get further down the path, or to make connections with others.  Take your mentor out to lunch at least once a month to check in on things like getting more education, or networking with others in your business, or how to handle a tough employee.
• Coach:  when you want someone to hold you accountable to your dream, or when you want a collaborator on your goals.  Contact your coach daily during times of growth and change, even just to check in on progress.  Once a new plan is under way, fewer sessions will help you to maintain perspective, stay focused, and celebrate success.

Do you know of someone who can fill each of these roles for you?  How do you fill these roles for others?

It's Not (Always) About the Money - Employee Motivation

          What if you could pay your employees the same amount for more work?    As a new generation joins our workforce and company resources are scarce, understanding employee motivation has a new urgency.  
          Many businesses use the carrot-and-stick approach to motivate employees.  The carrot is the promise of more money that's dangled in front of the employee to improve performance.  This approach is like using a sledgehammer to hang a picture:  it gets the job done, but it's not pretty.  

Photo courtesy of profitclinic.com

          I recently attended a class taught by Art Pulis, where he listed four employee motivators.  Surprisingly, money is the fourth. 

•  We are first motivated by autonomy.  We want to define our work, and how we do it.  Give us the task and the tools, but leave the how to us.  As an employer, focus on the outcomes or results of our work.  Ask us how you can help us do our job better, and then review only the results.  
• Our second motivator is relevance.  We want to know that what we are doing has meaning.  Show us how our work is part of a big picture and we'll buy in.  Share a written vision and related goals with us.  Share your progress towards the goals and invite us in to solve the problems and celebrate the victories. 
• Thirdly, we are motivated by mastery.  We want to learn and get better at our job.  Teach us so that we can grow, give us the opportunity to take classes or do research, and let us try new approaches to our work.  As we master our jobs, give us new work and new challenges.

          It isn't about the money, it's about feeling successful in the workplace.  When employers use these motivators to get work done, they are giving employees the opportunity to exceed expectations, to do fulfilling work, and to grow.  

Light Yourself on Fire

People have described passion as consuming, as if it was a fire that can rage in someone, an emotion that can't be denied.  Lately, I have been waiting for my passion to ignite, to consume me, and to lead me to great places.  I have been completely missing the point.


This week, Jeff Goins challenged me (and you) to write "Three Things."  He was inspired by a visual poem by Sarah Kay.  As I thought about my answer, and I listened to others, I learned some things.  (If you want to see my response, and some other inspiring ones, search #threethings on Twitter.)


Passions are pursued.  I am not going to wake up one day with a burning desire to get something done.  I have to chase it down, sometimes relentlessly.


Passions are consuming.  Committing myself to my passion is an all-in sort of deal.  There will be times that I will get lost in it.  That's okay, that's called living fully awake.


Passions are irrational.  I don't have any special knowledge about my passion, and it certainly won't be worth a lot of money or bring me fame.  I don't need justification, I just need to do it.


Several years ago, I wrote a personal mission after reading the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey.  The mission reads like a to do list:  explore every gift and talent, begin each day with gratitude, give it my best effort ... yawn.  This mission does not evoke emotion in me.  After reading it, I am not called to action, renewed in my passion, or pounding my fist on the table.  If I put this mission on my office wall, I imagine that people would say, "wow, those are neat things that you are doing."  They would not ask for the sign-up sheet.  Heck, I'm not asking for it, either!




So, I am going to write a new mission statement.  I am going to take a match and light myself on fire and let it rage.  My mission will bring me to tears, and call me to action.  In fact, I'm going to use an emotional word for my mission:  Manifesto.

Photo from:  sodahead.com

I encourage you to join me.  Use this as your match.  Light yourself on fire.  Pursue your passion with all your heart.  


If you would like inspiration, check out Stepcase Lifehack's "10 Insanely Awesome Inspirational Manifestos."  If you need motivation, read Revelation 3:15 - 16.  


Please share with me, I'd love to read your manifesto!