Delegation...Unlock the Chains that Bind

What a busy day I have! I have a report that is due for Mr. Johnson, the PowerPoint presentation has to be completed for Sam, these files have to find their way back into the file cabinate, and I have to meet with each one of the staff to complete their annual performance appraisals. What's wrong with this picture? In reality, supervisors spend much too much time doing things that have nothing to do with supervising. Many in the field of development argue that in many instances, supervisor just won't let go. They insist on trying to do everything themselves, ususally with far than steller results. The irony is, that supervisors who are paid a salary, often find themselves taking work home or at the very least, work far more hours and much harder then their employees.

There are many reasons for this. Primarily, supervisors feel that the work-product being generated by the department or division is the only thing that the supervisor is judged and measured on. This could not be any further from the truth. It is important to keep in mind that the supervisor's primary function is to supervise. With this said, then the true measurement of a supervisor's success is predicated on the supervisor's ability to lead, to develop, and to increase the performance of others and not themselves. When I entered the field of leadership and professional development, I was surprised to see how many people at all levels, are simply doing the wrong thing. It is if the person understood what his or her job function was, but simply decided to do what he or she liked to do, what the person was good at, or what the person had mastered. For example, in a reasonably staffed department, there is no reason why the supervisor is picking-up customer service calls unless the customer issue is leading into a recovery situation, or unless the customer requests to speak with a supervisor. To further expand on this example, many departments do not have an establish "phone chain" that designates in what order phone calls will be answered and by who. In this example, it is the customer who suffers and make no doubt about it, when poor customer service floats up to the organization's leadership, the organization will have something to on the supervisor.

The topic of delegation goes far beyond the discuss of customer service. In reality, customer service issues are part of a much larger dynamic that takes place in many office settings. In other words, if customer are suffering it is critical to find out why, ultimately, it is the supervisor and not his staff that is responsible. However, it is important to note, that delegation is only but one tool is the supervisor's tool belt; but this is one of the most important tools. Delegating is a skill most can master and what do not realize, is that delegation is not only a process, it is behavior-driven as well. On the behavioral side of delegating lies trust, buy-in to the process by not only the supervisor, but the employees as well, and credibility. I mention these three social driven characteristics because delegation cannot occur unless all three of these aspects are woven into the process. Let's start with trust. Trust takes place at two levels. The first is the supervisor having trust in the employee's ability to perform the task or assignment. The second is the employee's trust in his or her leader that the work being delegated is not simply things that are being dumped onto the person because the supervisor is too busy or simply does not want to perform the task. The second aspect focuses on buy-in. I consider buy-in the pinnacle of performance enhancement meaning, that unless your team see you the supervisor modeling the behavior you seek (i.e. your buy-in, enthusiasm, and commitment) there can be no buy-in, no employee moving to the next level, and most importantly, you will never see the employee move from compliance to commitment to either you or the organization. Finally, there is the topic of creditability. In sum, creditability is like earning respect instead of commanding it or, better put, creditability is never having anyone question why you decided to do something a certain way, assign a task to a particular person, or why one person will be considered for a promotion while another was not. Creditability is based by your past performance as well as your current and future good decision-making skills.

With the social-behavioral issues assign let's look the actual process of delegating. First there are some basic ground rules. The first is the biggest, never dump work on people that you are unwilling to do yourself. Secondly, every task or assignment is a learning opportunity, be prepared to have a dialog with the employee to discuss how they are going to plan and engage the assignment that you have assigned. In addition, on larger projects schedule time to meet with the person to discuss the progress of the project, and obstacles that are keeping the person from reaching the next level of the project, and most importantly, such meetings create the opportunity to coach and give valuable feedback throughout the project. The third rule is not to micro-manage. If the project has been identified as a learning experience, then let the person learn. Sometimes learning means that the person is going to fail or not go about completing the task as you would have done it. You see, sometimes the employee is not the only person who is learning. Supervisors have to get past the notion that they are expected to know everything or, have an answer for every question; after all, we are all human and new knowledge gets to us through the strangest mediums...even from a $6.00 per employee. In other words, judge the information not by the source by by its quality. The last golden rule is simple but the hardest to abide by. Stop giving them the answers and the solutions. A good supervisor-coach poses inquiring questions like "Why did you decide to go about this in this manor?" Or, "Have you considered the outcomes if you stay on this course of action?" Develop the talent of getting them to do what you want or go in the direction you want by their hand.

The last aspect of the delegation process is the process itself. It starts with identifying the right person for the right job. This statement represents the hardest part of the process. How do I know who is qualified to perform this task, who shall I assign this important project to? Believe it or not the answers are quite simple. Let's start with the first source, the employee's resume. There had to be some reason why you hired them but it has been so long since the first meeting that you have forgotten the special skills and talents that moved you to hire the person. The second suggestion is the employee themselves. create a 10 question survey that quarries the person about his or likes and dislikes, hobbies, and things that they feel they are competent to perform in the office. However, the greatest way to gather information is directly from the horses mouth. Get in the habit of asking these types of questions when you meet with the employee for his or her weekly one-on-one meeting. What! you don't meet on a regular basis with each of your employees one-on-one?...SHAME ON YOU! But this is a topic for another day.

The last of the delegation process has a number of critical aspects. I recommend that as you gather the data set forth in the past section, you create a log that outline the talents and abilities that have been identified. keep in mind that not every task or assignment is a production number. Sometimes, people simply have to do what is expect of them, or thing that you really need done. With this said, let's focus on an assignment that has some meat on it. Remember some of the earlier rules, the assignment must create one or a number of learnable aspects. The assignment requires the employee to have to use his or critical thinking skills. The way the person goes about the project must be by his or her own design. You as supervisor must assume the role of coach providing direction and feedback. As coach, you must a time frame for the project identifying time intervals to meet with the employee to discuss the project, issues, and aspects that were not organaly anticipated. Above all else, don't solve the problem, challenge the person to generate their own solutions.

Finally, I want to talk about letting go. Delegating is much like that group project assigned to you in middle school. The tendency is to assume the entire responcibility because you feared that the team would not carry their own weight. Things are different for you now. Your not a file clerk, you are a leader. Good leaders know how to let go, create opportunities for others, coach, and teach others. You already know how to create a PowerPoint presentation, you know how to input data into an excel spreadsheet, you know how to conduct a team meeting...let's now teach others these talents. The next time you are thinking of cheating an employee out of time that could be invested in employee development to crunch data, consider the true cost to the organization, you, and most importantly the employee. Remember, when people are not challenged, given an opportunity to learn new things, or feel that the job he or she holds is not career-centered, they will look for other opportunities.