How To Delegate for Fun and Profit

Ah, the wretched pain of delegation. It comes easy to some people. But others ? you know who you are ? would rather undergo a double root canal than hand over a task and walk away from it.

The good news is that this is a disease you can recover from. And the better news is that when you choose to give up control you benefit along with the delegatee.

As with most things in my life this knowledge was hard come by for me. I had just received a huge promotion to a project which was mind-numbingly large. The first day on the job I asked the assistant of the woman I had replaced why he thought she had had difficulty. He said that she had been unable to delegate; had given him virtually nothing to do and had only emerged from under her staggering workload to complain about how overwhelmed she was. This was sobering news for me as this was also my M.O. at the time. I figured I needed to change ? and fast.

At that time I believed that if I wanted a thing done well I absolutely had to do it myself. Or micromanage it to death. Unfortunately events sometimes proved me right. This only encouraged me. Every once in a while I would loosen my death grip a little and delegate to someone who did a half-assed job. This just reinforced my belief system that I was the only one I could rely on. What I didn't realize was that by excluding my staff I was slowly diminishing the possibility that I would ever get any quality assistance

I didn't think I was arrogant. That would have been bad. I thought I was a perfectionist. Which is good, right? Well. Yes and no. I've now come around to the idea that perfectionists are not God's gift to business. Except in their own alternative universe.

I didn't think that I mistrusted other people - only that I had great intuition about them.

And I didn't realize that my constantly telling myself that I was the only one who could be trusted to do a good job was fueling my view of an untrustworthy Universe.

It wasn't the case that I couldn't trust my staff to do work well. It was the case that I didn't trust them to do well. My problem ? not theirs.

Eventually I came to love delegating. I relished the free time it gave me. My staff thrived on the added responsibility and appreciated my faith in them. After a while they were bugging me for more work; asking what else they could do and how could they help me.

Here's how it can work for you.

First. Drop the attitude. Your staff knows you're a control freak and they know you don't trust them to do a good job. You may think you're in the closet on this. You're the only one who thinks it's a secret.

Get familiar with Chunking. Don't start by delegating an entire project. Certain psychologists believe that anyone can learn to do anything by Chunking. Chunking is when you break down a large task into smaller pieces which are more easily mastered and remembered. Chunking also has psychological advantages. Instead of focusing on the larger outcome ,which might be far away and overwhelming, you are focused on the more immediate goal. So don't delegate an entire task. Delegate a part of it which is within the skills and time constraints of your employees. Better to have several people working on different parts of a project and have one of them get into trouble than have one person dealing with everything and self-destructing.

Delegate according to strengths. Everybody is good at something. If not ? then why are they working for you in the first place? Take some time to find your employee's competencies. For example if you need a customer service follow-up choose someone on your staff with a personable phone manner. Preferably someone who is well-liked by your customers. For research - choose an employee who has a good eye for detail and who always needs to know the reasoning behind your decisions.

Give clear instructions and structure. Set your staff up to succeed. Never give an open-ended task and tell them to bring it back when it's done. Give them a time frame so that they can pace themselves and their other tasks accordingly. If they have a clear idea of when they need to be completed they will get an early heads-up if they're not running to schedule. Set a date and a time when they will report to you on their progress. If you are particularly control-challenged or if the task is really important you can even make it a daily progress report. For Heaven's sakes leave them alone in between reports. Don't ask them how it's going. Try and put yourself in your dad's position. Remember when you would be in the back seat on family vacations whining "Are we there yet" every few miles. Ever wonder why he blew up? Don't hover. Make it clear, though, that you or someone else is always available for questions in between reports.

Give them the tools to succeed. Give them checklists, punch lists, computer time, sample reports or forms to copy. Ask them if there is anything they would need or like in order to organize the task their way. Let them organize the tasks their way. People learn and work differently. Some are visual; some are intuitive; some need daily "to do" lists. Concentrate on the outcome and not the process. If you give free reign over the process - chances are good you will get the outcome you want.

If possible delegate tasks to the same people on a consistent basis. In a work situation familiarity often breeds confidence. It also facilitates ownership and pride.

I once had several different janitors on my staff who cleaned a very large multi-story building every day. There was no organization or structure to their work. They just showed up and all started at the same place at the same time and went on cleaning whatever was in their path until they were done. I can think of nothing more draining than doing a good job cleaning the same bathrooms and floors and elevators each day only to have them messed up overnight and have to come back and clean them all over again the next day. I felt bad for them and wanted to make their job a little more bearable ? but who likes cleaning?

I hit on the idea of assigning one floor to each janitor so that now they had their own territories. Because they had the same area each day they had pride in their floor. They also got to know the people on that floor so the element of relationship became a factor in their day. They even grew to be competitive with each other as to whose floor was the cleanest. This system also helped me. I could tell right away when I walked off each elevator who was slacking off and who was working.

Don't forget to say thank you. Say thank you when they give you the work back and then go back later and pick out one particular detail which you appreciated. Maybe it was the way the work was organized or laid out; the fact that it was turned in early etc. Let your employee know that you noticed and appreciated it.

Finally, remember that martyrdom is not an attractive quality. You didn't list it as an attribute on your resume and you wouldn't hire anyone who did.

Mary Rosendale is a Coach who specializes in Life Design. Her background is Business and Buddhist psychology and she uses this to design and construct daily structures and action plans for her clients to enable them to make decisions in line with their core values.She is a writer and speaker and can be found on the web at http://www.TheConstructedLife.com where you can sign up for her free newsletter or check out her funky blog http:theconstructedlife.blogs.com

---

Google News Updated : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:51:32 GMT Worth the trouble - Boston Herald Worth the trouble Boston Herald - 39 minutes ago By Dan Duggan As Red Sox [team stats] fans shook out the cobwebs yesterday morning after yet another marathon postseason game, it would have been easy to forget some of the positive developments from the Sox’ 9-8, 11-inning loss to Tampa Bay in Game 2 ... Video: Tampa Bay Wins Slugfest on Sacrifice Fly AssociatedPress Rays win respect, too Washington Times USA Today - Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Wilkes Barre Times-Leader - SouthCoastToday.com all 3,671 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:12:18 GMT Doubling of Vitamin D for Children Is Urged - New York Times The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com Doubling of Vitamin D for Children Is Urged New York Times - 3 hours ago By AP CHICAGO (AP) - The country’s leading group of pediatricians is recommending that children receive double the usually suggested amount of vitamin D because of evidence that it might help prevent serious diseases. Pediatricians double vitamin D recommendations The Associated Press Pediatricians double vitamin D recommendations WLOS The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com - Examiner.com all 90 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:45:16 GMT UPDATE 1-Tropical Storm Nana forms in Atlantic - Reuters Javno.hr UPDATE 1-Tropical Storm Nana forms in Atlantic Reuters - 8 hours ago MIAMI, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Nana, the 14th of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed on Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Caribbean islands, the US National Hurricane Center said. Tropical Storm Nana forms in Atlantic eTaiwan News Tropical Storm Nana Forms Over Eastern Atlantic RTT News CNN - The Associated Press - eFluxMedia - Central Florida News 13| all 199 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:29:57 GMT Television Review | 'My Own Worst Enemy' - New York Times New York Times Television Review | 'My Own Worst Enemy' New York Times - 56 minutes ago By ALESSANDRA STANLEY Most people sometimes wake up on the wrong side of bed. The hero of “My Own Worst Enemy” on NBC wakes up on the wrong side of his brain. 'Worst Enemy' Just Isn't Bourne-Again Bond Washington Post Spy-vs.-normal-guy premise of 'Worst Enemy' doesn't work USA Today San Francisco Chronicle - Los Angeles Times - Boston Herald - Fort Worth Star Telegram all 101 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:54:37 GMT Manatee dies before reaching Florida - South Coast Today WHDH-TV Manatee dies before reaching Florida South Coast Today - 36 minutes ago By AARON GOUVEIA and KC MYERS EAST DENNIS - After a dramatic rescue Saturday morning, a wayward manatee known affectionately as Dennis died Sunday with just one hour before he reached SeaWorld in Florida. Manatee almost gave them the slip Boston Globe Cape Cod Manatee Dies on Way Back to Florida WLNE-TV (ABC6) My Fox Boston - The Associated Press - Cape Cod Times - SouthCoastToday.com all 542 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:14:57 GMT Alaska ethics probe says Palin abused her power - Reuters BBC News Alaska ethics probe says Palin abused her power Reuters - 40 minutes ago By Caren Bohan CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (Reuters) - An Alaska ethics inquiry found on Friday that Gov. Sarah Palin, the US Republican vice presidential candidate, abused her authority by pressuring subordinates to fire a state trooper involved in a feud with ... Palin: Bad Guys vs. Good Guys FOXNews Palin talks economic worries in Appalachian Ohio The Associated Press International Herald Tribune - CNN Political Ticker - Columbus Dispatch all 1,431 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:10:53 GMT Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony renew vows along with Carlos Beltran ... - New York Daily News New York Daily News Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony renew vows along with Carlos Beltran ... New York Daily News - 1 hour ago BY DAVE GOLDINER Just four years after saying "I do," Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony reportedly secretly renewed their vows in Las Vegas Sunday - and they had company at the altar. Inside Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony's Renewal Ceremony People Magazine J.Lo’s vows not staying in Vegas Boston Herald Singersroom News - AceShowbiz - United Press International - Actress Archives all 37 news articles Publ.Date : Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:39:55 GMT Datafeeds For Blogs Amazon RSS Feed Generator

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Plans & Goal Setting - Kicking winning Goals

Kicking Winning Business Goals The competition for business... Read More

Business Innovation ? the Value of Structure

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

The Most Important Thing Youll Ever Do

The wellspring of confidence is belief. When you believe in... Read More

Improving Your Inter-Company Communications At No Cost

It's all very well having a flashy (and expensive) advertising... Read More

Offshore This! (Outsourcing Tech Support Overseas)

So I call my telephone company and someone picks up... Read More

Rapid Culture Change is Possible

Purpose: Show how immersion leadership training makes strategic initiative success... Read More

5 Steps to Continuous Process Improvement

Part One of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesWhat if your sales... Read More

Performance Management - Getting The Most Out of Your Employees

Managing for Best PerformanceIn it's simplest form, performance management is... Read More

Measure for Measure

Can you imagine playing hockey without a goal? Basketball without... Read More

Your Company Without Training - Any Questions?

Okay, be honest!Are you guilty of sticking in a few... Read More

Conquering the Number One Problem in Business--Poor Communication

The Number One problem in business is poor communication: between... Read More

Succession Planning for Your Business - 7 Key Benefits

A core activity in many successful businesses, Succession Planning is... Read More

Focus and Shoot

One of my earliest childhood memories is watching Lew Alcindor... Read More

Change Management

"It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the... Read More

Do Customers Like the Feel of Your Organization?

In two recent articles "Some Evidence of How We Are... Read More

Gift Giving for Business a Major Headache

Corporate gifting is a big headache for most business owners;... Read More

Project Management - Are You Done Yet

What happens when a Project Manager asks one of his... Read More

Dont Wait for Tax Time to Look at the Bottom Line

A curious thing happens to entrepreneurs in the spring of... Read More

What Your Employees Want You to Know (But You Might Be Afraid to Ask)

This is a challenge for every company owner and manager.... Read More

Paretos Law- Your Formula For Success

A 'dirt-world' retail business I used to manage had a... Read More

Instantly Uncover Your Corporate Culture

Best Definition of "Corporate Culture"If you ask 10 people to... Read More

Is Your Employee Newsletter Management Propaganda?

It should not be. If it is an effective newsletter,... Read More

Innovation Management ? IBM Opens Lid On Its Treasure Chest

IBM, which registered 3248 patents last year, has decided that... Read More

Problems with Group Decision Making

DECISION BY AUTHORITY RULE: Many groups start out with-or quickly... Read More

The High, High Price of Distrust

A paper manufacturer with over 300 employees once announced that... Read More