What a rush? I had it tough this past week with a couple of my contemporaries who are readers of this column being on my case. First, I want to say thank you for reading. Second, WhatsApp can be a crazy place to be. My colleagues’ ‘grouse’ or beef, to speak in contemporary slang, is that ‘what if’ the delegator is ready and willing to apply all the learning from last week’s essay but the ‘delegatee’ or associate or protégé is not ready and/or is unwilling to take on additional responsibility? That is, he is just cool with the status quo.
My first, immediate and snap-of-the-finger response was: Haba! Elders. Would this unwillingness, this un-readiness, outright lack of ambition and laziness, as one of them put it, force or condition us to give up on them? When the time comes, are we going to import those who will take over from us? Or is AI already here to run the show? Methinks some people ahead of us had coped with us; in spite of our rawness, they were patient with us and we got refined. We should persevere and do likewise. There are hundreds of protégés out there willing to tap from our anointing.
Anyway, some delegations are not optional because one just have to do it even for the sake of the delegator. For instance, you can’t continue to do it all by yourself. You get to a point in life and in business where the routine becomes a clog in the wheel of your progress. There is need for you to become strategic in thinking and in action and you may not know it, that time is now. The routine is then outsourced so to say.
The heated debate on my WhatsApp platform and a couple of calls were all worth it. Thank you. I also appreciate those of you who made additional contributions to the article. One came from Eno, my indefatigable LDNI colleague who I have nicknamed ‘stressor’ for her hyper-energy in making things happen. She posted “delegation is also about influencing your team members and letting them fulfil their potentials”. True talk, sister. The comment of the week came from our daughter, Tara (Omotara), all the way from Brampton, ON who Whatsapped “(I) really enjoyed reading this. I love the reference to SMART-ER goals. I used this a lot in school, I think it is high time they updated their curriculum.” If you remember, last week on setting goals, we took it a notch higher on the familiar characteristics of an effective goal. The real deal henceforth is that your goal, my goal must be characteristically S.M.A.R.T.E.R. Please read again last week’s piece for the full gist.
‘You get to a point in life and in business where the routine becomes a clog in the wheel of your progress. There is need for you to become strategic in thinking and in action and you may not know it, that time is now’
Hopefully, before I wrap it up today, I would have a word on getting ready to be empowered because that is what delegation does to the delegate; therefore, she must strive to be ready. As the Boy Scout motto says, ‘Be Prepared’. It means you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your duty. So, when you are chosen, you must count it all joy and a great privilege and, therefore, seize the opportunity with both hands, head and heart to excel in the delegation.
We concluded part one looking at the crucial steps preparatory to effective delegation. Ask what is the goal for delegating, not delegation for the sake of it. We also talked about the right attitude. You don’t even start without it. You may want to ask: why this elaborateness in the delegation process? It is because the business of effective delegation is a serious business. It is the root of business continuity and sustainability, talent management and succession planning. In fact, it is entrenched in some countries’ constitutions.
Next, decide what to delegate and select the right people: Having defined the goals, with the right attitude in place, take the next step by deciding what to delegate and who to delegate to. We counsel that you delegate as many tasks as possible even if you have all the time in the world to do them yourself; however, do not give any away that you do not fully understand. Think through carefully on what to delegate and to whom. Associates come with varied levels of skills, motivation, passion, etc. Can this associate cope with the workload? Match tasks with people. Delegation is not dumping and it is not abdication.
Communicate! Communicate!! Communicate!!!
Please pay attention to the central role of communication. The delegation process is a mutual consultation and agreement between the manager and his associate or delegate. Therefore, your lines of communication must be wide open at all times for the delegation to be successful. Bad things often happen to good projects because without purposeful, ongoing communication throughout the delegation continuum, people can easily misunderstand each other. What needs be done would include a very clear communication on what you want the delegatee to do. Be explicit in all aspects.
‘You cannot communicate too much as the manager. To avoid misunderstanding, have it written or set out in a guideline and sort out objections, if any. Granting the right amount of authority is a sign of good leadership’
For instance, on performance standards – when all is said and done, this is how we measure success or lack of it. On support – how much of it would be available. On expectations – well documented, verifiable and measurable results and outcomes. This must not be left to conjectures and innuendoes. No one must be in doubt of what constitutes anticipated return on expectations (RoE). A clear context must also be given on the assignment being delegated – why is it relevant? Why is it important to be completed on time? Focus here must of necessity be on the result and not necessarily on the method as long as the method is ethical, cost-effective and not running afoul of our core values.
I subscribe to the school of thought that says authority, responsibility, accountability and rewards are key concepts in successful delegation. Let me break it down. Your associate being delegated to must be granted enough authority to make use of available resources; she must commit to taking responsibility, and being personally accountable. She gets to know that there is no such thing as joint accountability, even the scriptures talk about our appearing before Christ that each one (of us) may receive…according to what he has done…(II Corinthians 5:10 NKJV). Therefore, project or assignment completion date once agreed becomes sacrosanct. She solves her problems with minimal recourse to the delegator, no upward delegation, and must be told from the outset the rewards for exemplary performance and the sanctions for default. You cannot communicate too much as the manager. To avoid misunderstanding, have it written or set out in a guideline and sort out objections, if any. Granting the right amount of authority is a sign of good leadership.
However, over time, we have made our common mistakes, and this is considered part of the learning curve. Some mistakes we make as team leads in granting authority would probably include but not limited to these ones below:
- Giving too little or too much – too little authority given delays the project and too much may cost your department more in time and money.
- Giving approval after the fact – this is withholding delegation and only giving approval after the task is completed. Team members are demoralised by this attitude.
- Requiring accountability without granting authority – this is sharing the work but holding on to the power, influence, or status. This can be frustrating.
- Granting authority with one hand, and snatching it with the other – do not rescind authority especially when it is used appropriately, no matter who is concerned.
I would share additional ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of effective delegation with you in a moment. Just to let you know that a leader/manager’s best attempts at delegation may still fall short but that is not enough to discourage the art of delegation. Imagine having set goals and performance standards, the delegatee still fails to get support from other departments but because he does not want to bother his manager so that he is not found guilty of what I have just called upward delegation above, or because he thinks he could get necessary support by himself, he keeps this lack of support from the other units away from the delegator until it is too late. The support from the other department could have been gotten quicker with the manager’s support and clout but except a process of weekly monitoring and progress report is in place, the manager is oblivious of the delegatee’s hassles. A feedback system needs to be emplaced. After all, feedback is the breakfast of champions.
‘Wake up and smell the coffee, it is your job as the team lead or manager to handle potentially difficult conversations.’
In wrapping up, let me share a few ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ on the subject matter with you. Courtesy of SmartTips from Concentrated Knowledge Corporation, publishers of the Soundview Executive Book Summaries, here are some counselling:
- Do not delegate in the midst of crisis – When you have a major crisis, talk to the customers yourself. Crisis time is not a good time to delegate.
- Do keep morale and discipline tasks for yourself – Like me, you may not like face-to-face confrontations and you are tempted to delegate issues of problem employees. Wake up and smell the coffee, it is your job as the team lead or manager to handle potentially difficult conversations. There is an approach called ‘confronting, not confrontation’. If you really need help on this, do not abdicate, talk to HR.
- Do not delegate to someone who is not up to the job – You want to challenge her? Great, but if the challenge is overwhelming, you are setting her up for failure. We say you should not ‘promote’ a man beyond the level of his competence or else he fails woefully.
- Do encourage and coach your staff – Associates need practical and emotional support from time to time; do not be too engrossed or distracted to offer support. With your support, associates will rise up to the occasion.
The art of delegating has been of tremendous mutual benefits to my associates and I in the last twenty-five years or so, and we are still reaping the benefits. Once again, welcome to a life of reduced bad stress. Welcome to effective delegation.
Till next week, enjoy.
Acknowledgement/Sources of Resources for this article/Notes:
- Smart Tips by Soundview Executive Book Summaries soundview.com
- Clip arts and snippets from the Internet for embellishment.
- A compendium of over 25 years of manuscripts of my thesis and lecture series in Talent Management and People Matters (unpublished yet) courtesy BezaleelConsulting Group Library bezaleelconsultingrw.com
- Also, I read a book years ago that has really helped me. I can’t readily recollect the title and the author. I’ll keep searching and when I locate it, I’ll acknowledge the author.
