I am a firm believer that delegation is key to building a business. We can bring in all the technology in the world, but if we can’t delegate properly, our companies have no chance of scaling well. I have had the pleasure of spending many years in very rapidly growing companies and have made the following observations:
- Delegating work does NOT absolve you of responsibility. In the case of a failure, the blame is all yours. Investors will go after the CEO, even if a network admin made the mistake that hurt the company.
- If a failure occurs due to a person lacking skills, it is your fault for delegating work to the wrong person.
- If you have to say “if you want it done right, do it yourself”, you may want to get some education on leadership and the art of delegation.
Delegation is something leaders need to master, because you can’t scale your organization without it. Without delegating well, you are bound to flat-line or even drive your company into decline.
So here are the rules of delegation I like to use:
- Do not assume team members (even experienced ones) are clear on what needs to be done. Go into detail until YOU are confident the other person will execute the work as specified.
- Micromanaging is not delegating. You must have trust your team member and not hover. If you must hover, re-evaluate if the task is delegable or if you need to readjust your management style.
- Communicate any and all pitfalls, points of caution, and other negatives that may affect the delegated work. Also share any best practices, sources of additional information, or personal tricks of the trade. Part of delegation is teaching.
- When it comes to communications, it does take two to tango, but you need to take the lead.
- If you can’t trust someone to take on delegated work and are not willing to invest in their personal development, than you need to replace that employee. This kind of person just drags down your organization.
If you have any other rules of delegation you practice, please share them in the comments section.
Photo credit: Firefly the Great
Hi, my name is Apolinaras Sinkevicius, but most call me Apollo. I am the guy who takes care of the day-to-day business and technology of rapidly growing companies. 12 years in managing the "nuts and bolts" of companies and being a steward of corporate cultures makes me a seasoned operations professional and right hand person to founders and CEOs.
Delegation is by definition giving a job to someone who cannot do the job as well as you can. I like that you say, “Part of delegation is teaching”. Also, you may have to step back on occasion and let them fail, then use the opportunity for their personal and career growth.
.-= Marc L. Grubb´s last blog .. =-.
Marc,
I look at delegation as breaking down the project into pieces I can delegate to people who can do it as well, if not better than me. Delegation could be used as a teaching tool, but when I run operations of the business, I don’t have that much room for error, therefore I choose to only give those tasks to competent people. At the end of the day it is my head that rolls in front of the CEO, therefore I never want to let anyone “hang” themselves.
If you hired the right people, you need to delegate both authority and responsibility…A-players won't accept anything less. If they muck it up then you take responsibility for hiring the wrong person or creating the wrong environment, not the work itself. That's my $0.02.
In general, I could care less about A-players. I will take a hard working, fast learning, genuine, and passionate employee ANY DAY over prima donna “A-player”. I used to be big on “A-players”, but over years have come to look for fast learning and passion over “alpha”. Teams of passionate people can deliver more.
On the subject of delegation, if you delegate responsibility, you create culture of scapegoating.
You can have the smartest and the best employees, but if they screw up and company gets sued, judge won't give a damn you (leader) delegated. It is your behind that will be grilled. Yes, hiring right is extremely important! BUT, that just makes your life easier when it comes to managing the work delegated.
If you hired the right people, you need to delegate both authority and responsibility…A-players won't accept anything less. If they muck it up then you take responsibility for hiring the wrong person or creating the wrong environment, not the work itself. That's my $0.02.
In general, I could care less about A-players. I will take a hard working, fast learning, genuine, and passionate employee ANY DAY over prima donna “A-player”. I used to be big on “A-players”, but over years have come to look for fast learning and passion over “alpha”. Teams of passionate people can deliver more.
On the subject of delegation, if you delegate responsibility, you create culture of scapegoating.
You can have the smartest and the best employees, but if they screw up and company gets sued, judge won't give a damn you (leader) delegated. It is your behind that will be grilled. Yes, hiring right is extremely important! BUT, that just makes your life easier when it comes to managing the work delegated.