Brief delegation instruction: 5 questions and 7 rules
Checklist before delegation
So, you already understand that it is time to transfer part of the tasks to employees, but it’s still scary that others will not do them well. In this situation, the coach Irina Mikhailova advises asking herself five questions:
“What exactly do I want to delegate?” For example: “I want to delegate negotiations with potential clients.”
“What am I doing instead of delegating this?” For example: “I carry on all negotiations myself.”
“What concerns do you think about delegating?” For example: “I have concerns that an assistant will sell services cheaply.”
“What will happen to the worst if these fears are justified and what happens is what I'm afraid of?” For example: “I will suffer losses.”
“What can I do to prevent this from happening?” For example: “I will clearly stipulate prices for services and think about how to motivate my assistant to sell more expensive.”
By answering these questions, you will be well aware of the possible delegation risks and crisis plan if something goes wrong as you would like.
How to delegate correctly
Transfer things gradually. Before entrusting the assistant with a new task, make sure that he has learned the previous information well and is coping with the assignment. It will take more than one day for two different people to begin to understand each other, to look one way.
Do not look for your own clone - look for employees more professionally yourself. They will increase the productivity of the entire company.
Build vertical lines from adjacent employees and form a structure of deputies who are fully responsible for their vertical. The optimal number is two or four of these employees.
Transfer not only tasks, but also authority. When an employee comes up with a question how to solve a particular problem, ask what he is going to do. If necessary, give advice, but not an action plan.
Delegate tasks as a whole. If you constantly monitor at the micro level, then most likely your employees will develop a complex of learned helplessness - and as a result, the leader will be the only person who will do everything, complaining that "you can’t rely on anyone."
Share responsibility with an employee. Let him know what actions and questions he should coordinate with you. And by what he can make decisions himself.
Instead of constantly worrying that subordinates are not working well enough on the execution of a given assignment, learn to clearly explain what you want and when. Answer questions, explain to whom you can turn for help.
To whom and what to delegate
If we talk about medium-sized business, when there is already a team, then in order to properly delegate key processes, it is worthwhile to conditionally distribute the team into groups according to the matrix “Motivation and Competencies”, advises career consultant Natalya Tashintseva.
If the abilities and motivation are still low, as happens with new young employees, it is better to directive management - clearly delegate tasks (how and what to do).
If, on the contrary, competencies and motivation are high, delegate responsibility: how and what is best to be done, the employee himself can decide within the framework of the general strategy.
In other cases, it is effective to use the coaching approach when delegating (using an external coach or on your own):
If your abilities are high and your motivation has fallen, an entrepreneur in a coaching format helps an employee find new meanings, set new goals and objectives, and increase internal motivation.
If the competencies are not very developed, and the motivation is high, the leader in the coaching format helps to master new skills and adapt to the new environment through active involvement in professional activities.
Case study
IDEAS Digital Marketing Agency was opened in 2016, now it employs about 15 employees. The founder of the agency, Daria Murashkina, admits that she is still personally involved in all processes, but she has been learning to delegate the past year and a half.
“I now have to go through the process of" dismissing "myself from some processes. This needs to be done in order to develop the guys, to raise their level of independence and responsibility, ”says Daria.
At first, it was very difficult for her to entrust the employees with independently conducting projects or negotiations with clients, but she consciously went for it.
“I forcefully forced myself not to intervene and took the risks,” she explains. - Yes, an employee can do something wrong, and the client will be dissatisfied, for example, he will not buy the concept that was developed for him. But still you have to give an opportunity to try, not to rush to do it yourself. And yes, there have been times when a concept that was made without me was not bought. But there were cases when they bought it, which means there is something to work with and a successful story can be developed. ”
“I have a weakness: I can convey with feedback, showing my approach in everything,” Daria admits. “In this way, I prevent a person from developing his own approach.” This leads to the fact that everyone is waiting for feedback from me - so that I explain, show how it is necessary. Now I am working on myself in order to give developing feedback that will not transmit, will preserve the independence and motivation of the person, and will make it possible to work out my decisions. What is funny, reading books about parenting helped me to realize this problem. Let the baby not collect the toy in this way - do not collect it for him, let him learn how to do it. In delegation the same principle works.
Here we go to the client for negotiations, I give myself the word only to watch. Everything itches me with a desire to intervene and correct the course of negotiations, but I force myself to be silent. I will give the employee feedback later. Yes, I am betting the deal. But I learned to look at it as the cost of training this employee in the art of negotiation. This is a contribution that will then pay off: but then he will learn and will successfully cope on his own. ”
So, you already understand that it is time to transfer part of the tasks to employees, but it’s still scary that others will not do them well. In this situation, the coach Irina Mikhailova advises asking herself five questions:
“What exactly do I want to delegate?” For example: “I want to delegate negotiations with potential clients.”
“What am I doing instead of delegating this?” For example: “I carry on all negotiations myself.”
“What concerns do you think about delegating?” For example: “I have concerns that an assistant will sell services cheaply.”
“What will happen to the worst if these fears are justified and what happens is what I'm afraid of?” For example: “I will suffer losses.”
“What can I do to prevent this from happening?” For example: “I will clearly stipulate prices for services and think about how to motivate my assistant to sell more expensive.”
By answering these questions, you will be well aware of the possible delegation risks and crisis plan if something goes wrong as you would like.
How to delegate correctly
Transfer things gradually. Before entrusting the assistant with a new task, make sure that he has learned the previous information well and is coping with the assignment. It will take more than one day for two different people to begin to understand each other, to look one way.
Do not look for your own clone - look for employees more professionally yourself. They will increase the productivity of the entire company.
Build vertical lines from adjacent employees and form a structure of deputies who are fully responsible for their vertical. The optimal number is two or four of these employees.
Transfer not only tasks, but also authority. When an employee comes up with a question how to solve a particular problem, ask what he is going to do. If necessary, give advice, but not an action plan.
Delegate tasks as a whole. If you constantly monitor at the micro level, then most likely your employees will develop a complex of learned helplessness - and as a result, the leader will be the only person who will do everything, complaining that "you can’t rely on anyone."
Share responsibility with an employee. Let him know what actions and questions he should coordinate with you. And by what he can make decisions himself.
Instead of constantly worrying that subordinates are not working well enough on the execution of a given assignment, learn to clearly explain what you want and when. Answer questions, explain to whom you can turn for help.
To whom and what to delegate
If we talk about medium-sized business, when there is already a team, then in order to properly delegate key processes, it is worthwhile to conditionally distribute the team into groups according to the matrix “Motivation and Competencies”, advises career consultant Natalya Tashintseva.
If the abilities and motivation are still low, as happens with new young employees, it is better to directive management - clearly delegate tasks (how and what to do).
If, on the contrary, competencies and motivation are high, delegate responsibility: how and what is best to be done, the employee himself can decide within the framework of the general strategy.
In other cases, it is effective to use the coaching approach when delegating (using an external coach or on your own):
If your abilities are high and your motivation has fallen, an entrepreneur in a coaching format helps an employee find new meanings, set new goals and objectives, and increase internal motivation.
If the competencies are not very developed, and the motivation is high, the leader in the coaching format helps to master new skills and adapt to the new environment through active involvement in professional activities.
Case study
IDEAS Digital Marketing Agency was opened in 2016, now it employs about 15 employees. The founder of the agency, Daria Murashkina, admits that she is still personally involved in all processes, but she has been learning to delegate the past year and a half.
“I now have to go through the process of" dismissing "myself from some processes. This needs to be done in order to develop the guys, to raise their level of independence and responsibility, ”says Daria.
At first, it was very difficult for her to entrust the employees with independently conducting projects or negotiations with clients, but she consciously went for it.
“I forcefully forced myself not to intervene and took the risks,” she explains. - Yes, an employee can do something wrong, and the client will be dissatisfied, for example, he will not buy the concept that was developed for him. But still you have to give an opportunity to try, not to rush to do it yourself. And yes, there have been times when a concept that was made without me was not bought. But there were cases when they bought it, which means there is something to work with and a successful story can be developed. ”
“I have a weakness: I can convey with feedback, showing my approach in everything,” Daria admits. “In this way, I prevent a person from developing his own approach.” This leads to the fact that everyone is waiting for feedback from me - so that I explain, show how it is necessary. Now I am working on myself in order to give developing feedback that will not transmit, will preserve the independence and motivation of the person, and will make it possible to work out my decisions. What is funny, reading books about parenting helped me to realize this problem. Let the baby not collect the toy in this way - do not collect it for him, let him learn how to do it. In delegation the same principle works.
Here we go to the client for negotiations, I give myself the word only to watch. Everything itches me with a desire to intervene and correct the course of negotiations, but I force myself to be silent. I will give the employee feedback later. Yes, I am betting the deal. But I learned to look at it as the cost of training this employee in the art of negotiation. This is a contribution that will then pay off: but then he will learn and will successfully cope on his own. ”
Comments
Post a Comment