The Company We Keep

Delegation is Development

This week I conducted a webinar called “Delegation is Development” and the conversation reminded me about how important Delegation is for leaders.  Leaders who fail to delegate run a great risk of either “burning out” or getting derailed in their careers as the scope of responsibility eventually becomes too large for a single person to handle effectively.  Some key tips for improving your delegation skills:

1. Adjust your mindset—you are not burdening others when you assign projects, you are developing them.
2. Delegate strategically—analyze the work that needs to be done and evaluate the competencies required to accomplish the work.
3. Assign with development in mind—know the development goals and needs of your direct reports and match them to appropriate projects
4. Document the agreement—delegation is a contract and a conversation.  The document clarifies your needs and desired outcomes; the conversation creates shared understanding.
5. Establish appropriate checkpoints—consider the skill level of the person and the complexity of the assignment when determining the level of oversight or coaching that you will need to provide.

Effective delegation requires planning.  Chances are, if you’re not planning to delegate you’re doing work that readily could be done by others.  For more details, check out the webinar at Fuze Meeting link: https://www.fuzemeeting.com/replay_meeting/02911f57/2275361

Tough Calls on Talent

It’s so tough to admit that we’ve made a mistake…and it’s especially tough to realize that the person we’ve hired is not going to work out.  Despite the rigorous screening process, the series of interviews, the WOW resume, you bleakly discover that your once promising candidate just isn’t fitting into the culture, delivering results or engaging at the level that is required for the job. 

You’ve had conversations, you’ve tried coaching, you’ve sent the individual to training programs and even suggested that the individual shadow others in similar roles and yet, many months later you see no progress.

For many executives, this is a very tough moment; it demands action and is a crucial part of talent management that is so often ignored—the act of transitioning people into new roles or outside of the organization. 

Few leaders want to deal with this kind of people problem and really, who can blame them?  The situation is fraught with human emotion.  On the one hand, as a leader you chastise yourself for making the mistake or of not following an intuitive instinct or surrendering to the perceptions of other interviewers; on the other hand you are frustrated that the person has put you into this situation and cannot seem to respond to your feedback. 

In the end, you have important questions to consider before transitioning this person into a new role or out of the organization.  When you can answer these questions affirmatively, then it is time to meet with your HR professional to create a better fit for the employee.

1. Have I been clear on my expectations for the role and the level of performance?
2. Have I provided the employee with opportunities to ask questions, gain feedback, connect with others and gain knowledge of the organizational culture?
3. Have I paved the way internally on projects or work that did not go well?
4. Have I helped the employee to evaluate project outcomes and develop “lessons learned”?
5. Have I ensured that there are adequate systems and funding in place to do the job?
6. Have I ensured that the workload is reasonable and achievable?
7. Am I confident that the job is set up to enable success?

 

If you can answer yes to all of these questions then it’s time to take action, to assuage your guilt and to act in the best interests of the company.  If you cannot, you have some work to do.  I'd love to hear of a situation or comment from you on this subject.