My wife is just learning to accept that there are four people doing her job. She runs the company. It”™s difficult for her to step back and allow others to do what they have to do. What advice can I give her?
Thoughts of the day: Delegation is essential. Entrepreneurs struggle to overcome their basic instincts of pitching in. Generally, people are most highly engaged when they are challenged. Giving up control yields significant rewards for the owner.
Think of the business owner as a juggler. Each day she goes around keeping balls in the air. Building a team of jugglers is key. The group can handle a workload substantially greater than what the owner can juggle alone.
Most business owners are characterized by the entrepreneurial mentality of “I”™m on it, I”™ll make it happen.” They step into situations to get things done, to help out, to rescue people who are in trouble and to make things come out right. Unfortunately, that behavior can get in the way of allowing other people to learn how to take on their own juggling load.
It”™s better if the owner steps back, lets people try and teaches them how to recover when they make mistakes. When people ask for help, instead of providing direct answers, this owner needs to ask:
Ӣ What do you think you should do next?
Ӣ What are your options?
Ӣ If you try that, what do you think will happen? Is that what you want to have happen?
Ӣ How did you get here and what did you learn that you can apply the next time?
Think of decisions and actions as the balls being juggled. When someone tries to throw a decision the owner”™s way, throw it back. Let the original juggler decide, take action and learn.
People down the line in the organization can be disruptive. They see the owner as the person in charge and want contact with the source of power ”“ the ultimate juggler. They throw balls into play, to the owner, past the juggler it should go to, who may lose momentum and focus watching the ball go by.
Redirect down-line players to the people they report to. Follow through to be sure they learn how to work with their direct managers. Check that managers are doing a good job working with their direct reports.
The owner has to practice distance ”“ being aware without being involved. Watch how all jugglers perform without pitching in to pick up the load. Educate, train and coach players so they build their skills.
Some owners shy away from delegating, fearing that their staff will get overwhelmed or resist the additional workload. In fact, most employees today say they don”™t have enough decision-making authority. They are not allowed to contribute as much as they could. And they are looking for greater opportunity to participate and take on additional responsibility.
High levels of engagement happen when people are working to solve meaningful problems. Show people how their tasks fit into the whole. Give people purpose by helping them see the importance of what they are doing.
When new tasks are in play, plan additional time to complete. Allow for errors. Focus on training people to try, recover, learn and build capacity.
When people get overwhelmed, reduce the number of balls they”™re juggling. Help them to get their stability back. Offload assignments to an interim player. Build confidence by letting people master the load they”™re juggling before throwing new tasks into the mix.
Through delegation, the organization builds momentum and capacity to perform. The owner is freed to work more on the business, not so much in it. There”™s time to observe how everyone is performing. There”™s time to get away from the business to recharge. There”™s time to plan what”™s next.
Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., strategyleaders.com a business-consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. She can be reached by phone at (877) 238-3535. Do you have a question for Andi? Please send it to her, via email at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com or by mail to Andi Gray, Strategy Leaders Inc., 5 Crossways, Chappaqua, NY 10514. Visit AskAndi.com for an entire library of articles.
