Ever get lucky enough to share you experiences with some new folks? I happened to have that happen to me yesterday. I was at the local coffee shop and stumbled onto a few folks that I knew that were huddled outside. The waved me over to the table and asked, “you were a manager, do you mind sharing your experiences with us?” For me, this was awesome… I love sharing!
Where to start? I asked them what was the one thing that is troubling today as a “new” or fairly “new” manager?
- How do I be more productive with my team?
- I’m struggling with my workload and staying on top of my team.
- I just started, anything will help me.
- I like the job and working with the team, but I have less time for my personal and professional development.
Seemed to me they were hitting on a subject like how to delegate. Lack of team, how do I include my team more, have the team be more productive; all pointed me to delegation.
How to improve or develop your delegation skills:
- Don’t be afraid of letting go. No one can control everything. If you think that you are the only one that can get things done – think again. Your team is there because you can not do everything. Get them involved.
- Set expectations: Don’t quickly go over what you want them to do by when. You need to take the time necessary to discuss what it takes to WOW the project. Give the necessary success criteria, but always leave open the door for their personal touch.
- Stay engaged: The initial piece of setting expectations does not mean, go AWOL. Thinking that you are done, will only lead to a painful lesson later on. You have to follow-up to make sure that progress is happening, any questions are answered or provide help when needed.
- Connecting the dots: The project is done… That does not mean that the work is done. Time to review and provide feedback. Sit down and ask questions like: how do you think the project went, how would you do things differently in the future, or what did you learn from running the project? All open ended questions that should give you an excellent opportunity to connect the dots. Those items from your perspective and the person’s perspective. Coaching and mentoring will make the next time – even better.
Each project is different, each person on your time is different. You have to be willing to look objectively at each situation differently. There is no one size fits all to delegation. You will learn as you go. All you need to do is not be afraid of letting go, work together on setting expectations and help coach and mentor each individual on your team. Give them room to grow and do.. Helps you grow and do more..
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