Dynamic Delegators
E. Carol Webster, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2007
Many managers fail to keep great staff on board because they are lousy
delegators. They hoard the important work for themselves and make sure
they attend all the prestigious and fun events. Bright, dedicated
employees are not going to stick around for long when they feel unable
to advance professionally. Being assigned a steady stream of tasks that
offer little challenge, stimulation, or opportunity to increase their
profile at your firm is a sure-fired way to get these folks heading for
the door. Be a dynamic delegator. Be confident enough to allow staff to
strut their stuff. When they look good, you look even better.
Don’t Dump Junk
Sure, there are always totally boring activities that have to be done in
every job –and somebody’s got to do them. And, yes, unloading some of this
would free you up for more interesting tasks. But often this equates to
asking subordinates to do busy work or tasks that do not make use of their
education and experience, not tasks that increase their understanding of
their job, their role in your department and the company, or that add to
their professional development. This can be highly insulting and causes
employees to feel that they are doomed to life in the “lackey” role if they
stay at your firm.
Share Some Good Stuff
Don’t act as if your staff is incompetent. Give them a chance. When the next
great project comes along, give them a piece of it. This will let you see
what they’re capable of – or where you need to spend some time and money
helping them learn the ropes. People generally start jobs with a lot of
energy and enthusiasm but this wanes quickly if they don’t find a way to
showcase their strengths. Sure, their daily tasks provide them with a lot of
this. But most have their eye on advancement and are looking for ways to
position for that next promotion. You can provide these types of
opportunities. They are powerful incentives and go a long way to building
employee loyalty and long-term retention.
Take Time to Train
If you’re hanging on to all the “important” assignments because you don’t
trust your staff to do a good job or are worried about some other negative
outcome, do something about this. What’s the problem? Is it something
training can fix? Dynamic delegators don’t balk at the need to provide
training. They make it their business to find the time and resources for it.
And this doesn’t always mean “classroom” training. Many people learn by
doing and pick up quickly when they have a chance to watch you in action,
for example. Share some of the spotlight. Let them accompany you to that
next key meeting so that they can learn first-hand what’s expected and how
to handle informational pressures, office politics, or other thorny issues.
Let them in on how you construct and critique your own documents. Don’t view
this as a drain on your time and energy. You’ll make a nice return on your
investment in the form of confidence in your staff’s ability to handle these
tasks and challenges with aplomb in the future.
Become a dynamic delegator. Lighten up. Let go. Shed your fears of
competition. Relax the need for control. There’s room for everyone in the
Success tent, and your staff have egos too. Give them a chance to shine.
You’ll be pleasantly surprised to discover that the talented people who work
for you will help you shine brighter than you do on your own.
About the Author:
Dr. E. Carol Webster is a clinical psychologist in consulting practice in Fort
Lauderdale, FL and is author of
Success Management: How to
Get to the Top and Keep Your Sanity Once You Get There
and The Fear of Success:
Stop It From Stopping You!
