“ The best manager is one who knows how to find the talent to do things, and also knows how to restrain his urge to interfere while they are doing it.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt
The real challenge for managers is the second part of the former US president’s quote.
The challenge of transitioning to management
Normally, when a person obtains a management mandate, they have demonstrated their ability to carry out their mandates within the timeframes requested by management and they possess a certain leadership which will enable them to lead a group towards a common objective.
Unfortunately, many technical specialists are promoted because they have expertise that allows them to accomplish many of the tasks that are now scattered among their team members.
However, in many cases they have little or no knowledge of team management.
The Great Gap Between Technical Expertise and Team Management
There is a big gap between being successful in a technical field where you are in charge of projects, and team management where you are in charge of humans.
As a manager moves into his new role, he also receives the “gift” of a significant amount of responsibility and tasks inherent to his new position. For many, the first instinct is to think that they must accomplish all of these tasks.
It is true that they are responsible for ensuring that each of these tasks is carried out adequately, but are they obliged to carry them all out?
Obviously not, because for a leader, trying to do everything by yourself can quickly lead to excessive stress and burnout. It is therefore essential for the manager to delegate tasks to his employees. This is not done on a whim and there will be steps to follow to ensure the success of this approach.
Delegation: The art of not doing everything yourself
First, it would be important to know the strengths and aspirations of the team members in order to understand the type of responsibilities that can be delegated.
One of the goals you seek when delegating tasks is to provide an opportunity for your employees to develop new skills and gain experience.
The successes they achieve in performing the new tasks will increase their sense of confidence and motivation.
When employees are given responsibility, they feel more involved and empowered in their work. This strengthens their commitment and sense of belonging to the team.
Classification of Tasks
The second step is to establish the list of tasks and responsibilities of the manager in his new position. Subsequently, he will have to use a classification tool to determine all the tasks that he will have to carry out himself and that have a high added value for the organization.
The tool will also allow him to see the tasks that are important to achieve success, but that do not require his skills. A good classification tool is the Eisenhower matrix.
For those unfamiliar with the Eisenhower Matrix, here is an example with an explanation of each dial of the matrix.
For the manager, the tasks that must remain under his responsibility are the important ones. He prioritizes the important and urgent ones, but the comfort zone he aims for is an almost empty green zone to allow him to work in the orange zone (important, but not urgent) to ensure that these tasks are planned and accomplished before the need to transfer them to the urgent and important zone.
If your green zone is too full, it would be important to sit down with your boss and ask if some of these tasks can be delayed or moved to another quadrant. Anything at the bottom of the matrix should be delegated (urgent and not important) or eliminated (not urgent and not important).
Delegate to reduce burden and maximize efficiency
As mentioned earlier, the leader must properly transfer responsibilities to his team and ensure that his employees have the skills and tools to succeed in the new mandates.
Although the task is given to another person, the responsibility remains with the manager, so he must provide more frequent support follow-ups at the beginning and spaced out when the employee becomes in control of the process and makes few or no execution errors.
The monitoring process should be explained to employees to avoid the perception of micromanaging. Also, if you delegate a task and the new owner is respecting deadlines and quality standards, give them the flexibility to perform the task in their own way.
Stimulating autonomy through empowerment
When an employee comes to you for suggestions, the first step should be to ask the employee what he or she thinks the right action should be. This will stimulate their creativity and give them the clear message that the choice of the path to reach the final goal is theirs.
If you see that the plan is not adequate, prioritize open-ended questions to make them think about the process instead of giving them the answers. This is the best way to properly transfer the task and give confidence. In addition, it ensures that you will have peace of mind, because you will have the conviction that the task is in good hands.
Effective delegation distributes the workload, allowing goals to be achieved faster and with better quality. Each member can focus on what they do best, improving overall performance, collaboration and mutual trust. These elements promote better cohesion within the team.
Identify and develop emerging talents
Delegation also allows the manager to find the rising stars in his team and identify his successors. These will be individuals capable, after a certain time, of taking charge of important tasks that were previously the responsibility of the manager.
The best way to access promotions is to secure your bosses by minimizing the impact of your departure from the team. If the knowledge is not transferred to an employee or employees who will take over, management will have to look externally, which can take some time and prevent you from accessing your new position.
Make yourself replaceable
Although this may seem ironic to those who fear losing their job, your goal as a manager should be to eliminate your job by creating a self-managing team. This will demonstrate your effectiveness and it will be very easy for your bosses to give you another challenge. Companies normally do not get rid of their effective employees.
Mastering the Art of Delegation for Optimal Balance
In short, becoming an expert in delegation will allow you to find a certain balance at work and give you the chance to work on stimulating projects while ensuring that all the tasks under your responsibility are accomplished.
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Need help improving your leadership skills or building a culture of compassionate leadership? Don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll be happy to listen and provide you with the tools you need for the future.
Never forget: how does your mood impact your performance and overall attitude? Imagine if all your employees or co-workers were happy…
Carl-Michael Tessier
Coach in high-performance team development and tailor-made support
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