By Chris Swistro
I received lots of positive feedback from my
Summer
2007 Newsletter ('What A Relief - Finding a
way to take
a load off") which talked about how important
it is for
executives to engage their teams and manage
their
time wisely. Clearly, the message struck a
chord with
many over-worked folks! Because workload
management is of such importance, I'll be
examining
different aspects of the topic in detail in
upcoming
newsletters. This edition: delegation.
Re-think the year-end rat race
This
time of year, there is a common dynamic at
work in
many organizations. It looks something like
this: a year ago, the company engaged in an
annual goal-setting exercise intended to
define the business priorities for the coming
year. For any number of reasons, it's likely
that the
responsibility to deliver on these goals
wasn't fully distributed among the senior
managers
around the organization. Maybe communication was
poor, priorities changed mid-year, or the
strategic
agenda got lost in the daily avalanche
of "emergencies." Whatever the case, as the
end of the year looms on the horizon, the
onus to
connect goals with results falls inordinately
on top
executives who, finding themselves
overwhelmed with deadlines, can't imagine the
possibility of delegating some of the
load.
Designing and implementing a plan to
delegate responsibility to subordinates
can be the single biggest management
challenge for
executives. Many tell me they don't know
where or how
to start. But it is possible to take delegation
steps now - even in the midst of the year-end
frenzy. And once you begin to re-think
workload balance across the team, the
delegation process will get easier and
easier.
What can you do as an
executive?
Start practicing
delegation TODAY. Delegation doesn't have
to mean completely handing over the reigns of
a project or area of responsibility. Start
small. Make a list of your key deliverables due
before the end of the year. Then, with each
senior team member in mind, ask: "What can
they do to support me?" Do you need to make an
important business decision? Ask your team to
help
you conceptualize and test the viability of
options. Do
you need to understand the effectiveness of a
current program in order to plan for its
future funding and structure? Ask them to
design and conduct this analysis. Enrolling
your leadership team in delivering against
near-term objectives will change the workload
dynamic and set the stage for a broader
delegation plan for next year.
Make performance goals EVERYONE'S
foundation. Building on the momentum of
your first delegation steps, resolve to
manage your organization's workload
differently in 2008. Research shows that
employees
are most satisfied and effective when they
have a
clear
sense of their company's business strategy
and their
role in supporting it. Make sure that your
leadership
team understands how their work contributes
both to
the
organization's goals and your goals for the
year. Then,
make sure they can and do communicate goals and
set supporting objectives with their teams.
Developing
this comprehensive view of the strategic
direction
for the year and plugging everyone into it
will ensure
that ownership for success will be shared by the
entire team. This is delegation by design.
Jumpstart your workload management effort for
next
year by downloading my Delegation
Planning Template.
