The story is told of an organisation that, wanting to restructure, sent all its managers on leave at short notice. All those whose departments did not function while they were away were made redundant.
This story brings to mind my friend Aoko, who runs a food stall. Recently she had to undergo surgery and all the time that she was away her stall was closed. Reason? Her staff cannot be trusted to run it when she is away.
How well would your business run in your absence?
Take the quiz below, from www.dirjournal.com to find out:
For each question give yourself a score of 1-5, with 5 being completely true and 1 being not true at all. At the end, total up your scores.
1.Each of my subordinates knows what I expect of him/her.
2. I involve employees in goal setting, problem solving and productivity-improvement activities.
3. I place my personal emphasis on planning, organising, motivating and controlling rather than on doing tasks others could do.
4. When assigning tasks, I select the assignee thoughtfully.
5. When a problem occurs on a project I have delegated, I give the employee a reasonable chance to work it out for himself
6. When I delegate work to employees, I brief them fully on the details of the assignment
7. I see delegation as one way to help employees develop their knowledge, skills and expertise
8. When I delegate a project, I make sure that everyone involved knows who is in charge
9. When delegating a task, I balance authority with need and experience
10.I hold my employees responsible for results
How did you score?
41 and 50: Your business will run effectively in your absence. Keep up the good work.
31 and 40: Your business will get by, but at reduced efficiency and/or effectiveness, in your absence. By improving your delegation skills you could move into the 1st group.
Below 40: Your business will stop in your absence. You need to make changes quickly. Look at the questions where you scored highest and start by improving to the next level, then tackle the low scores.