As managers complain more and more about being so busy, it is important for the manager to delegate greater responsibility and accountability.

A: Why Don’t Manager’s Delegate More?

There are two primary excuses for not delegating – First – If you want something done right do it yourself. This of course indicates a high need for control, perhaps some perfectionism and a lack of confidence and trust in others.

Second, a feeling of not wanting to dump work on others which is demonstrated by a manager who wants people to like them most of all.

A manager who delegates grows the capability of the people who work toward them.

Q. How can managers become better at delegating?

A. It is the same as when a parent wants to help their children become more independent and make good decisions for themselves. You have to stop solving problems and making decisions that others should be making for themselves and become more of a coach.

Most managers do not take enough time to explain what they are delegating:

- People need to know the background of the assignment, why it’s important, why they have been selected, how much authority they have and what reporting and follow up us required.

A good delegation works well when the manager describes the outcome or result that is expected and asks the employee to describe how they intend to approach the project.

Authority can be limited at first and then be expanded as the employee demonstrates their competence.

Follow up is important – one manager told me recently how he discovered that his boss tended to dump work on him and never follow up – so he just stopped doing those tasks until his boss noticed. So if the manager really wants to see it happen they need to follow-up – at least long enough to show the employee that it is important.

A great resource for this is my book Employees Not Doing What You Expect which people can purchase through my web site – LeadershipWizard.com. And I work with managers and supervisors to teach them how to be more effective leaders.

Q: Why is this so important?

A: Deciding who should be promoted into a leadership position or into a position of greater authority is an important decision for most businesses and organizations.
A supervisor or manager will have a dramatic impact on the success of the organization. They will either help lead a workgroup to greater success, or perhaps cause it to stumble and create turnover and low morale and attitude.

Q: So What Qualities Make a Person Promotable

A: Typically, we promote the best employee in the work group or the person who has the longest seniority. The flaw in this – is that just because an employee is a high performer does not mean they will be a good leader. In fact they might not even enjoy being the manager if they truly love what they are doing. And just because a person has been around the longest doesn’t mean they have the qualities of a good leader.

Q: Is promoting from within important?

A: Yes, it builds morale when you promote from within. If you parachute in a manager from outside, it sends a negative message to the organization. It says that there is not much opportunity to grow and move up, and it also shows that the organization has a weakness in developing future leaders which could mean that delegation and coaching is lacking or non existant.

Q: What qualities are we looking for?

A: We want to see some positive leadership characteristics. Is the person approachable? Are they able to set and achieve ambitious performance goals? Are they known to be helpful to others? Are they good trainers – able to show others how to do the job? Are they good communicators? Do they share information or hord it?

Q: Are there any tools that can be used to select better leaders?

A: Yes, we offer an assessment tool that can help predict the best fit for a job, whether it is hiring a new employee or deciding who whould be promoted. People can get all the info at LeadershipWizard.com.

Many managers and business owners want their employees to have greater accountability so let’s look at some ways that we can instill a greater sense of ownership at work.

Q: How does an owner think?

A: An owner thinks about getting and keeping customers and generating profit from increasing revenues and reducing costs. An owner worries about generating cash flow from the business.

Q: So the owner has complete accountability?

A: Yes, they suffer or enjoy the consequences of their actions and decisions. When the business does well, they enjoy the consequence of having extra cash to either reinvest in the business or spend personally. If the business does poorly, the owner often has to make up the shortfall.

Q: Why don’t employees think like an owner naturally?

A: Some employees do think this way, and yet a majority do not. Employees tend to get paid no matter how the business is doing. Employees sometimes look forward to slow times when they can relax while the owner sees the slow times as costing them money. The employees don’t see the consequences of doing what is right or what is wrong.

Q: So how can the manager create a greater sense of ownership or accountability?

A: The manager needs to explain to the employees how their job affects the company’s ability to attract and keep customers and generate more revenue, than cost. The manager must constantly reinforce this message at every opportunity – when an employee is successful, the manager will offer positive feedback or praise and connect it to the business goals. When an employee doesn’t do what is required, the manager will explain the impact on the business.

Some companies do profit sharing, or incentives, or bonuses. This works once employees can connect their actions to the results. If the employee does not understand accountability or consequences then the incentive or bonus, while appreciated will not generate a change in behaviour.

For more information on how I can help develop consistent and proactive leaders at all levels in the organization, please visit LeadershipWizard.com