How to… delegate successfully
Ways to achieve successful results through others
Are you a hands-on manager who likes to be at the heart of the action? One who gets involved in everything that affects your business? If you are, it's time to take a good look at how you plan, organise and carry out your managerial role. Because working harder does not necessarily mean you are working smarter.
The hospitality industry is one in which pressure, in the form of deadlines and customer demands, encourages every manager to focus on the present. You find yourself so busy that you have no time to think; you just have to act. Take a few minutes to consider the points below, and get the most from your team.
Eight steps to getting more from your team
1. How often do you delegate to your team members? Delegation means giving an individual temporary responsibility, authority and accountability for something you would normally undertake. Remember, if you don't let go your people won't grow.
2. Do you know the difference between being efficient and being effective? Efficiency involves doing a job right. Effectiveness involves doing the right job. You might be undertaking jobs that could be assigned permanently to your team members.
3. How much time do you spend developing the confidence and competencies of your team? Review the activities you undertook over the course of the past month. If you spent less than 25% of your time coaching your team then individuals are unlikely to grow.
4. Do you listen to your team members? Of course you hear what they say. But that's not listening. Listening involves hearing, evaluating, assimilating and responding. It's a conscious process and when you listen you learn.
5. Do you invite team members to challenge the status quo? In order to improve results you will always have to challenge what you do. Many employees just need to be encouraged to bring new and different ideas forward. Remember, no one has a monopoly on good ideas.
6. Are you a what or a how manager? The what manager is the person who believes that improving their company's performance is achieved by the simple task of telling people what to do. Whenever you ask someone to do something new, different, more challenging or demanding, you cannot abdicate your responsibility to show your team members how to fulfil the responsibility.
7. Do you allow "monkeys" to settle on your back? "Monkeys" are jobs your employees and colleagues) give you that they should be handling. Some employees are masters at passing the burden. They use flattery ("You know so much about…") and feign ignorance ("I've never done this before") and many other techniques. Explain to each team member that you have no objection to them bringing you a "monkey" provided it is accompanied by a solution, answer or plan of action.
8. Do you encourage your team to be "yes" men and women? If every member of your team agrees with everything you say then you will be the only person doing the thinking… and thinking is hard work! It's worth recalling that if you have a yes person working for you then one of you is redundant. Time is finite; you will never be able to create the 25-hour day. Therefore, take every opportunity to achieve results through the people who work with you and for you.
Philip Cripps is chief executive of management consultancy Thameside International
thamesideinternational.com
