How Am I At Delegating? Article - Business Networking Articles

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How Am I at Delegating?

Use this guide to determine your level of delegating skills, and how to analyze the areas that need improvement.

Author: Minesh Baxi

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Direction: Answer “Yes” or “No” to each statement.

1. I have a clear visual flowchart for my team and everybody knows his/her roles on the team.
2. I know the best and highest use of my time and my role in the company and the team flowchart reflect that.
3. I take time to provide the details to my team members and make sure they understand what their tasks are, why they are given and by when they need to be completed.
4. I train my team members and provide the support they need with time, guidance and resources to help them be successful in their role.
5. I closely supervise their authority and make sure they have adequate authority to go with their responsibilities.
6. My team members feel that they can approach me as soon as they feel that the tasks have unforeseen challenges or there are changes that need my input.
7. I hold meetings on a regular basis with my team members to monitor their progress and provide further guidance.
8. I make sure that my team members feel accountable for the results. Initially with new team members, I hold them accountable for activity and improving skills. For senior and experienced team members, I hold them accountable to results more often than activity and skills.
9. I have a reward system in place to assist and encourage team members.
10. My team members view delegation as an opportunity for growth and success.

Analyzing Your Answers: How Am I at Delegating?

If you answered “Yes” to 7 or more:
You are close to getting your team to do 75% or more of your work!

If you answered “No”, find out what “No” means to each statement:

1. You rarely delegate or delegate without a systematic approach. You basically delegate whenever you are overwhelmed or don’t want to be responsible for a task.
2. You are easily distracted and you are likely to be more active than productive. You have not identified leveraging use of your time.
3. You believe that delegation simply means telling people what you want done and expect them to figure out what steps they should take. The result is that most of the tasks delegated do not get done on time and do not meet your standards. Quite often the person may end up spending time on unproductive tasks and may have difficulty in matching with your priorities.
4. You also assume that everybody is a self-starter and needs little or no support to complete the required tasks. They may seek you out when needed. This could result in being frequently interrupted for small tasks.
5. This may result in people being stuck waiting for your approval before taking the next step. This usually leaves people feeling frustrated as they could be more productive if they had the required authority. This usually is a sign of micro-management.
6. This usually happens when you put too much emphasis on results and have a tendency to embarrass people when they do not get the task done properly. The culture is more about punishment in making mistakes rather than supporting to try and improve.
7. You believe in “no news is good news” – just the opposite of what is true in management. This is also a sign of a manager who is looking to abdicate his role in supporting the team. Usually this manager “barks orders and leaves.” When the task is not done, “barks more orders and leaves.” This manager lives in blame mode.
8. You may be weak in upholding the standards and quite often are more interested in being liked than empowering people to get the job done. This also reinforces the belief that it is better to produce than manage producers and staff. You may become paranoid about your ability to manage instead of finding ways to improve your skills.
9. You may be too focused on getting the job done without focusing on what the motivators are for the staff. People may feel burnt out or may feel unappreciated.
10. You may be more focused on you and the company goals instead of taking better care of the people. You may feel that people are usually not motivated and need to be dragged to the finish line. You may also have people who are not the best fit for their roles. You may not be a good listener and may be failing to bring out the best in your people.

About Author

© 2006 Minesh Baxi. Our gift to you: visit www.makingteamswork.com and kickstart your team development by taking a behavior assessment for managers ($85 value). Minesh is the author of “Top 10 Blunders Business Owners Make”, “The Secret To Rich And Rewarding Relationships At Work And Home” and “Network Your Way to $100,000 and Beyond: Build a Team of Powerful, Proactive Referral Partners and Put Your Marketing on Autopilot”.

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