Some of the most powerful
management concepts are also the most simple. Here is a
"blinding flash of the obvious" for your
consideration:
As managers, I believe our job
is not to run the joint, it is to teach our staff how to
run the joint! You will never be able to move on to new
projects (or get away to spend more time with your
family) unless your crew can assume responsibilities
that presently fall to you . . . and the only way they
will be able to do these new jobs is if someone teaches
them.
Think about it. If you are
doing something that someone on your staff is capable of
doing - and you are not giving it to them to do - that
is disrespectful. Disrespect will quickly destroy the
working relationships in any organization. Not passing
tasks along may also deliver the message that you don't
think the other person is capable of doing it.
Reluctance to let loose of tasks, especially routine
tasks, could be seen as your way of keeping the power in
your own hands. In any case the organization suffers
because qualified people will leave for jobs where they
can advance their skills. At the same time you
perpetuate the overload that leads to management stress,
exhaustion and burnout.
Take a look at your day and see
where you are spending your time. Do you spend hours
doing the schedule? There is no law that says you have
to do it, only that a schedule needs to be done. If you
have it down cold, or if it is driving you crazy, teach
someone else on your staff to do it! After all, at some
point in your career someone had to trust you with the
job for the first time. It will be a relief to you and a
job upgrade for them. The same thinking applies to other
typical manager jobs like taking the inventory or doing
the ordering. There is no reason why someone on your
staff, with a little coaching, cannot handle these
duties as well as you can and it is not hard for you to
keep score on how they are doing.
As a start, identify three
activities that presently occupy your time - jobs that
others on your staff are already capable of doing.
Verify that these folks are willing to take on the new
responsibilities and then give the jobs to them. Check
in with them for awhile to make sure they understand
what they are doing. Don't insist that they do
everything exactly the way you would. All you are really
looking for is consistency of results. If they can get
the same or better results without breaking any laws,
why waste energy insisting on the manner in which that
happens?
When you are comfortable that
the new tasks are being well-handled, identify three of
your common tasks that other folks in your organization
are capable of learning. With your new-found free time,
start teaching them!
The results of this process are
simply wonderful! You will be taking jobs that are
wearing you down and giving them to people who will get
excited about them! You continually reinvent your own
job which tends to keep you fresh and excited. Your
staff will become more confident, more skilled and more
involved in the success of your operation.
A few words of caution before
you start:
There is a difference between
delegation and abdication. Never turn anyone loose
unless they have been thoroughly coached or they may
panic and fail. As a world-class manager, you want to
make sure they are successful in their new work. Failure
will not help anyone. You may want to do a job until you
have mastered it before you turn it over to someone
else. In some cases, where you know that you just do not
have the temperament for a particular task, delegating
it to someone who does may work out better for everyone.
It is OK if your staff knows more than you do.
Don't delegate to people who
don't want the responsibility. Not everyone wants to
advance and it is futile to force activity on someone
who does not want it. If you have a history of
successful transitions and people are comfortable that
they won't be set up to fail, they will be more eager to
take on something new - particularly if you reward their
achievement.
Reflect the new job
responsibilities on the paycheck. You have to deal with
the question of "what's in it for me?" It is
only fair to reflect someone's increased contributions
to your profitability on their check. If you don't give
for what you get you will not find many volunteers for
new duties. Don't view delegation as increasing costs.
Rather, see it as a way to break you loose to identify
more ways of increasing revenue. Even if delegation does
nothing other than give you time to have a life (!), any
additional costs will be more than offset by your own
increase in productivity.
Expect mistakes A
"mistake" only shows you the extent of a
person's understanding. We all slip a few times when
taking on new challenges. Since no one likes to fail,
making a big deal of an error will only destroy the
desire to learn and add another "rule" to the
book. Approach your job as a coach would ("This is
good, that is good, let's work on this part now.")
and you will do fine. Bear in mind that you, too, are
also learning - in this case, learning how to delegate
successfully - and you should expect a mistake or two
yourself as you learn how to do it effectively.
by
Bill Marvin
www.restaurantdoctor.com |
