How to get and keep great staff (2)
How to get and keep great staff (2)
In this article I want to talk about the basic principles of powerful delegating. How to make sure that you can get your work done because your staff are doing theirs.
I believe there are ten steps to effective delegating:
1) Decide what the task and the outcome is that needs to be completed.
2) Decide on the person or people most able or appropriate to carry out the task
3) Delegate the complete task
4) Explain what the need is, and what the task is
5) Negotiate the best outcome of this task, not the process
6) Ask the person if they are prepared to take the responsibility for the outcome of the task
7) Ask what the person needs to achieve the outcome, and give them that. Agree on time frame for check up/ catch up/ progress report
8) Give them the task and LET GO!
9) Accept only finished work.
10) Give credit, publicly and privately
Of course, most of these steps seem fairly obvious, yet it is surprising how many managers miss out on one or more of these steps entirely. Even the basic step of deciding who to delegate something to will sometimes be made on the basis of who happens to be standing near the water cooler at any given moment.
All of the steps are important for effective delegating, but I want to focus on three in particular in this space.
Step 5
The first one is num 5, to delegate a task with the outcome in mind, not the process. The way you have always carried out a certain task is not necessarily the only way. It suits you and your brain to do it that way, but it may not suit others. Forcing people to follow your process rather than your own is not normally very efficient. Agree on the outcome of the task, e.g.: Analyse the data; write a report for the board on the data, maximum length 1.5 pages, by Friday lunchtime. Then allow the staff member to develop her own process for completing the task.
All of our brains are entirely different and carry out processes in entirely different ways. Even the simplest actions or processes will look entirely different in two different brains. So forcing people to follow a process that works for you can make the task that much harder for them to complete. Worse than that their brain will actively work against the outcome, in other words they will have a tendency to procrastinate and struggle with motivation.
Brain Research
The latest brain research, using MRI scanning techniques etc, is clearly showing that when a person makes new connections in their brain, when they learn something, gain an insight, that at that precise moment lots of “pleasure hormones” are released. The moment you actually work something out causes physical pleasure. If you allow people to create those pleasure moments themselves, they will want more and more of it and their motivation will skyrocket. Then you will be able to get your own stuff done, have your own learnings, and find your own brain pleasures.
Step 9
The second step I will say something about is step 9: Only accept finished work.
If you want to undo all the good work that I wrote about in the preceding paragraphs, try this approach: When your team member comes back with the report, and it is clear to you that the outcomes haven’t been met, for example it is 2.5 pages long, instead of 1.5 as agreed, take it from her, and say….”Ok that will do, leave it with me, I will rewrite it so it fits on a page and a half”
Despite what I said above, the brain is also a lazy organ, that is to say it is designed to minimise the use of energy. You may not think of the brain as a great consumer of energy in the body, but you might be surprised to know that it uses vast amounts of energy all day every day. The brain burns calories like you wouldn’t believe, (that is why, for example, the best way to stay warm on a cold day is to put a woollen hat on) and different parts of the brain use more or less energy. As it happens your “working” memory and processing part of your brain is one of the most energy expensive parts of your brain. The natural tendency for the brain will be to not use these areas of the brain when it can avoid using them; it is much “cheaper” to use the automatic parts, the hardwired parts, the parts where old habits reside, in other words. So when you tell your staff member: “that will do, let me do the rest”, they will happily pass it off to you, and conserve energy in their brain.
What it means though is that they don’t get the full experience of the pleasure hormones, they won’t take pride in their work, and you will not be able to get your own stuff done and get your own brain pleasures.
If you simply will not accept anything less but finished work, work that meets the agreed outcomes, and give the support and assistance where necessary, everyone wins. Your staff become addicted to the release of the pleasure hormones and will go looking for more and more of it. You get staff that take responsibility for their work and you get your own stuff done.
Taking responsibility, 6 and 7
Finally, I am going to say a few words about step 6 and step 7.
There is world of difference between giving somebody the responsibility for a task or a person taking responsibility. Once you have gone through the first five steps of the delegating process and it has been agreed what the desired outcomes of the task are and why it is important, it is really powerful to stop and ask the staff member if they are prepared to take responsibility for the task and the agreed outcomes. If they are, ask them what they need from you in the form of support, or resources or assistance to be able to achieve the outcomes, and make sure you give that to them if at all possible.
What matters is that the staff member takes ownership of the task. If you simply tell them that you want them to do this thing, there is a real risk that they will take it on with a certain amount of resistance or resentment. In that frame of mind it is unlikely that they will perform at optimum.
So after you have dealt with step 5, stop, and ask: “All right Sarah, you understand the need for this report, and you know what is required and by when? Are you happy for me to leave this with you from here? Great, and what do you need from me to make it possible for you to get it done?”
Once you start implementing this approach in all your delegating at work, you will be amazed what a difference it makes. A workplace where everyone is motivated by their addiction to their brain pleasures is a wonderful place to be. You might even get that game of Golf in on Friday morning before the board meeting!!!
Acknowledgement
This article is based on my own experiences and insights as well as on the following books amongst others:
- “Quiet Leadership - Teach people how to think, don’t tell them what to do” by David Rock
- “The one minute Manager” series by Ken
- “Learned Optimism” Prof Martin Seligman
How to get and keep great staff 2 - To learn more about this author, visit Roland Hanekroot's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
In a previous article I wrote about how to get the right staff to fit into your team or organisation, see the archive on this site
In this article I want to talk about the basic principles of powerful delegating. How to make sure that you can get your work done because your staff are doing theirs.
I believe there are ten steps to effective delegating:
1) Decide what the task and the outcome is that needs to be completed.
2) Decide on the person or people most able or appropriate to carry out the task
3) Delegate the complete task
4) Explain what the need is, and what the task is
5) Negotiate the best outcome of this task, not the process
6) Ask the person if they are prepared to take the responsibility for the outcome of the task
7) Ask what the person needs to achieve the outcome, and give them that. Agree on time frame for check up/ catch up/ progress report
8) Give them the task and LET GO!
9) Accept only finished work.
10) Give credit, publicly and privately
Of course, most of these steps seem fairly obvious, yet it is surprising how many managers miss out on one or more of these steps entirely. Even the basic step of deciding who to delegate something to will sometimes be made on the basis of who happens to be standing near the water cooler at any given moment.
All of the steps are important for effective delegating, but I want to focus on three in particular in this space.
Step 5
The first one is num 5, to delegate a task with the outcome in mind, not the process. The way you have always carried out a certain task is not necessarily the only way. It suits you and your brain to do it that way, but it may not suit others. Forcing people to follow your process rather than your own is not normally very efficient. Agree on the outcome of the task, e.g.: Analyse the data; write a report for the board on the data, maximum length 1.5 pages, by Friday lunchtime. Then allow the staff member to develop her own process for completing the task.
All of our brains are entirely different and carry out processes in entirely different ways. Even the simplest actions or processes will look entirely different in two different brains. So forcing people to follow a process that works for you can make the task that much harder for them to complete. Worse than that their brain will actively work against the outcome, in other words they will have a tendency to procrastinate and struggle with motivation.
Brain Research
The latest brain research, using MRI scanning techniques etc, is clearly showing that when a person makes new connections in their brain, when they learn something, gain an insight, that at that precise moment lots of “pleasure hormones” are released. The moment you actually work something out causes physical pleasure. If you allow people to create those pleasure moments themselves, they will want more and more of it and their motivation will skyrocket. Then you will be able to get your own stuff done, have your own learnings, and find your own brain pleasures.
Step 9
The second step I will say something about is step 9: Only accept finished work.
If you want to undo all the good work that I wrote about in the preceding paragraphs, try this approach: When your team member comes back with the report, and it is clear to you that the outcomes haven’t been met, for example it is 2.5 pages long, instead of 1.5 as agreed, take it from her, and say….”Ok that will do, leave it with me, I will rewrite it so it fits on a page and a half”
Despite what I said above, the brain is also a lazy organ, that is to say it is designed to minimise the use of energy. You may not think of the brain as a great consumer of energy in the body, but you might be surprised to know that it uses vast amounts of energy all day every day. The brain burns calories like you wouldn’t believe, (that is why, for example, the best way to stay warm on a cold day is to put a woollen hat on) and different parts of the brain use more or less energy. As it happens your “working” memory and processing part of your brain is one of the most energy expensive parts of your brain. The natural tendency for the brain will be to not use these areas of the brain when it can avoid using them; it is much “cheaper” to use the automatic parts, the hardwired parts, the parts where old habits reside, in other words. So when you tell your staff member: “that will do, let me do the rest”, they will happily pass it off to you, and conserve energy in their brain.
What it means though is that they don’t get the full experience of the pleasure hormones, they won’t take pride in their work, and you will not be able to get your own stuff done and get your own brain pleasures.
If you simply will not accept anything less but finished work, work that meets the agreed outcomes, and give the support and assistance where necessary, everyone wins. Your staff become addicted to the release of the pleasure hormones and will go looking for more and more of it. You get staff that take responsibility for their work and you get your own stuff done.
Taking responsibility, 6 and 7
Finally, I am going to say a few words about step 6 and step 7.
There is world of difference between giving somebody the responsibility for a task or a person taking responsibility. Once you have gone through the first five steps of the delegating process and it has been agreed what the desired outcomes of the task are and why it is important, it is really powerful to stop and ask the staff member if they are prepared to take responsibility for the task and the agreed outcomes. If they are, ask them what they need from you in the form of support, or resources or assistance to be able to achieve the outcomes, and make sure you give that to them if at all possible.
What matters is that the staff member takes ownership of the task. If you simply tell them that you want them to do this thing, there is a real risk that they will take it on with a certain amount of resistance or resentment. In that frame of mind it is unlikely that they will perform at optimum.
So after you have dealt with step 5, stop, and ask: “All right Sarah, you understand the need for this report, and you know what is required and by when? Are you happy for me to leave this with you from here? Great, and what do you need from me to make it possible for you to get it done?”
Once you start implementing this approach in all your delegating at work, you will be amazed what a difference it makes. A workplace where everyone is motivated by their addiction to their brain pleasures is a wonderful place to be. You might even get that game of Golf in on Friday morning before the board meeting!!!
Acknowledgement
This article is based on my own experiences and insights as well as on the following books amongst others:
- “Quiet Leadership - Teach people how to think, don’t tell them what to do” by David Rock
- “The one minute Manager” series by Ken
- “Learned Optimism” Prof Martin Seligman
How to get and keep great staff 2 - To learn more about this author, visit Roland Hanekroot's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Roland's articles
 |
|
New Perspectives Business Coaching, Sydney - Thoughts and issues around Small Business and how to create MASSIVE CHANGE to take back control of your small business and your life.
|
|
 |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Benefit From Analytics Your Marketing Mindset CAN-Spam Checklist Articles Drive Traffic Consultative Selling ebook |
|
 | ||
 |
Fortune Hunters
CBC Entrepreneur TV | |
 |
Top 50 Marketing Blogs
Top Marketing Blogs of 2010 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||