ASK THE EXPERT
Mark Horstman
D
elegation is a hallmark of an effective leader. However, some
executives and managers struggle with the idea of giving
responsibilities to staff for fear of poor quality or lack of compe-
tence to deliver on time.
Pulse asks Mark Horstman, former manager and executive in sales
and marketing at Procter & Gamble and founder of Manager Tools
LLC, a management consulting firm that provides consultancy and training
to managers of Fortune 1000 companies to give a clear-cut advice on how
to delegate effectively.
1.
What hampers good leaders from delegating
work?
Fear and inefficient beliefs about quality and time. Most managers are afraid to delegate to their [staff] because there’s risk
their [staff] won’t accomplish the task as well as the manager
could. But the way people learn to do things is by doing
them. Far better for them to learn to do it while the manager
gives them some “air cover” in case they stumble a bit.
Also, most managers think delegating takes a lot of time
(it takes five minutes). So, to avoid doing the delegation, for
which they’re not certain they have the right words—they do
the task themselves. That means they’ll have to do it again
the next time. Short-term thinking favors doing everything
yourself…but it’s corrosive in the long term.
don’t delegate some of the stuff you do, how are they going
to be ready?
2.
4.
How do you know that it’s time to delegate?
Smart bosses know the time is always NOW.
Everybody complains they’re too busy…and [yet] they don’t
delegate. You can’t have it both ways. Do you want your
[employees] to be more valuable to the company? Do you
want to be considered for promotion because one or two
of your team can be seen as being able to step up? If you
WANT TO DOWNLOAD Manager Tool’s “Effective
Delegation” slides? Visit digital Pulse at experienceispa.com.
46 PULSE
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May 2012
3.
What factors should you consider in
determining the person best qualified to take
on the new work?
Need, Want, Like. Delegate to a particular person based on
three things:
● What [the person] needs to learn for his existing role.
● What [the person] wants to do for her growth or development.
● What [the person] likes to do, because they will probably
be good at it, and maybe better than you, especially if you
don’t like doing it.
After the delegation process, what types of
assessment should you put in place to ensure
that you keep track of your staff’s performance?
Include standards for DQR (deadlines, quality, and reporting).
After the [staff] agrees (and good delegation is always a
request, never a managerial demand), go over with them what
the standards are for thei r work. And, work that isn’t reported
on isn’t considered done. [Employees] complain about having
to report, but it’s a reasonable accommodation for working in
an organization. It’s not done until the organization knows
it’s done.