FireFly Facilitation

Have you ever had a manager thoughtlessly pile a mountain of work on you? If you have, then you’re familiar with “dump truck delegation.” And you know it stinks.

When you’re already juggling assignments and trying not to drop anything, it’s exasperating to have your boss toss more balls into the air. Especially, when you don’t know why the work is important, how to do it, or how your performance will be measured.

Instead of empowering their people, many leaders unintentionally trigger discouragement by the way they delegate. I’ve noted three toxic byproducts that surface after dump truck delegation. Each can be dangerously destructive, which is why I’ve termed them the “Deadly I’s”.

The Deadly “I’s” of Dump Truck Delegation

1) Insignificance

In hurriedly handing out to-dos, leaders neglect to explain the value of the work they’re delegating. Consequently, the person on the receiving end may not see the importance of what they’re being asked to take on. Overwhelmed and underappreciated, the designee may feel like a lowly grunt—someone who does the dirty work that isn’t worth the manager’s time.

2) Incapability

Dump truck delegators infamously bypass training. They divvy out work without offering guidance on how to accomplish it. As a result, they render their people incapable of doing what’s asked and set them up to fail.

People feel distressed when they lack the instruction or resources to do their jobs. Incapability gives them a sense of hopelessness, and they have trouble making any progress at all. On top of that, they may not seek help because they don’t want to appear needy or unknowledgeable.

3) Insecurity

Dump truck delegators do not take the time to define success for the work they’ve distributed. Accordingly, the people left shouldering the workload have no idea of what constitutes a job well done. Unsure of how their performance will be measured, people become insecure. No one, particularly in a slumping economy, wants to fall short of an employer’s expectations.

Without clear goals to guide them, people invariably let down the boss. Underperformance only adds to their insecurity. Soon, a vicious cycle has developed in which insecurity breeds failure, which leads to even greater insecurity.

Doing Delegation the Right Way

Dump truck delegation paralyzes your people and provokes resentment in those you lead. The unintended consequences of delegating poorly can wreck your team and halt your dream. How do you avoid the Deadly I’s? How can you delegate the right way?

Here is one practical suggestion to get you started down the right path:

Before delegating, draft a quick email describing what you’re delegating, outlining when it needs to be done, listing the goals of the project, and noting any relevant information that you need to pass along.

After you’ve delegated, update your email with any changes and send it out to the person you’ve delegated to. This accomplishes three purposes:

1. It forces you to have a game plan instead of delegating on the fly.
2. It clarifies expectations, goals, and deadlines.
3. It serves as a reference point for both parties. It’s amazing what gets forgotten during the course of a busy day. A written record helps keep projects from slipping through the cracks.

You’ve likely heard the term “house rules” referring to the variations in the way people play board games or card games.  Have you ever been midway through a game only to realize that your interpretations of the rules differed from another player’s understanding of them? If you have a competitive streak, then you know how quickly the discrepancy can turn into a heated argument or fierce debate.

When I encourage teams to set ground rules, I’m often greeted with a chorus of complaints.

“Aren’t we all adults here?”
“Aren’t we mature enough to respect one another?”
“Don’t we know how to behave?”

But, that’s exactly the problem—if you have two people on a team, you will have two different perceptions on how a team should work together most effectively. Neither one is necessarily wrong or right, but they are assuredly different. Based on our upbringing and past experiences, we don’t agree on the definition of proper, mature, or respectful behavior.

Exercise for Establishing Team Rules

1) Instruct team members to close their eyes and picture the greatest team they were ever a part of.

Who was on the team? What results did you achieve together? What role did you play in that success? How were decisions made? How did it feel to be on this team?

2) Ask each person to record what he or she saw, felt, and heard during the visioning exercise.

3) Ask each person to share what he or she wrote down with the rest of the team. This is a moment of vulnerability for everyone on the team, and it’s absolutely vital that you hear each person’s unique voice and perspective.

4) Rephrase the common responses that came up. For example:

“Everyone knew why they were there.”
“We were like family.”
“We didn’t always achieve every goal, but we gave it everything we had.”

As you recap what was said, imprint on their memories what it felt like to be part of an extraordinary team.

5) After every person has shared their story, you have to do the tough work of melding these diverse perspectives and recurring themes into clear rules of engagement that all can live by. I recommend keeping the number small and directly related to this team at this point in time. You want to select four to six critical principles that will steer your individual behavior, and your behavior toward one another.

By clearly laying out the expectations for working together to achieve results, you’ll avoid unproductive, unnecessary conflict on your team. Taking the time to set behavioral norms demonstrates that, although results matter, how you arrive at those results also counts on your team.

After delegating to your team, they should feel empowered and essential. However, all too often leaders leave their people feeling dumped on, frustrated, and inconsequential.

Here’s a quick list of suggestions to keep in mind when distributing work to those you lead. By applying these tips, you’ll be able to accomplish more by getting the best from the people reporting to you.

1) Frame the assignment in a positive light

Cast vision for why the project has value, while casting vision for the value the person brings to the assignment.

2) Budget time to teach and train

Hurry undermines your efforts to delegate in two ways. First, when you’re rushed, you’re likely to forget to communicate much-needed instructions. Second, when moving with too much haste, your nonverbal cues tell the person you’re training that they’re not valuable.

3) Give permission for your people to ask questions or request assistance

Don’t assume the people on your team have residency inside of your brain. They don’t share your vantage point or inside information. Pause to bring them up to speed on a project by sharing its background and context, and let them know that you’re available to help if they encounter snags.

4) Avoid micromanagement

You can’t do it all by yourself, so don’t try. Spending time looking over the shoulders of those you lead is not only inefficient, but it also de-motivates your team by discounting their abilities.

5) Provide Accountability

In the words of Ronald Reagan, “trust but verify.” From the outset, make clear the results you’re expecting and the ways you’ll measure them. Then, follow-up periodically to make sure tasks are on track.

With tighter budgets and fewer staff, we could all benefit from a defter touch in the way we delegate. Here are three habits commonly held by effective delegators.

1) They paint a picture of what success looks like at the end of the project.

When delegating, read the final chapter first. Time may prohibit you from explaining the details of how you would like the plot to be written. However, don’t let that prevent you from giving clear direction on how the story should end.

2) They define deadlines and goals.

Vague requests like, “Can you make that happen?” or orders such as, “Be sure it gets done,” are sorry excuses for delegation. The person to whom you’re delegating should know specifically what must done and exactly when the assignment needs to be finished. For the purposes of accountability, it pays to document deadlines and goals in an email.

3) They provide a compelling reason for the particular delegation.

“Because I said so” may work on your 3-year old, but won’t cut it when dealing with a fellow professional. As the leader, it’s your responsibility to articulate the reasoning behind assigning work to your team. Use delegation as an opportunity to affirm both the person you’re delegating to and the value of the task being delegated.

For instance, you may want to point to the assignee’s:

• Unique skill or giftedness for the job
• Experience and qualifications for the project
• Enjoyment or interest in the work
• Reliability or trustworthiness

Or, you may highlight the task’s:

• Strategic significance
• Potential to bring about growth
• Importance to you personally

The Grammy-award winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra wows crowds around the world with virtuoso performances of Stravinsky, Mendelssohn, and Mozart. Garnering prestigious awards (a Grammy in 2001) and accolades (Musical America’s “Ensemble of the Year” in 1998), the New York based orchestra fills the world’s finest concert halls with adoring audiences and the some of the sweetest sounds on earth.

Astonishingly, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has no conductor! Its 28 members alternate roles and share responsibilities. From guiding rehearsals to interpreting selections, leadership of the group rotates among its musicians.

Thinking about the unusual structure of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra sparked ideas in my mind about the nature of leading teams.

1) Being a leader doesn’t mean that we always have to pick the tune, set the pace, and assign the parts.

In a conductor-less organization, in which leadership and authority are dispersed throughout, creativity abounds. Each member has the freedom to contribute his or her unique talents for the benefit of all. On the contrary, the combined creativity of an organization is blocked when a single leader hoards authority.

2) In the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, no one has a back to the crowd.

Absent of the human barrier, the audience is invited into the midst of the orchestra and can share a more intimate connection with its music. Conversely, an organization with power concentrated too heavily at the top can easily lose sight of its customers. Generally, the most senior leaders have the least frontline interaction with customers. If we, as leaders, don’t make room for the instincts and input of people throughout our teams, then we’ll gradually blind ourselves to the needs of the clients we’re trying to serve.