How to Delegate

by Bob Marsenich

As a manager or supervisor you need to handle a variety of problems. The wrong approach to problem solving can result in you being overwhelmed and your staff being unmotivated and under developed.

It is important to remember, that as a manager of people you are evaluated on the amount of work you can control, not the amount you personally do. Therefore, it is important that you teach your people how to solve problems, yet control their approach.

Many times when an employee has a problem he literally delegates it to the boss - because the boss let's this happen. How? The employee comes to the boss with a problem, which is within the employee's scope of responsibility, and says to the boss, "We have this problem and I'm not sure what to do?" The boss then states, "Let me think about it and then I'll get back to you about what to do."

At this point the boss has left the employee with little to do and has taken the problem upon her own shoulders. If the boss has one employee she can probably survive for a number of years doing this, but imagine if she has 15 - she'll get over worked and stressed out very soon.

The boss ends up with stacks of work on her desk while employees sit about and complain about her lack of getting back to them in the break room. The conversation goes something like, "Yes, I gave her a problem yesterday and I haven't heard anything." "Yea, you think that's bad. I gave her a problem two weeks ago and I've been waiting to hear from her. I can't move forward until she gets back to me." And, yes, once employees bring you a problem and you tell them, you'll look it over, the majority of people don't remind you but rather wait to hear from you.

How do you prevent this? Let employees know that you want to hear about problems, but have them bring you problems in the following format - either in writing or verbally -

1. What is the problem and why do we have it?

2. What are the possible alternatives?

3. What is your (the employee's) best recommendation that will:

   a. Solve the problem?

   b. You'll be able to support?

If the employee's recommended solution does not solve the problem - don't jump in and solve it for them - Ask, 'How does this solve the problem?' and help them identify the gaps and how to fix them.

It is also fair to let the employee know that you have to agree with their approach. Why? Because you are essentially responsible for everything that happens in your department and you look very foolish saying to your boss, "Yes, I didn't agree with it, but I let the employee do it anyway." It is much better to be able to say that you thought the idea would work and it did not, but you are now doing everything you can to solve the problem.

Once you identify strategies for solving the problem and the results you want to achieve, you can control the work by doing one of the following:

1. Give the person the authority and responsibility to outline the steps they can take, but before they move ahead you look at and OK their plan (and, you do this through discussion and review. Don't take the plan and tell them you'll get back to them).

2. Give the person the authority and responsibility to move ahead, but have them keep you informed on each step through memos, discussions, progress reports.

3. Give the person the authority and responsibility to take care of the problem. Have them inform you of only the major successes or barriers.

By having people outline problems in the above format and delegating the follow-up work using one of the three alternatives, you are able to keep personnel motivated because they identify strategies and solutions. You are able to provide coaching and direction by discussing how strategies will solve problems and you are able to control the work by turning over the degree of responsibility and authority you believe to be appropriate. In the long run you develop your staff and protect yourself against manager burnout. 

Glacier HR offers coaching on these types of situations and others. We work with executives, managers and supervisors to make them better leaders by understanding how their behaviors impact their followers' performance and therefore, productivity.