4 Degrees of Delegation - Part 1
Are you a Good Delegator?
If you’re like most business owners and paint professionals, you probably give yourself a decent grade. However, if you’re constantly finding yourself disappointed in people on your team, the problem may be less about them and more about your ability to delegate effectively.
Which style are you?
THE HOT POTATO DELEGATOR
The Hot Potato Delegator tires of a project or task and quickly tosses the activity to an employee to handle. Like a hot potato, you touch the problem briefly and pass it on to someone else quickly without much thought. The problem is, the person you are giving the project to may not be clear on what you want them to do, which means the potato often falls back into your lap.
THE DELEGATION HIPPIE
The Delegation Hippie is inspired by the free-loving spirits of the 1960s that believed in communal living, where there were no rules, and everybody was treated equally. The Delegation Hippie asks a subordinate to handle a task but fails to provide clear lines of authority and control. The employee is left wondering if they need to check in with their boss before deciding on a course of action and is unclear about the budget they have been given to work with.
THE FALSE DELEGATOR
The False Delegator is the person who asks an employee to help with a project. The employee is left with the impression that they are being given broad decision-making authority to complete the project, while the manager actually wants to be kept abreast of the possible solutions her employee is considering and wants to retain the final decision-making authority. The employee decides on a course of action without the consent of their manager, and problems arise.
The first step in becoming better is understanding what type of delegator you are. Building on your awareness can greatly improve your overall business’s ability to grow and free you up from overwhelm and constantly being relied on for everything.
Why delegation is Important
Before we get into how to delegate effectively, let’s start with a quick summary of why delegation is a critical skill for any business owner.
Being able to delegate well means your company can thrive without you personally overseeing the details. This freedom allows your company to grow without you as a bottleneck, while the quality of your work life improves as you no longer have to spend your time fighting fires and answering mundane questions. Best of all, your company is worth more.
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In part 2, we will look at 4 degrees of delegating in greater detail and discuss how to do it.