#2: Empower Your Team And Don’t Micromanage
A big part of the art of management is finding the right balance between control and freedom in overseeing the work of your team members. It’s not a simple question of “hands off” versus “hands on” management—it’s more often a question of how much of each is necessary, for each team member and each assignment. Google’s rules puts it this way:
Balance giving freedom to your employees, while still being available for advice.
How do you do that? I teach managers the following 6 levels of delegation, to give them a guide to use for each team member and each assignment:
Level 1–I’ll tell you what to do; you do it and report back. (And maybe also: You check in with me while you are doing it!)
Level 2–Bring me the information; you make a recommendation; I’ll review it; I’ll tell you what to do; you do it and report back.
Level 3–Bring me the information; we’ll review it; we’ll decide together what to do; you do it. You report back when you’ve done it.
Level 4–Bring me the information; tell me what you’re going to do; I’ll give you my okay; you do it.
Level 5–You decide what to do; you do it; you tell me what you did.
Level 6–You decide what to do; you do it. Don’t bother reporting back.
The key is to pick the right level for each person, and for each assignment you give them. You can’t manage your people with a “one size fits all” approach—you need to apply appropriate flexibility as a manager!
Keep in mind: You want to share these 4 main leadership functions with your team as much as is appropriately possible—planning, evaluation, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Google also recommends:
Make “stretch” assignments to help the team tackle big problems.
Marcus Buckingham’s advice to managers is to “Gently push your people out of their comfort zone, while making sure they have the support and encouragement they need to succeed.” That’s how you keep your team and its members continually growing and developing, as workers, as collaborators, AND as leaders!
BTW…Check out my blog post, Getting Things Done Through Other People and the resources it provides—you’ll find a much more detailed guide to effective delegation, loaded with clear instructions and practical tips! Don’t pass it up—it will be your personal toolkit for Rule #2 success!
If you would like more help with your team leadership, give us a call and we’ll share how our ideas and resources can help you become a better leader and manager and help your team become more effective as well.
And if you would like top-notch training to help your managers and supervisors become more effective in their various leadership roles, let us show you how we can provide practical tools and common-sense wisdom that will equip your people for better performance and greater impact!
Yours for better leaders–and better organizations,
Dr. Jim Dyke – The Boss Doctor
