Perhaps you don’t want to add anymore to someone else’s plate. So, you do whatever needs to be done without asking for help.
Maybe you don’t trust someone else to do it. So, you keep taking on more and more.
It might be that you don’t know how to delegate successfully. So, you hog all the opportunities yourself.
I’ve got some tips for identifying and delegating projects.
Opportunities are born when you fall in a hole or run into a problem.
First, deal with the immediate issue. Then, consider if it’s a blue-moon event or if you need to do something to keep us from falling into the same hole.
Suppose you have a landscaping company. For the thousandth time, you have reached for the weed whacker and it has been lost, broken or put somewhere other than where you want it to be. You could come uncorked – again – or you could write, “Create tool check-out procedure,” on a master project list.
Encourage team members to add to the master project list. They know what isn’t working and they are your best hope for getting problems solved.
For each project, use the classic journalistic questions to delegate successfully.
• Why? Have a good reason for why it needs to be done: “It’s frustrating to be 100 miles from the shop and not have a weed whacker on your truck.”
• What? Describe, as best you can, what this project would look like when it’s done. Most often, a project is done when you have a written checklist and procedure for making sure the problem doesn’t keep happening: “Tools are accounted for, cared for properly and where we need them. All team members have been trained on, and are held accountable to, the written procedure.”
• Who? Assign the project to someone or ask for a volunteer. Communicate that project management skills are taken into consideration when auditioning team members for promotions. Call this person the project leader. You may assign a few team members to the project. The project leader is responsible for the outcome.
• How (much)? Meet to discuss the plan with the project leader. How much time, energy and resources will be needed?
• When? What’s the time frame? When is the next meeting to check progress? When is the finished project due?
There are no bonus points for making a molehill project a mountainous event. Always aim for simple solutions. When you assign the project, discuss and clarify expectations. Then, let the project leader loose on it.
Then, you’re up to manage, but not take over, the project. You don’t want to come to the end of the project and be deeply disappointed by the results. So, determine what kind of management will be required to make sure you stay in communication and aware of the progress. Set the project leader up to win, and you win. Use meeting times to brainstorm solutions if they get stuck.
Celebrate the win! When it is done, acknowledge it: “We now have the right tools at the right place at the right time. Kudos to the project leader and his team!” If you have included a bonus or a spiff for the successful completion of the project, deliver it with a handshake, a thank you and public recognition.
When you find yourself hogging the opportunities, correct yourself. Inspire the team with your vision. They already know the problems and opportunities.
So, hand ‘em a project.
Ellen Rohr is an author and business consultant offering profit-building tips, trending business blogs and online workshops at EllenRohr.com. Her books include “Where Did the Money Go?” and “The Bare Bones Weekend Biz Plan.” She can be reached at ellen@ellenrohr.com.
