August 2008

Integral to the success of delegation is the development of employees’ self- esteem.  The use of self-esteem as a motivator is a recent phenomenon.  In the 1930s the issue was irrelevant.  Back then, the issues were money, security and survival - the very things that were in short supply.  Recent distinct improvements in the satisfaction of these survival needs have brought with them a whole new set of drives.  Workers have begun to complain about a lack of dignity and respect.  With increasing turnover rates, absenteeism and other forms of alienation and dissatisfaction, managers can no longer maintain that workers only care about getting a paycheck.

1. Delegation helps people below you in the organization grow and thereby pushes you even higher in management.  It provides you with more time to take on higher-priority projects.

2. Find out what the talents and interests of your people are and you will be able to delegate more intelligently and effectively.

3. Never underestimate a person’s potential.  Delegate slightly more than what you think the person is capable of handling.  Expect them to succeed, and you will be pleasantly surprised more often than not.

4. Clearly define what outcome is needed, then let individuals use their own creative thinking to determine how to get that outcome.

5. Clearly define the limits of authority that go with the delegated job.  Can the person hire other people to work with them?  What are the spending constraints?

6. Do not avoid delegating something because you cannot give someone the entire project.  Let the person start with a bite-sized piece.  After learning and doing that portion, they can accept larger pieces and areas of responsibility.

7. Clear standards of performance will help the person know when he is doing exactly what is expected.

8. Delegation is taking a risk that the other person might make a mistake.  People learn from mistakes and will be able to do the project correctly the next time.  Where would you be if no one had ever taken a chance on you?

The fact is that management experts and psychologists have shown that a salary increase is not necessarily the ultimate motivator.  Unless you cannot live on your present salary, more money is often a weak incentive.  In addition to providing money to live on, most people work every day to satisfy their need for structure and predictability in their lives.  Look at the endless number of rich men who continue to work every day.  Precisely because their basic needs are being met, workers today do not automatically accept authoritarian, dehumanizing styles of management.

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You might well be wondering why you would want to get employees to admit dislike of some change in how they do their job.  After all, supervisors have enough gripes coming their way without going out and encouraging employees to express their displeasure. 

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to do anything to correct this sort of problem unless you know the basis for employee discontent.  Only by learning what’s bothering them in terms of the new working procedures will you be able to devise a plan for dealing with it.  Therefore, it becomes necessary for you to seek out bad news, as unpleasant as this task may be.

Naturally, if workers were going to freely discuss their dislike for new practices, they would have come to you with their gripes.  When they don’t, there can be any number of reasons.  Obviously if the lines of communication are poor, then that alone would be the cause.  No one but a fool will approach a boss who doesn’t like to hear bad news with a complaint.  Then again, the reason for a lack of communication could be just the opposite.  Perhaps you have good relations with your subordinates and they like and respect you.  In such situations, workers sometimes hold back from griping to a boss on the basis that they believe there’s nothing that can be done any- way, so why make the boss miserable over a lost cause.  Whatever the reason, encouraging workers to be forthright in their concerns over new work practices requires a bit of diplomacy.  Most of all, it requires you to take the initiative to inquire about your suspicions.  Let’s look at a couple of different approaches you can take:

Ask The Office Gossip
As you know, office gossips are a constant source of information who are always ready to divulge what they know-even on occasions when you don’t want to hear it.  The problem here is that the credibility of office gossips generally isn’t too high.  For this reason, be careful how you phrase your questions, since they are likely to give you the answer they assume you want to hear, irrespective of whether or not it is true.

 
Ask For Help
Another tactic you can try is to raise the issue directly in a group meeting with your subordinates.  Say something such as, “These new working procedures don’t seem to be going too well, although I can’t put my finger on the reason.  lf some changes need to be made, l would like some information to use when I approach Jones (your boss) about it.  Can anyone help me out with some examples of the problems we’re dealing with?” This may open up the group to discussing the issue since it now knows you sense there is a problem. Incidentally, notice that the focus was on “we’re,” not “you” in mentioning problems.  After all, a worker may be reluctant to admit he or she is having problems because they might reflect on the individual’s ability.

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Previously, we have discussed the importance of taking the right leadership approach to building a highly motivated and productive team.  Today’s article will wrap it up with a final few more vital team-building approaches that you can take and implement immediately.

1.  Involve team members in key decisions.  Certainly there will be many opportunities for involving your people in key decisions.  Again, it would be inappropriate to involve them in every decision.  But you should involve them whenever the decision is likely to have a significant impact on their jobs.  In a decision-making meeting with your people, you might consider any one of these approaches: (1) present to them a problem, solicit their ideas, and you make the decision; (2) present to them a tentative decision that is subject to change based upon their inputs; (3) present to them several alternatives and let them choose what they consider to be the best alternative; or (4) present to them a problem situation and let them generate the alternatives and even choose the preferred alternative. Depending on the circumstances, any one of these approaches might be appropriate. The important thing is to let your people know up front which approach you are using.

2.  Review progress and decide upon corrective action. With the heroic leadership approach, the leader is diligent in monitoring group performance and deciding upon corrective action.  In most situations, a more effective approach would be to involve the team members in this activity.  This latter approach will be superior to the heroic approach for a least two reasons: (1) the ideas of the people on the “firing line” are likely to improve the quality of the decisions regarding corrective action; and (2) the motivation of the people on the firing line to implement the decisions will surely be enhanced.

3.  Involve team members in a team-building program.  You should set aside at least one day each year for a team-building program.  Involve your key people in the all-day meeting and, if possible, get away from the work site.  The primary purpose of this meeting is to formulate recommendations for being a more productive team.  To be addressed are these questions: (1) How well are we functioning as a team? (2) What barriers are preventing us from being a productive team?

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In part one in our crash course on building a productive team through solid leadership we discussed three important variables that should be part of your team-building approach.  Today we are going to continue with four more very important components to the task of creating an effective, productive, and motivated team.

1. Communicate your positions on key issues.  The leader’s positions must be clear and concise.  We tend to trust leaders when we know where they stand in relation to the organization relative to the environment.  In most organizations, major issues that affect the organization are being debated day in and day out. Undoubtedly you will form your own opinions on these various issues.  Your people will want to know how you stand on these matters so simply tell them.  And, on a given issue, do not be overly concerned about holding a consistent view over time.  As Emerson stated so well: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”

2.  Involve team members in setting unit objectives.  Most books on management by objectives are missing a vital step.  Typically, the author recommends that the beginning point be a meeting between the supervisor and the employee to agree on the employee’s performance objectives for the coming review period.  What is needed before this meeting is a meeting of the key people in the group in which the team formulates the unit objectives for the coming year.  This would then be followed by the one-on-one meetings between the supervisor and each employee to agree on the employee’s performance objectives, which should be written to support the unit objectives.

3.  Involve team members in developing strategies.  Once the unit objectives are formulated for the coming year, it is then necessary to formulate strategies on how best to achieve the objectives.  It might be tempting for you as a manager to sit in your office and develop these strategies single-handedly.  Resist that temptation!  Set up a meeting in which you and your people formulate the strategies on a team basis. Assuming that your people have relevant knowledge and experience, the chances are good that you will generate better strategies than what you would have accomplished alone.  Most important is that your people will all say, “We did this ourselves.”

4. Involve team members in solving problems.  There should be many opportunities for involving your people in problem-solving activities on a team basis.  This does not mean that you should involve your people every time a problem arises. It does mean, however, that you should involve them when they are likely to make a significant contribution and when it is important to get their ownership of the solution.

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Building a productive team is no small task.  To take a number of diverse personalities and build them into a collaborative team is a challenge of the highest order that only a true leader can accomplish.  Such an effort is certain to encounter obstacles and frustrations along the way.  But it also is likely to encounter some pleasurable moments.  The important thing is always to keep in mind a vision of the productive team and not be overwhelmed by the obstacles and frustrations.

Building a productive team calls for an incremental approach.  Transforming an unproductive team into a productive team can not be achieved through a single bold and imaginative move or through some magical means.  Rather, it is necessary to do many small things over an extended period of time.  These are summarized in the following three guidelines that follow.

1. Decide on the type of team you are looking to build.  In the book “Game Plans,” Robert Keidel makes interesting comparisons between organizational teams and sports teams.  He focuses on three different sports teams: baseball, football, and basketball and shows their counterparts in business and industry. Keidel does not suggest that any particular sports team model is ideal, because any one of them might be appropriate under a given set of circumstances.  The point that is emphasized is to know exactly what game your organization or unit is playing (or should be playing) and then choose the appropriate model.

2. Communicate your vision.  We have stressed that one of the chief functions of leadership is to create a clear vision of the desired state of the organization.  This vision should be an exciting view of the future that will inspire the members of the team to put forth their best efforts.  The important thing is not to keep your vision a secret. Share it with your people and solicit their ideas on how best to embellish the vision and then convert it into reality.

3. Communicate your philosophy of management.  As a manager, you should have a basic philosophy of management: an elucidation of your concept of management and how the management function should be carried out.  Included in this philosophy of management should be a clear statement of values, goals, and strategies. It is important that they be consistent and that they support and reinforce one another.  Do not keep your philosophy of management a secret. Share it with your people. They will then understand “where you are coming from.” Most important, make certain that your day-to-day decisions and actions are a true echo of your expressed philosophy.

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