“I just hope this delegation with Joe goes okay. We have a lot on our plate this week and a couple of serious issues,” Ruben hedged.
“Ruben, there are a hundred reasons why this delegation could fail. If it succeeds, it will not be because everything was right with the world. It will succeed in spite of everything going against it.” -TF
“Now that you understand the necessity of delegation, what is the specific outcome that is necessary this week?” I asked.
“I guess I need to delegate something,” Ruben replied.
“Ruben, this is not a guessing game. If you guess, you will be wrong. What specific outcome is necessary this week?”
Ruben paused. “I have a project I want to,” Ruben stopped. “I have a project that is necessary for Joe to complete by next Wednesday.”
“Good. Now, if Joe is to complete this project by next Wednesday, what is necessary for you to do today?” -TF
“No, it is necessary, because if you don’t delegate, you can’t play the role. And if you can’t play the role, then we have to find someone who can. That’s why it is necessary for you to become a better delegator.”
Ruben laughed to break the tension. “When you put it like that, I guess I have to become a better delegator.”
“No, when I put it like that, it means I have to make a choice between you and someone else. The necessity of you becoming a better delegator only happens when you put it like that.”
Ruben was searching for words.
“Ruben, repeat after me. It is important for the words to come from you. ‘It is necessary for me to become a better delegator to be an effective manager. If I do not become an effective delegator, it is necessary that I step aside for someone else.’”
Ruben gulped, then slowly repeated the words. –TF
“I know I have to actually delegate something to make progress,” Ruben confirmed. “But I get to work, things start happening and before you know it, I am up to my elbows in problems.”
“Tell me what you want to happen,” I prompted.
“It’s not what I want to happen, it’s one thing after another. For example, I can take you through yesterday, minute by minute and you’ll see what I’m up against.”
“I believe you could take me through, minute by minute, but explaining what happens doesn’t change things. Tell me, Ruben, what do you want to happen?”
“I want to be a better delegator.”
“Now, change one element of your thought. Change want to necessary. It is necessary for you to be a better delegator.”
Ruben looked at me with lizard eyes.
“Why is it necessary for you to be a better delegator?” I asked.
“So, I can be more effective?” Ruben floated.
“No, it is necessary, because if you don’t delegate, you can’t play the role. And if you can’t play the role, then we have to find someone who can. That’s why it is necessary for you to become a better delegator.” -TF
“I’m a little disappointed,” explained Ruben. “Disappointed in myself.”
“How so,” I asked.
“Since I was promoted to manager, everyone has been telling me to delegate more stuff. So, I have been trying.”
“What have you been trying?” I prompted.
“Well, I bought three books on delegating. I finished one and I am reading the second.”
“So, what’s changed, for you?”
“Well, nothing really. I mean they are really good books, but I am still doing everything myself.”
“Ruben, delegation is a skill. A skill that can be learned. You can learn how to delegate, but skill has two parts to it. The first part is technical knowledge. That’s the stuff you have been reading about in those books.”
“What’s the other part?” queried Ruben.
“The other part is practice. You actually have to get out there and practice. I really don’t care how much you know. I am interested in what you can do.” -TF
I had been hammering Kristen about creating a job description for an open position on her team. I don’t think she is lazy, but like most managers, she treats recruiting like a part-time job. In a year’s time, she may only have four openings on her team of 19, and she rarely sits on a hiring panel for other teams.
“What’s the one most important thing you do?” I asked. “In a year’s time, looking back, what one thing have you done that has had the most impact on your company?”
Kristen was thinking. She had some stuff up on her walls, some recognition plaques, a framed letter from a customer. “I don’t know,” she started. “My highest contribution? I guess it’s just making sure my people are always busy and not wasting time. That’s what managers do.”
“No, on your team of 19, you have two supervisors, that’s what they do, keep people busy. What is the most important thing you do?”
“I guess I never really thought about it. No one ever asked me, or told me. In fact, when I got promoted last year, the only difference is that I go to management meetings once a week. I spend the rest of my time dealing with problems and issues. Who wants time off? Who is arguing with whom? Why someone is constantly running behind? Why things don’t come out right? Motivating my team? I stay pretty busy doing all that.”
“What would you have to do differently, so that you did none of those things?” I challenged.
“Well, there’s no way. The people I have on my team just wouldn’t be able to get along and stay productive without me in there.”
“So, what would you have to do differently?” -TF
Kristen gazed at the job posting from Monster. “Can I use the job posting as a start for the job description?”
“You can, but only as a start,” I replied. “Even most job descriptions aren’t very useful because they are poorly written. Before we actually write the job description, let’s talk about its purpose. It will help us construct something that is actually helpful.”
“Well, the main thing is to have something to give the candidate, so they know what job they are applying for,” Kristen smiled.
“Like I said, that’s a start. Specifically, what’s the benefit to you, as a Manager?”
“So, I have something to talk about in the interview?” Kristen floated.
“Does it help you, as the Manager, understand the kind of person you are looking for?”
“Yes, but don’t I get that from the resume?”
“Only half. You only get the right candidates when the resume and the job description match. That’s why you can’t make a selection, just by reading resumes.”
“So, the benefit to me, as a Manager, is that I will know when I have a match.”
“That’s one purpose. How else is the job description helpful?” -TF
Kristen put away the psychological profile. “Okay, you’re not going to look at this. You want a job description. But I can’t just write a job description, you really want a system?”
“Yes, a system,” I replied. “Take these elements, put each element into a circle, then put arrows between each circle. You may add and take away elements. This picture will represent your system.
“Tweak your system, work your system.” -TF
“You are right,” Kristen relented. “I really am too busy. My priorities are focused on short term fires. I feel like all I do, all day long, gets consumed with management issues and keeping people motivated. I don’t have time to work on basic stuff like writing job descriptions. When I look at doing that, it is so far down my urgency scale, I almost think writing a job description is silly.”
“What would be the payoff?” I asked.
“The payoff? I can’t even think about the payoff. I could write a job description and then I would have a job description, but I would be further behind dealing with all the crap,” she explained.
“Kristen, you are not unlike most managers,” I nodded. “If you could truly focus on getting the right people, most of the crap you deal with would largely go away.
“Stop working on crap and start working on systems. Your life will only improve when you start working on systems.” -TF
“So, let’s call her right now, offer her the position, straight away,” I suggested.
“But, you haven’t even read the profile,” Kristen protested.
“I don’t need to read the profile,” I replied.
“But if you don’t read the profile, how can you know if this person will be able to do the job?”
“That is an excellent question. How can we know if this person will be able to do the job if we don’t have a job description to help us read the profile?”
“Well, we have the job posting.”
“Kristen, I read the job posting. There is more in here on company benefits than there is on expectations. I think you don’t want to do the work to figure out what we expect from the position.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to do the work, I just don’t have the time. I have a lot of other important things I need to be doing,” Kristen insisted.
“It’s not that you don’t have the time. You have as much time as you need. It’s just not a high enough priority.” -TF