The new year is just around the corner, you know, when suddenly all that runway we had to get our tasks/goals accomplished by year end suddenly vanishes. I've got a plan to get the critical work done in time, but just barely. Then my manager comes over asking about progress on designing/building a prototype. It was not on my priority list, because...well, it wasn't a priority in the grand scheme of things. Until it was. My manager's manager decided it was CRITICAL to have the prototype available to present to the customer by the end of the year. As the person in regular contact with the customer, I knew this task wasn't even on their radar. The person calling the shots was the type that's always right and they certainly didn't want to hear any "excuses" from me about what the customer did or did not want. If leadership (I use the term leadership loosely here) thought it was necessary, then I needed to move it from unimportant/non-urgent to important/urgent.
I had exactly zero time to tackle this project if I was going to stick to my plan of prioritizing the work that actually was important, so I leveraged our intern. I explained the concept, how to order parts once it was designed and that I was available for guidance/questions/review as needed before empowering them to go make it happen. I love interns, they bring eager, fresh energy to everything they do - this one was no different. The first question I got was, "What if I mess up?". My response of, "If you bring me something by the end of the year that looks roughly like the sketch I made, you can't possibly mess up. It's never going to be used.", was met with a dubious look.
Three years later the intern - now an early career engineer, came by my desk with the prototype in theur hand. "Remember this? I was cleaning out the cabinets in the lab and found this tucked into a corner. It never got used. How did you know?!". We had a good laugh.
Delegation.
Delegation is an acquired skill that most (all?) leaders struggle with throughout their leadership journey, especially in the beginning and often deep into their career. It's a popular, multi-faceted topic of conversation in my 1:1s with leaders and will be a recurring blog topic. Today, let's focus on where to begin your delegation adventure.
Start by delegating low stakes tasks so the consequences of mistakes are low to zero impact, because mishaps, blunders, misjudgments, miscalculations, errors and lapses are all going to happen. Remember, this is a learning experience for both you and the delegee, so those pitfalls could just as easily be yours as theirs. This is a good time to remind you that we are all humans, and we are not perfect, despite societal fixation on perfection. Once the task has been selected, I've found success in following these steps:
- Meet with the delegee to lay out the task and share pertinent information
- Make it clear that they are empowered to do the task (and mean it!). This is a good time to state that you understand this is a learning experience for them and you don't expect it to be perfect right out of the gate. People learn better when they don't have perfection anxiety hanging over their heads.
- Ask if there are any immediate questions.
- Schedule a follow up discussion for after they've had time to absorb the information and start diving in. There are always more questions. This practice opens the door for two-way communication throughout the duration of the project
- Check in regularly to head any missteps off at the pass.
- Celebrate the small wins and show grace for the bumps throughout the process along the way.
I am a firm believer of setting people up for success to the best of my ability from the outset. Setting people up for success doesn't mean there won't be challenges along the way, it means that they have every chance of reaching the end of the project with a positive outcome. The intern in my story had the opportunity to develop several design concepts, build them and determine which seemed the most feasible. They learned about which ideas worked, and which didn't...and they went back to school with a story about how they designed a part for an airplane - how cool is that?
Note for Aspiring Leaders: I was not in a leadership role at the time of my story. It's never too early to start acquiring your leadership tools. Think about ways you can start developing your delegation skills now - look around for people who are more junior or are wanting to learn something you can teach.
How well do you delegate? Is there something on your plate that could be delegated today? What delegation challenges do you face? How can you empower someone today?
I'd love to hear from you. Please comment below or send me a note via the Connect section of the home page.
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