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PCCA Journal|4
th
Quarter 2011
20
ment (See Exhibit 1).
How do you decide which tasks to delegate in your organi-
zation? One way is to look at the job responsibilities at each
career level in your organization. For example, what tasks
will an assistant project manager need to do once he or she
becomes a project manager? What duties will a senior project
manager take on when he or she rises to the executive level?
For example, an executive manager can delegate the schedul-
ing and cost analysis for a major project to a project manager.
The executive manager certainly will want to monitor the
progress of the delegated work at regular intervals, especially
at the beginning of the project. The payoff is that the project
manager learns new skills and the executive has more time to
concentrate on other priorities.
Another way to decide on what to delegate is to consider
your own move up the corporate ladder. What activities did
you do before you were promoted that you can assign to
others? A good place to start is assigning meaningful work in
which you have experience to facilitate the training and en-
sure that the work is done well. Say you are your company’s
vice president of operations. As such, you probably travel
considerably among international, national, and regional
offices and/or attend meetings and conferences of various
associations. Are there employees who can attend some of
these meetings for you? This would be particularly beneficial
to those people who have the potential to move up the career
ladder in your company. Not only do they start meeting im-
portant contacts, but they also learn more about the industry
overall, increasing the strength of the entire group.
When you start delegating work to others, starting small is
a good idea. Delegating in stages increases both the manag-
er’s and employee’s comfort levels. Group together concepts
and skills that build on each other so that employees gain ex-
perience in the basics before moving on to more complicated
tasks. For example, as a manager, you are probably in charge
of a variety of meetings each week. Instead of preparing the
agendas or presenting reports, assign this to an employee
who needs to improve his or her presentation skills. The
employee gains valuable experience, and your time is freed
up to concentrate on more pressing issues.
Keep in mind that not all work can be delegated to others.
For example, company owners cannot delegate the develop-
ment of their overall vision, even though there must be a
vision and that vision must be communicated clearly. Sensi-
tive or confidential projects should not be handed over to in-
experienced staff, nor should employee performance reviews,
complex customer negotiations, or the hiring and career de-
velopment of new people. However, most other work, at least
varying degrees of it, can be delegated to others. Successful
delegation of authority takes time but is worth the effort in
the end to help employees develop a sense of accountability,
succeed, and rise within the organization.
Conclusion
Good managers do not hover over their employees. They
involve their people in the decision-making process by teach-
ing them how to make good decisions for the organization.
Good managers do not problem solve for their employees,
but instead coach them to solve problems on their own.
Good managers trust their employees, and in turn that trust
is reciprocated. By not micromanaging every aspect of their
people’s jobs, good managers help employees develop and
grow, which benefits the entire organization.
Kelley Chisholm is the editor of FMI Quarterly. She can be
reached at (919) 785-9215 or kchisholm@fminet.com.
Are You a Helicopter Boss?
Continued from page 19
Exhibit 1: Micro Management vs. Delegation
Micro Management
Delegation
Managers only assign simple, superficial or boring tasks, where employees
are not expanding their skill sets.
Managers assign work that is challenging and provides an opportunity for
employees to grow and develop new skills.
Employees must obtain approval for every decision.
Employees have the authority to make decisions on their own.
Managers give detailed directions and do not allow input from the
employees.
Employees are encouraged to come up with their own ways to deliver
required results.
Managers take back the work at the first hint of problems, and the
employees are not allowed to problem solve or learn from the experience.
Managers encourage the employees to find solutions to problems, thereby
creating learning experience.
Managers focus solely on trivial details and processes.
Managers focus on employees performance and end results.
Managers do not trust their employees.
Employees are treated as business partners and are trusted.