Internal Alliances--Employee Partnership Through Delegation

 By Ed Rigsbee, CSP

(661 Words)

A true leader displays personal power rather than position power.  Leading the charge is an important element in partnering with your employees.  When I was a child, my mother would say, "Do as I say and not as I do." Which choice do you think I made? Sure, I'd do as my mother "did" and frequently got in trouble for my actions. If this scenario sounds familiar, you better change your approach. "Be sure you're prepared to live the values you profess—your people will 'hear' what they 'see,' not what you say."  -Dan McNamara, Senior Vice President, Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America

If you want to develop high performance employee partnerships, you must do so by example. One way to lead by example is to exhibit self-confidence. You can show that you are a confident leader. A leader has personal power. A boss gets his or her power from the title on a business card. Show your confidence by delegating tasks and responsibilities to your team members.  Delegate in a way that builds alliance relationships so team members become interdependent with one another rather than dependent or independent. This will give you an integrated organization.

Listed below are some tips for high-performance employee partnering delegation:

1.      Adjust your attitude and be willing to hand over control, if you can.

2.      Identify which tasks can be delegated and then define the delegation for your employee.

3.      Create a training program because delegating without educating is a formula for disaster.

4.      Show trust in your team and encourage trust between members. Your employees will enjoy no greater honor than your trust.

5.      Spell-out the limits, explain results wanted and define authority. Create a safety net so individuals can take risks. If they make a mistake, still acknowledge the risk they took. This will go a long way in building a robust relationship. 

6.      Ask for, and agree on a project/delegation deadline. Wow, what a concept, let them tell you when they can get it done. First give the time parameters and then get out of their way.

7.      Set intermediate goals and check to be sure the goals are being achieved. Regular follow-up is crucial to success. Be careful though, a new employee needs much more follow up than one who has been around for years.

8.      Delegate with a purpose, no busy work. Explain the reason for the delegation and how the activity affects the workplace in total. Your employee will then have buy-in or better yet, an ownership in the project.

9.      Delegate the what, not the how and get out of the way. Do not micro-manage. Micro-management is the kiss of death in building partnering relationships with employees.

10.  Be honest with your team members and assign tasks fairly based on ability and past performance. Be careful of the teacher’s pet syndrome. Discrimination for whatever reason is destructive to workplace harmony.

11.  Avoid perfectionism, especially if you are one of those analytical types. Give people a reasonable margin got error and accept that different can also be effective.