The Hurdles to Effective Delegation
By Bob McGannon, PMP
As businesses seek to tackle larger and more complex projects, the wise project manager will increase their ability to delegate effectively. This can be a very tricky game, as skills around the world are becoming more scarce, and the pipeline of new personnel to replace them is slowing considerably. Project managers need to overcome the obstacles that get in the way of effective delegation, as a matter of survival. Here we will explore the obstacles to effective delegation, the cause of those obstacles (you might be surprised by a common cause) and the way forward to more effective and successful delegation.
Hurdle #1 – “I don’t have anyone with the correct skills to whom I can delegate.”
The first lesson that needs to be learned is that delegation is not a five minute process – it is more like a five month process. As project managers, we have “risen to the top” and have been given additional responsibilities by our management. We can’t expect those around us that haven’t been given that same level of additional responsibility to possess those same capabilities. If they did, they might be the project manager, and you might be reporting to them! Given that the people that are reporting to us – to whom we might consider delegating responsibilities - don’t always have the skill we would desire, it is up to us as project managers to correct this situation. Thus, skills transfer to enable others to help us needs to come from US, as project managers, and it does take time. When taking a new project assignment, the forward thinking project manager will plan additional time (even if it results in working overtime) to prepare their most promising staff members to effectively receive delegated assignments. It is the only way the astute project manager can prepare him/herself to take on greater and more demanding assignments.
Hurdle #2 – “I don’t have a staff member that I can trust with delegated responsibilities.”
The project manager that can’t bring himself to trust others is doomed to managing small and comparatively insignificant projects. Without releasing some responsibilities to others, the project manager is forever stuck with having to “do everything” and therefore the projects they can manage are limited to what they can personally produce without assistance.
This is not a pretty picture; it limits the career of the project manager, and the ability of the businesses to gain the greatest amount of benefit. A major part of being a project manager is to identify and take on risk, mitigate it, and move forward. As projects always have a degree of uncertainty, we cannot be effective project managers and not be comfortable with some degree of risk. This is the first place we need to accept and address risk – by trusting others to help us with tasks, even those that are traditionally assigned to the project manager. Doing so enhances the loyalty of the team members to your leadership, expands team member capabilities (see point #1 above) and frees up the project manager to perform more strategic tasks. This, in turn, gives us time to think through scenarios that might increase the probability of project success, and work with team members to improve the overall project deliverables. In short, if you are having trust issues with delegation – get over it. Give the team members a chance, guide and correct them as necessary, have appropriate guidelines and procedures in place, and allow them to help you. Develop trust over time and through repetitive coaching of others, and help yourself and the project in the long run.
continue>>
|
