April 2008
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Sharpening Your Delegation Skills
- Feature Story: Sharpening Your Delegation Skills - A Professional Tells Us How
- Monica Contreras, VP of Construction and Capital Projects, Urban Space Property Group
- Tips for Delegating Succesfully
- What's New at Oomph
- Workshop Schedule
- Next Issue: Planning for Succession
Oomph: Many people admit not knowing where to begin or how to approach delegating. How do you decide what to delegate and to whom?Monica: You start by having well-defined roles, so you need to know what people were hired for and what their responsibilities are.
Oomph: Fear of 'accidents' or shoddy work is probably the main reason people avoid delegating. How do you decide what level of decision making to delegate?Monica: It’s an issue of managing risk - what is the dollar amount you can lose if things go wrong? With that in mind, you look at the person's skills: can they do the job properly; do they have the skills they need? Also, you have to make sure you are matching the complexity of the task to the person, so you avoid making a junior employee fail or end up with a bored senior on your hands. Next, I look at time: can they do the work or the task on time? And if they can't - do I have the time to do it properly in the event I have to pick up the slack or redo the work? Lastly, I look at willingness and enthusiasm, which do matter, because you can’t give people a challenge they don’t want. You have to match aspirations with the task: does the person want to expand their knowledge in this area? Oomph: You mention time, which is another reason people give for not delegating, especially when dealing with new employees or with an employee who has not performed that type of assignment before. People think it's easier and faster to just do the work themselves. What's your approach?Monica: You have to be realistic: you can’t expect the person to succeed in the same way you would – it’s unfair and will lead to failure. The formula I use is: if it takes me an hour to do a task, double it by 10 if you're dealing with someone new. |
Oomph: Have you ever tested an employee’s growth potential by delegating tasks to them? What type of tasks were these? What was the outcome?Monica: Yes, I have and the outcome was very good. It was a young designer and I tested him with progressively larger projects. He rose to the challenge every time. Ultimately I gave him a rather large project and he did a beautiful job.
Oomph: Do you have some tasks you are currently responsible for that could possibly be delegated?Monica: Oh yes, my flaw is that I take too much on – I’m always having to think through what I am doing and what I should delegate...
Oomph: That's the case for many of us! It's something one can always improve on, but you need discipline. Monica, your insights have been great. Do you have anything else you'd like to share with us?Monica: Well, I think that delegating is not about expecting perfection – it's about understanding that someone will grow. On the other hand, you also need to realize that some people cannot be trusted to manage things on their own. They can only be instructed. |
Tips for Delegating Successfully
To delegate successfully you need to communicate clearly and choose the right approach to supervise the work and monitor results. There are five approaches used in business relationships regardless of the size of the firm or practice: Supervising, Managing, Directing, Coaching, and Leading by Example.
Supervising: Supervising is an intimate form of delegation where you are in constant contact with your employee as they execute their assignments. You instruct your employee on the order of tasks to be performed.
►When to use: The supervising approach is used when introducing new work to your practice or to an employee.
►Employees who benefit: Employees who are new, inexperienced and/or have difficulty making changes to their work.
Managing is a more continuous delegating action than supervising. When you manage, you look at a series of related activities and determine which of the activities you would like to delegate to your employee[s]. You explain what you would like to achieve on an on-going basis, but leave it up to the employee to determine how to achieve the result. Once you have delegated the activity, you manage or observe how successfully the employee carries out the activity. Where the employee is not as successful as you expected, you would talk to them and determine what other action could be taken. Or you would give the employee some guidance as to how they could carry out the action.
►When to use: When introducing a series of related activities to employees with good knowledge and experience. Use on a day-to-day basis to ensure an efficient workflow.
►Employees who benefit: Managing is used for employees who are experienced and have a good understanding of how their work affects others and the practice.
Directing is used to delegate big chunks of responsibility to an employee. The employee is expected to use their judgment to determine how best to carry out the activities.
►When to use: To delegate large areas of responsibility to competent and experienced employees. You can also use Directing as a single one time action to direct employees in urgent situations.
►Employees who benefit: Directing works well with employees who are experienced, aware of other employee needs, and who use good judgment. In urgent situations, all employees benefit from Directing.
Coaching is used where work can be performed by a number of different methods and where your employees’ diverse skills can be applied in different ways. When you coach, you use a combination of directing, managing, and supervising the delegation to an employee. You can also guide the employee through the learning process by asking them a series of questions.
►When to use: Coaching is used to guide employees in reaching long term objectives, or resolving complex problems. It is used where you need to modify employee behaviour to fit your practice standards. Coaching is also used to develop employee judgment and decision-making skills that will allow you to delegate more complex work.
►Employees who benefit: Employees focused on career development and who are comfortable working independently to the benefit of the practice thrive on coaching delegation.
Leading By Example is the most powerful and influential form of delegation. And, it can often be the most challenging form of delegation for you to perform. You will often hear Leading referred to as ‘walk the talk’, or ‘do as I do’, or ‘leading by example’.
To lead by example, you need to be clear about the purpose of your practice. When you are clear about your practice you will use a consistent approach to your work. How you perform activities, make decisions and communicate with people creates your practice culture. It is the combination of these activities that employees look to for guidance on what is expected of them and how they should execute their work.
►When to use: Use Leading everyday and for every communication. Use Leading in addition to other approaches such as supervising and managing. Or, use it alone. Employees will consciously and subconsciously assume responsibility for duties and responsibilities.
►Employees who benefit: All employees benefit from Leading and especially those who learn best by observation.
What's New at Oomph
Oomph Joins the ASID Distinguished Speaker Series
Oomph is pleased to announce that the American Society of Interior Designers [ASID] has chosen our very own Celese Fletcher for its 2008 Distinguished Speaker Series. Celese will make her debut as an ASID Speaker at Sourcery XXIV, the annual trade show and premiere event of ASID’s Ohio North Chapter in Cleveland, where she will present Oomph’s flagship workshop “The Sole Practitioner as a Thriving Enterprise”.
The Distinguished Speaker Series offers design professionals the opportunity to learn from some of the most dynamic presenters in the design industry and the business community. Members are selected each year through an extensive screening process and successful candidates have their presentations and seminars offered to ASID chapters across the United States and Canada. Each program is accredited by the Interior Design Continuing Education Council [IDCEC] and ASID chapter members earn 0.2 Continuing Education Units [CEUs] for each 2-hour seminar they attend.
Oomph to present 'Current Trends and Concerns in Human Resources' at the Society for Design Administration in Toronto on April 17
Professional firms are facing unique human resource challenges. The work force now consists of a vast range of culturally diverse and multi-generational employees, and surveys show that 66% of these employees are moderately disengaged from their work [Towers Perrin survey]. There is also a shortage of licensed and trained professionals in the architecture and engineering industries.
Human Resource Directors and Administrators need to develop creative solutions to deal with these particular issues, and the challenge lies in creating programs that will engage employees and help them develop the skills they need to maintain a professional edge and meet increasing client expectations.
Welcome the return of mentoring, but with a twist! Cross-generational mentoring, where a seasoned principal is paired with a promising junior employee is an effective way to exchange knowledge, develop exciting new approaches to work and train the next generation of practice leaders. The benefit of knowledge and experience in the industry is complimented by a keen understanding of the latest technology and industry innovation.
SDA Canada promotes education and best practices in management and professional standards of design firm administrative personnel. Our members include principals, controllers, marketing managers, HR supervisors, administrators, project managers, and consultants to design firms. For more information about SDA Canada please visit www.sdacanada.com.
Oomph Group will present a dynamic session to introduce the benefits of cross-generational mentoring and how firms can get a program off the ground. At the The Albany Club in Toronto on April 17.
Oomph to Deliver Four Workshops at the OAA's Annual General Meeting in Niagara Falls May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
Back by popular demand! After last year's acclaimed appearance, Oomph has been invited to return to the Ontario Association of Architects' AGM and Conference - The Future of the Profession. This year we will present four sessions; two will be our very popular workshop "Delegating Without Losing Control", and the other sessions will feature a brand new workshop commissioned by the OAA - “Increasingly Demanding Client Expectations”, designed to help members navigate today’s complex practice environment. To write the program, Oomph principals Celese Fetcher and Johanna Hoffmann have been conducting interviews with sole practitioners and with principals and practice leaders at mid-size and large firms active in the areas of residential, educational, institutional, commercial and recreational design. The view from the client side is being explored through interviews with private, corporate and institutional clients and with stakeholders in the city and elsewhere. Oomph’s objective is to provide program attendees with an overview of the situation and current trends and with strategies and tactics they can employ to manage ‘increasingly demanding client expectations’.
National Kitchen and Bath Association - Ontario Chapter. We've been invited to participate in the Annual General Meeting of the National Kitchen and Bath Association's Ontario Chapter. This is the first time we attend one of their events and we're thrilled! On May 27, we'll present 'Delegating Without Losing Control' and in the evening we'll conduct a dinner presentation on the topic that's on everybody's mind: Planning for Succession.
