Angie, don't be a hero!

I've been thinking a lot recently about delegation. I watched a colleague struggle to complete a wide-ranging task, and realised she was struggling because of lack of delegation. Normally this is easy to deal with: you have too much work to complete in a given time frame, you delegate tasks to appropriate co-workers- job done. The problem in this instance was that it wasn't my colleague that couldn't delegate, it was the boss.

Good managers need to be able to perform hands-off as well as hands-on. It's easy to spot a colleague struggling with a new task, or one that's utterly snowed under. There are obvious solutions too: restructure their work, offer extra help and training until they've mastered the new task, even just being patient and cutting them a little slack. Great hands-off managers don't hang around your computer screen all day, they don't ask for updates on a project every two minutes: they let you get on with the job and trust you to make the right decisions. What they certainly don't do is delegate a task, watch you perform it, and then redo it themselves. Unless there is something significantly wrong with what your employee has done, this kind of action renders their hard work pointless and makes them feel like they can't be trusted with their work.

It is behaviour I've seen many times, and behaviour I have been guilty of in the past. Often I find it happens to me when I'm working on something really big, or a complex task that has many smaller elements. At times like this I'm blinded by detail- I can't see the big picture because of the little things on my to do list. It's a bit like producing exciting veg and sumptuous sauces for Christmas, but forgetting to put the turkey in the oven. But sometimes the reason that I do this is because I am a hero. I don't wear my underwear over my pants, but sometimes 'I can just do it better than you', sometimes 'I don't mind sticking around until it's finished' and sometimes it is 'five more minutes' which turns into all day. Basically, I might not look like Superman, might not be as good or as useful as Superman, but that won't stop me acting like I am.

The solution. Take regular tea breaks. Take lunch. Leave when your colleagues do. If they won't leave; make them. Most importantly, assess the skills of your team, recognise what people are truly good at and what they may be good at (given the chance). Accept that failures along the way are a risk of pursuing success.

Read more about heroes from Alex Payne. He writes much, much better than me so I'll leave him to it.