-
The 10 Essentials of Delegating
Tweet Share on Facebook December 5, 2008 Comment (2)You will not be an effective manager unless you learn how to delegate. The question, "Should I be handling this?" must be asked frequently if you are to develop your associates, build a strong team, and avoid being swamped.
Delegation does, however, have its ground rules. Here are 10:
- Don't delegate any task, such as termination of a direct report, which requires your personal involvement.
- Clarify which decisions are exclusively yours, which are exclusively the employee's, and which should be jointly examined.
- Don't delegate responsibility without authority. Give appropriate amounts of power.
- Make sure the person has sufficient resources and ready access to those resources. For example, requiring a subordinate to get your approval every time the company lawyer needs to be consulted may waste time and discourage the seeking of needed legal advice.
- Discuss the priorities of the assignment. Don't assume that they are clear.
- Let others know of the delegation and block those who may try to subvert the arrangement by going directly to you.
- Give the employee any necessary training. That will strengthen the person's abilities while signaling that a high level of performance is expected.
- When describing the desired results, tell the person what you don't want as well as what you want. Learning what is undesirable can be enormously helpful.
- Talk about where the organization should be once the goals are accomplished and discuss what future challenges should be expected.
- Don't dismiss any attention to detail as micromanaging. Certain details may require your touch, but as the employee gains confidence and expertise, your involvement should decline. You are building an employee and a system.
-
Choosing Fuel for Your Career Journey
Tweet Share on Facebook December 4, 2008 Comment (2)When it comes to your career journey, how do you fuel up? Do you fill your mind with a high-octane, positive perspective or do you pump it full of toxic sludge? Is what you put into your brain positive and inspiring or negative and demoralizing?
What you focus on affects how you see the world. That in turn affects what you have the potential to achieve. The more positive your outlook, the better the potential for a positive outcome.
Unfortunately, most of us are on a mental junk food binge. You don't have to go any further than the nightly news to find an abundance of that toxic sludge being served up for us to consume. If the stories that show up day after day are any indication, the world is a mighty dark place.
-
Cutting Salaries in a Recession
Tweet Share on Facebook December 4, 2008 Comment (2)I am a manager in a small software company. We're beginning to experience difficult AR collections as well as declining sales—a bad combo for a small company with little to no cash reserves, but that's a rant for another time.
My immediate problem is that the president of the company wants to implement 15 percent pay cuts. And, he wants to keep them indefinitely even when the financial picture improves. He's under the impression that employees are worth less money in a recession and argues it's simple supply and demand to drive down the market price: There are fewer jobs available as well as more qualified candidates. It sounds like crazy Reaganomics to me.
-
When a Job Title Means Nothing
Tweet Share on Facebook December 3, 2008 Comment (5)Money's tight. Everyone knows that. Employers know it, too, and they're looking for ways to cut corners.
One corner-cutter is that oldie-but-goodie:
"Give 'em a title instead of a raise."
Yup, title inflation is rampant. With so many vice presidents, group vice presidents, executive vice presidents, vice chairmen, directors, chief officers, and more around, it makes you wonder who is doing the actual work.
Of course, a nice title can be ... nice. It may boost you to a higher salary bracket, which could help at raise time. It may give you better leverage with customers. It may even make you work harder.
-
Dear Santa: Please Bring Better Jobs
Tweet Share on Facebook December 2, 2008 Comment (1)Dear Santa,
What's up with Wii? Why can't they just make more? Some kids at school were asking that question, and I thought you might know the answer.
Mom and Dad need a new car—right now the old one is just parked in the driveway and Mom has to take Dad to work. It is waaay out of the way. And all they talk about in the car is money. Please send them some more money so they will talk to me, too.
-
Finish the Year With Gratitude
Tweet Share on Facebook December 1, 2008 CommentEditor's Note: Curt Rosengren typically posts on Thursdays.
When it comes to pursuing success in your career (and your life, for that matter), what's going on between your ears is as important as what's going on around you. Your mind shapes your outlook on life, creating the lens through which you see the world.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, a day that for most of us means turkey, family get-togethers, and football and parades on TV. It comes and goes, and life goes back to normal. But what if you used your Thanksgiving to kick off an effort to consciously shape what's going on in your mind? What if it became Day One of an exploration of gratitude?
-
6 Ways Managers Mess Up Performance Evaluations
Tweet Share on Facebook December 1, 2008 Comment (4)Performance evaluations seem to inspire a special sort of dread—not just among employees but also for the managers who have to write them. Here are six mistakes managers commonly make in the process:
1. Procrastinating. Putting off a performance evaluation sends a horrible message by signaling that the manager doesn't care about the employee's professional development.
2. Not being direct about problem areas. Of course, nothing in a performance evaluation should be a surprise because the manager should have been giving feedback all year, but bad managers shy away from discussing problem areas, and this often carries over to formal evaluations as well. Sure, addressing problems can be uncomfortable, but you shouldn't be a manager if you're not willing to meet this obligation.
advertisement
Slide Shows
Quiz: The Hottest Healthcare Jobs This Decade
Take this quiz to learn more about the best jobs for healthcare workers.
advertisement
