How Awesome of a Delegator Are You?

There is only so much time in a day. You prioritize on the fly. You dedicate time to the things that you must do. You delegate the rest. Right?

Try this. Plan a vacation. Not a long weekend. Not 5 days. Not even 7 days. Go for 14 days. Go for more. Plan a vacation long enough that forces you to identify the tasks to be delegated out during your absence. 

Identify the appropriate staff member(s) to assume responsibility and begin the hand-off a week before you leave so you are available for questions. Set up rules for email messages that can be routed to your junk folder or permanently deleted while you are out. Begin this a week or so before you leave.

Get my drift?

Go to work the week before vacation. What types of things are you doing now that you are not reviewing and recommending approval/disapproval of advanced leave, FMLA or leave without pay requests; reviewing results and adjudicating initial and final background investigations; or compiling information for the director's monthly worker's compensation report and tracking performance monitors?

There are some tasks that have been delegated directly to you and can not be delegated beyond you on a regular basis. Then, there are there others. What would happen if you did not take those back when you returned from vacation? What would happen if you provided staff the tools, training and authority to assume these responsibilities on a regular basis? What if you unsubscribed from the messages and news groups that filled up your junk folder over vacation?

How awesome of a delegator would you be then? More importantly, how much more effective could you be?

Crushing Positive Employee Relations

Distracted managers not focused on the needs and expectations of employees is a major source of dissatisfaction for employees. Kudos (and my appreciation) to those committed to maintaining positive employee relations.

There are many things a manager can do to maintain positive employee relations. One thing a manager can do is to respect, acknowledge and appreciate their employees. Another, make sure you're as nice in email as you are in person. 

• Respect the impact an email can have on an employee. When an employee sees an email from their boss, their blood pressure actually goes up, no matter what the content of the mail is. But, understandably, blood pressure went up even more when employees got angry emails from the boss, or emails from a boss they perceived to be unfair. If you get in the habit of sending little bombs throughout the day, you will create a truly deadly workplace.
• Be consistent. People read a lot into emails because the emails are devoid of the nonverbal cues we use to judge a message delivered in person. If you usually send very cordial ones, and then send a cold one, people who depend on you will spend hours analyzing it. The more consistent you are, the more people will focus on your content and stop wasting time trying to figure out subtext.

Not sexy enough, I know, but being nice in email can help you to avoid legal landmines. Email transmissions are considered "documents," and can be used against an employer in a lawsuit in the same way as any written letter or memorandum. Moreover, deleted messages do not just "go away," but remain in the company´s electronic archives.  Deleted messages can be recalled, and an improper message can come back to haunt an employer months or years after the message was first transmitted.

Ready to fire off a strongly worded email, tip the balance of power in your favor and enjoy the illusion while it lasts?  Don't. Step away from the computer.

I expect more from a leader in my organization. You should too.