Sharing power pays off

By VICKI JAYNE

It's something of a truism that teams don't work too well if one person wants to hog all the glory or carry the entire work burden - especially if it's the captain.

"Stand aside, Carlos, I'm taking that penalty because you missed the last" would not be a good look in the world of Super 12. Transfer it to the workplace, however, and it probably has a sadly familiar air.

"Okay, Mary, I know this project was your baby, but I'm going to have to start driving it now because you missed the first deadline" is perhaps less dramatic but just as destructive to team morale and performance.

It's all to do with effective delegation - something many local managers have yet to get the hang of. Shaun McCarthy, who chairs the New Zealand branch of organisational development consulting and research firm Human Synergistics, is even prepared to put a figure on it - 749.

That, he says, is how many New Zealand managers are probably overestimating their delegating skills.

"What our data suggests is that while, on average, managers may think they are delegating, what they are really doing is simply transferring their workload to their direct reports."

McCarthy believes the real key to effective delegation is empowerment - enabling people to achieve organisational objectives by giving them the freedom (and resources) to determine how the job is done.

"This is where most managers miss the mark. They not only focus on what needs to be done when delegating but how it should be done. Because this leaves no room for initiative and autonomy, it effectively disempowers people."

The data he refers to comes from an 18-month Human Synergistics International study of the interplay between leadership/management styles and organisational culture. Involving 1000 companies and 35,000 individuals, it revealed that the sort of constructive organisational culture managers say they want is frequently undermined by their own behaviour.

So, for instance, when a manager reduces opportunities for empowerment, then uses criticism and blame as motivators, this is reflected in an organisational culture that "unwittingly encourages avoidance of blame, dependency on those in control and passive/aggressive behaviours that aren't helpful to the organisation".

True delegators use this skill to grow the capabilities of those around them and motivate people to achieve - a genuinely constructive style of management that's associated with greater effectiveness and, if it's the prevailing style, better organisational performance, says McCarthy.

Unfortunately, true empowerment is one of those areas where there's often a gap between theory (or intention) and actual practice. That's probably because it's not something all leaders are naturally good at.

In fact, history rather suggests that most people who gain power prove a tad reluctant to give much of it up.

They may be worried about putting power and responsibility into the wrong hands and thereby precipitating project or organisational failure. They may genuinely believe no one can do the job as well as they can (a sure recipe for management burnout).

Or they may fear someone else can do it a heck of a lot better.

Managers who are insecure in their own grasp of power will not readily hand much of it over, are likely to snatch it back at the first whiff of failure, or may subtly undermine those to whom they delegate by failing to provide necessary support.

John Hinchcliff, recently retired head of the Auckland University of Technology, has a different take on power. He reckons the more you give away, the better things will get.

"The most important part of good delegation is appointing people you can respect and trust. Then it's a matter of giving as much power away as possible. The more you can give, the better the place will fly."

During his 20 years at AUT's helm, Hinchcliff earned a reputation for his ability to delegate well and empower those who worked with him. He agrees it has its challenges.

"The difficulty of being CEO, especially in the state sector, is that you are annually reviewed and have to meet certain performance criteria. If you don't, you may be on the skids - so you want to ensure everything goes smoothly. There's always a concern that when you give power away, something will go wrong."

When it does - as inevitably it sometimes will - then it is crucial to give people your support, says Hinchcliff.

"Sometimes you get the blame, but you also get praise for things you didn't even know were happening. So it's a balancing act. And sometimes you can't give away power - you have to assert leadership and sort things out. But overall, the more you can free people up to act, the better the result."

The trick is to delegate the outcomes and keep an eye on the process without standing over someone and telling them how to do it, says Winston Pond, principal consultant with Leadership Solutions.

"You identify what is wanted but don't take away their initiative or limit the scope for ideas and innovation by being too controlling."

It is, he says, a question of recognising and playing to the different talents in a work team.

"A key part of good delegation is knowing what people's talents are so you can delegate the right tasks to the right people."

You get the worst organisational outcomes, he says, when a manager ostensibly delegates a task or responsibility but then tries to maintain control over it. The poor old delegatee feels like they're constantly being ridden and unable to do things the way they want.

Managers have to be able to take a bit of a risk and let go control. But they can also put safety nets in place by, for instance, establishing "check-in" points to ensure everything is on track, says Pond.

"The reality is that everyone has talent and if you treat them as adults, you'll normally get an adult response. Treat them like kids in appearance and style and you'll get the performance you deserve.

"There has got to be trust in the delegation process."

More trust and less ego is probably a good recipe for successful delegation.

Hinchcliff's advice to those who might be having trouble with it is to remember that they won't always be in charge.

"There will be a day where you're not there and the question is - can the institution run without you. That should be your legacy, that you can be easily replaced and the place continue to run strongly. The more you can see yourself as not being crucial, the better you've succeeded."

DELEGATION TIPS

1. Choose - or hire - the right person for the role/task (appropriate abilities, training, experience, temperament etc).

2. Ensure they have sufficient support (resources, authority etc) to do it.

3. Delegate the objective, not the process - someone else may come up with a much better way of achieving the desired results.

4. Establish some check-in points as a safety net.

5. Delegation doesn't mean abdication. Plan, inform, communicate - don't just dump and run. As manager you're still ultimately accountable.

6. Don't keep all the plum jobs to yourself.

7. Don't limit delegated responsibilities to a favoured few - spread the delegation net wider to help strengthen leadership throughout the organisation.

8. Trust those you delegate to.

9. Leave ego out of the process.