Top Time Tip #111
Those Darned Interruptions – a Tip to Reduce Some of Them
7th October 2008
Hello
A chance comment from another speaker mate the other day made me realise just how very blessed I am with the fabulous team of people who surround me. It's amazing what a small team of focused, able and dedicated people can achieve. (That makes it sound like a cast of thousands but, apart from myself, our team of four others are all part-time contractors working from their homes and spread from one end of the world to the other.) Whilst I've been flat out working in the UK and Australia for a month, the New Zealand team have done a fantastic job on many fronts.
Back to my speaker friend. He'd been complaining that he couldn't promote a public seminar because he was on the road so much. So, in this issue I want to chat for a few minutes about delegation and one specific delegation skill that frees up our time dramatically, once we learn it.
Enjoy the article.
The Power of Good Questions
I've just done a couple of jobs for the team of Williams Medical Supplies, based in the Rhymney Valley, South Wales. This included speaking at the All Wales Practice Managers Conference in the Vale of Glamorgan. (I was delighted to see lots of All Black references at the hotel - they hold our New Zealand rugby heroes in high regard over there.)
From 'Sally', one of the Practice Managers at the conference, when I asked for specific time challenges from the participants: "A lot of staff don't want to take responsibility - they won't make decisions. I was at the supermarket, off duty, when I got a call from the clinic the other day telling me 'the answerphone's broken'. When I asked what the staff member what she'd done about it I was told: 'I'm calling you'."
In some frustration Sally did what a lot of others would do - sighed, and drove down to the clinic to sort out the problem.
There's more than one possible issue here. Of course, if the staff member had a poor attitude she might not have ever taken the initiative. However, the key trait that I've observed great delegators use, and that a surprising number of managers don't apply, is to be a great questioner.
Assuming that the staff member concerned did have the basic skills and wasn't just a lazy malingerer, here are a few other possible ways Sally could have handled that scenario.
- 'Pretend I'm not available and it has to be fixed. What would you do?'
- 'So, give me a couple of solutions'.
- 'You don't know? Ring me back with your recommendations when you've had a think about it.'
It's highly likely that the problem isn't just what's occurring at that moment. The issue has probably arisen much further back. For instance, did the person concerned have the confidence and authority to make decisions?
What do we need to do to empower our staff? There are two types of people who'll not take initiative in situations like this - the ones lacking in confidence, and the lazy ones. I don't know which camp Sally's caller fell into, but either way the skill of questioning is part of encouraging people to think - and apply - their initiative. By doing so we tap into a little-used human motivation secret - helping people access their own thinking, not just being 'yes' people who can only act under instructions.
There is one other key factor too, as we learn to delegate more effectively.
Do we give our staff the chance to make mistakes without undue repercussions?
If they're scared to act for fear of being bawled out, of course they're not going to risk making decisions. Many employees tell horror stories of dreadful bosses who destroy the confidence of their staff by micro-managing them, ridiculing them if they make mistakes, and in many subtle and not-so-subtle ways destroying the confidence of the people on the team.
Have fun tapping into the brilliance of the people on your team. It's a powerful time-saver.
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