Delegation--if you don't do the process, the process is useless.

People are terrible at delegating and giving instruction. Not all people, but I do think that all of us could get better at it. I've been doing several online courses and have read several business books that discuss this very important detail of business and every-day life. Lately I've been listening to a book on improving families by Bruce Feiler, The Secrets of Happy Families, Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More. The book does not delve into delegating in and of itself, which is probably why it seemed to point out several things that people do poorly in relation to teaching/delegating--and if you think that these subjects are not related, you're severely mistaken. They're practically the same thing. Delegating is just teaching somebody how to do something, and what you expect them to do, and not do, in the process. Anyone needing a thorough retreading of delegation should read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. He lays it out in too much detail, if that's possible, and yet we still miss the point.
How to Delegate:
1. Show them how you do it. Because they need to see and because you may be more particular than you think you are. e.g. Do you hang the toilet paper over, or under? Don't get frustrated that they don't do it like you would have done it, if you haven't shown them how you do it.
2. Tell them exactly what needs to be done and how the task relates to the big picture. People need to know that their job is relevant and appreciated, and affects people in very positive ways. In healthcare, the janitor may be the most important person in preventing spread of contagious diseases.
3. Instruct them on what resources they are allowed to use in completing the task. Don't complain if your employee builds a house out of straw when you wanted a house of bricks, if you did not tell them that you wanted a house of bricks.
4. Instruct them on what resources and steps they are NOT allowed to use while completing the task. This may seem redundant as you have already told them what they can use, but these are two very different things. e.g. "Lydia (my three year old daughter) please throw that paper in the garbage." She proceeds to writhe slowly along the floor. "I'm a fish and the floor is the water," she states. (she is allowed full reign on the method she uses to get that trash in the bin--this is where lots of the magic of delegation happens, they may do a better job than you and with more flare--but she is not allowed to take all day if we are rushing out the door. "You only have 10 seconds to get that paper in the garbage, or you will get a time out (see #5)." Lydia writhes much more quickly towards the garbage. Be very clear on what boundaries they have.
5. Be specific on how they will be graded, and follow up with grading their results. Give accountability--both for a job well done (often forgotten) and for what needs work (often overstated). (Key Results Areas (KRA's) in Dave Ramsey speak)
6. Give them the right amount of leash and get out of the way. (obviously you don't have to show them how to clean a toilet...or do you?) Why must we be taught every year that handwashing has the biggest influence on preventing spread of infections? because every year after the handwashing class, employees from food service workers to doctors don't do an adequate job, or don't do it at all! (think you're doing a good job? The next time you're washing consider the most commonly missed areas and see if you miss a spot: the base of one or both thumbs, the base of the "pinky" finger (where you would karate chop), and the finger tips. Not to mention under a ring or watch.) A wise tip--just pretend they are completely new at what they are doing and you have to teach them everything. Let out more leash as they demonstrate competency. Years of experience don't necessarily equate to years of good experience. If they know they are going to be checked on everything, they'll be more likely to ask questions and learn, and more likely to follow through. Be careful not to belittle, berate, or be condescending throughout the process.

The problem is that all this takes time; and if there's one thing you don't have much of while starting a new venture, it's time. The kicker is, if you instruct well in the beginning, you will save much more time and be much more effective in the future (as will your delegatee).

Causes of Delegation Failure:
1. Too little oversight and training - "...but the reason I hired this person is so I wouldn't have to do this anymore" I know, but even if the job title seems to scream that they should know how to do something, they still need training on your system--this also gives you ample opportunity to perfect your systems and processes by observing where people need more instruction and where less is more. You want your system to be so good that high schoolers could effectively do the work--that's why McDonald's is so successful.
2. No buy in on the importance of the task. - I know I'm just going down the list of what things you were supposed to have done. But that's just it--if you don't do the process, the process is useless. If they don't know it's important to someone, and who that someone is, and that the someone is watching and it affects them, why should they do it and/or do it well. If the teenager doling out meatballs onto your Subway sandwich gives you 6 meatballs instead of 5, it becomes very difficult to do inventory and very difficult to make a profit since the whole cost structure and ordering process is based on 5 meatballs. What happens when someone else works that shift? This is often where we've specialized ourselves into mindless work. We have to see the connectedness. How does what we do fit into the big picture?
3. Not knowing exactly what they are allowed to use. - How much time? How many other employees? How much money?
4. Not knowing the boundaries. - How has this project gone wrong in the past? What are the things that must not happen? There was a study done on school age children where they measured how far kids wandered from the middle of the playground when they had fences and did not have fences. It was found that the kids who had fences explored the full area of the playground while the kids who had no fences tended to huddle in the middle of the playground. We can't accept huddling in the middle of the business playground. Most employee problems are problems with our leadership. Few are actually due to employees that shouldn't be there. If there are a lot of those, it's still your fault because you should have done a better job of hiring!
5. No follow through - Accountability needs to be a positive word. People need recognition for what they are accomplishing. Don't believe this? Ask my nephew--he's 4 years old. Anything awesome in his life needs to be shared, and at top volume! Lay the praise on thick, but honestly. We're all really just 4 year olds at heart, no matter the age.
6. Micro-managing - How much leash do you give? Depends on the temperament of the dog! Now that I've offended all your employees, I'll say it again--it depends on the dog. You really have to know your employees. Some will need you to show them six times that the toilet paper goes on over the top and how to put it on there, then you'll have to watch them to it six more times, then check back tomorrow that they did it correctly or create a teachable moment where you finish off the roll and see what happens. Others will say "duh," and get the job done on the first try. But let them prove to you and themselves that they can and will do things properly under low stress situations before they have to do it in a high stress situation. Doctors call this a residency (even though that is high stress all along). I repeat: you need to know your team members individually, or you may as well do it yourself. Let your kid fall off a stool, but not a cliff. As Feiler writes, let your kid mess up with his $6 allowance so he won't mess up with his $60,000/ year salary or his $6 million dollar inheritance. One kid will be too stingy, another too spendthrift. Let them earn more leash, but when they do, let out that leash.
7. No single point of failure - this means that there are checks and balances. If John gets C. Difficile tomorrow because he didn't follow the handwashing advice above, Sally had better know how, when and why to change the toilet paper roll. Otherwise things are going to go very badly for you when you start getting the same symptoms because you didn't follow handwashing procedure either. Everyone makes mistakes sometime. How badly does a mistake affect you? That depends on your back up plan, and whether you change for the better because you made the mistake.

Bottom line: If you have a delegation problem, you have a you problem. What can you do better?

Do you need to be a mechanic to run a mechanic shop?

When I was a teenager and young adult (I'd like to think I'm still a young adult (but with more wisdom) and since I often work with 80 and 90 year olds, I am still a young adult by comparison) I used to stand around my parent's kitchen, leaning or sitting on the counter tops, listening to my family members discuss many topics. Since my father worked at Fidelity Investments conversations often revolved around investing and his customers who would call in for advice or to move money around buying and selling stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. I learned concepts such as "buy low, sell high", "invest early and often", "diversify", "the power of compounding interest", and to ask the question "why do you want to buy that mutual fund", as that was the most common beginning to most stories.
As I got older, my oldest brother ventured out into several businesses (some that I was a part of--lawn maintenance/landscaping, some that I wanted to be a part of but was not--real estate, and some that I did not want to be a part of but affected my world--bee keeping!). I was then introduced to a whole new world of concepts. I miss those days of staying up way past my bedtime soaking in the aspirations of my brother and learning about his and other people's successes and failures (from these alone, I could probably write a book). There are several ideas that I continue to come back to from time to time and expand upon as I gain new knowledge and understanding. One in particular still seems to haunt me.
I was probably in my late teens or early twenties and was interested in cars, especially about fixing them. My brother had a jeep and had rebuilt and improved several systems on it. I had seen the jeep in various phases of rebuild sitting under my parent's carport throughout my high school years, but had very little experience in fixing cars myself. I had an old Plymouth Horizon in high school that I had bought from another brother. I had replaced the door handle several times (poor design and huge muscles-ha), the wiper blades, the tires, mickey moused the exhaust system up with hangers, the brakes (mostly my best friend who later became a car mechanic did this one), and packed my wheel bearings once (thank goodness my older brother showed up while I was attempting this one with no prior training and went easy on me--but that is another story). In any case, I wanted to know more, but did not have a suitable mentor, so I began taking classes at the local applied technology center. I thought that being a car mechanic would be a good job to have to work on the side while I went to school for a bachelor's degree, rather than working at McDonald's.
One day while discussing business in the kitchen, my brother must have been trying to get something through my thick skull. Finally he asked, "could you run a car mechanic shop?" "No, I'm not a mechanic yet. But one day I will be able to run a shop." I replied. "Wrong! You don't need to be able to fix cars to run a mechanic shop!" he said. "But I'm learning how to fix cars" I protested. He must have been exasperated. It's a wonder he even tried to continue, but he explained that running a business and working in a business are two different skill sets altogether. I don't remember the specifics, but that phrase still haunts me while I think about running a business--any kind of business--"you don't need to be able to fix cars to run a mechanic shop". I don't think he even realized the full importance of his idea. Larry Miller is not a great basketball player. Michael Jordan is not a car manufacturer or car salesman. I'm not even sure that Ray Crock could make a cheeseburger.
Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad book series and associated products makes the distinction between a small business or specialist "S" and a big business "B". Small business owners own a job. Big business owners own an asset. S jobs: dentist, lawyer, accountant, doctor, etc. B jobs: business owner of a system. I was stuck in my mentality of becoming a specialist--a car mechanic--then becoming an owner of a mom and pop mechanic shop (an "S" or owner of a job). While he was trying to take me to the mentality of going straight to a "B" (owner of Jiffy Lube chain).
What I find interesting at the moment is that I have become a more highly paid "S"--a physical therapist--and am about to open a clinic (where I will own the job). I guess I am still working on elevating my mentality. What is also interesting, is that my lawyer says that my wife cannot be a part owner in the business because she is not a physical therapist. Professional companies (pllc, pcorp) cannot be owned by anyone outside the profession, supposedly to protect the public from greedy business people and ensure proper services (you can sue the whole company and individual professional for malpractice etc. because they are all members of the same profession). So I am forced to be an owner of an "S". Interestingly this also affects taxation. A work around seen throughout the professional world is to have another company own proprietary information and service marks and real estate and rent or lease this to the underlying professional company. In other words a "B" company can own what makes the "S" company go 'round, but cannot own the "S" company. The "S" company is never a true asset because it cannot be easily sold (small market--only the professionals in the particular category--in this case only a physical therapist would be interested in buying a PT clinic, because it could not legally be bought or run by anyone else), or bequeathed, and cannot legally be divided into shares for an IPO. In essence, all the "S" company does, is allow you to own a job. It's a "B" company that holds all the magic.