The first paradoxes of management that we saw concerned the manager’s need for hindsight, reflection and planning in an unpredictable and fragmented daily life. For this second part, I propose the paradoxes of management concerning the way in which the manager is able to retrieve information from his team and delegate.
First, are you more of a micro-management or macro-management type? No matter what your style is, how do you keep up with what’s going on? Finally, how comfortable are you with delegating?
My own management style? Common sense mode! I have always sought the balance between micro management and macro management. Over the years my style has evolved and changed. The factors of these changes are related to my personal development, my training, my colleagues, employees and bosses. My desire to become better and improve the way I achieve my goals has made me a better manager, year after year.
1- The dilemma of connection in management
First of all, as a manager, you need to be informed about what’s going on. However, the very nature of your job is not to be “on the floor.” You have to know the files, and at the same time are not responsible for doing them? Mintzberg’s principle is simple: go up the base or go down the top, in other words: bring the rungs together!
A-Connection options
For my part, I see several connection options between the manager and his land (the reality let’s say it). First of all, you can reduce the number of rungs, of course. Then you can go out into the field to figure it out. You can also involve employees in decisions. Finally, you can create a relationship with your employees (if you are interested in this topic, check out this article). What else could you do to connect?
B- My tips for connecting
Here are the things that worked well for me, in my context:
- Go around the teams every day to say “Hello!”, take the time to ask questions, discuss informally (even on a formal subject). It works well when you have a blocked agenda 😉 (see paradox #3)
- Take the pulse of the team via surveys every 4-6 weeks.
- Then, communicate to the team their “pulse”, answer questions, make a status report on the files delivered, current and future, make reminders, training, etc. every 6 weeks.
- Finally, I have involved the people in my department in decisions when it was strategically possible and I have always communicated the “why” of the decision. I’m not talking about justification, but about giving context and explaining the impacts for everyone.
You may be thinking… it takes time to do that! Yes, it takes. In reality, you have this time if you want to.
I have always seen my leadership job as building the foundation and leading! I have always navigated in the short, medium and long term. Seeing all aspects and intervening in several files has always motivated me! Without ever forgetting that my role was management.
2- The delegation dilemma
Second, how do you delegate when much of the information is personal, verbal, or privileged in nature? The manager knows that he has to give the information, and does not always know how… Sometimes he just doesn’t want to give it away because of a lack of trust, a desire for power or control. My opinion: contribute to something bigger than yourself and you can only be greater.
In addition, another common obstacle to delegation is: “It will be faster and better done if I do it myself!”, on this I offer you the following quote:
Alone, we go faster. As a team, we go further.
Finally, if you are a manager, do management, not operations. Having experienced it, I know and understand that it can be difficult to move from an operations level to a management level. Go gradually and start delegating.
A- The advantages of communicating regularly at all levels:
- Improve day-to-day decision-making at all levels.
- A hierarchy that is going in the right direction.
- More time for fund files.
- More mobilization and commitment of the teams.
- A high-performance organizational culture that wants to move forward (long live commitment!).
- Less collateral damage control.
- Exit the “Savior” or “Fireman” management mode.
- Be much, much less stressed.
B-My tips:
- Make your key people ambassadors! Start with the key people on your team. Train them to deliver the results you expect them to do and then ask them to mentor other projects.
- Delegate the least risky or least political files to get started.
- Delegate part of a folder.
- Team up with one or more members of your team!
- Invite some of your team members with you to meetings on a file so that they understand the context (context and vision are very important for the success of the file!)
To find out how, what, when, to whom to delegate, I invite you to follow the online training course ” Developing your managerial courage and your ability to delegate “.