When I first began using Periscope regularly I was so excited about its potential and about engaging with all of you, that we hadn’t worked out exactly how I could re-use and re-purpose the content I was creating each day. Initially, a replay on Periscope was only available for 24 hours – then along came Katch, which keeps an archive of the video, and comments, that I now embed into blog posts!
One of my first Periscopes was about “How to Delegate in Business”, which is exactly what I do in order to make sure that my Periscope’s get blogged and made available to you regularly.
Learning how to delegate in business is critical to your success.
Recently, a lesson in delegation was brought home for me on the same day I was to begin a new session of my group coaching program.
The morning we were to begin, I received several emails saying things like, “I didn’t know we started today,” and “I didn’t get an email telling me what to do to prepare for today.”
I realized right away that there had been a breakdown in communications between my team and I. My assumption was that something had been sent out to the group coaching clients from my team. Each team member assumed the other had done the task.
The long and the short of the story is that nobody did it.
That means that something that was supposed to happen and that makes an impression on our clients and on our business didn’t happen. The first thing that people usually want to do when something like that happens is to finger point, and cast blame.
The important thing to remember is that when you point a finger at someone else, you still have fingers pointing back at yourself.
Delegation is about your leadership skills. Knowing how to delegate in business is about your ability to clearly communicate what needs to be done to the person you want to do it…but it doesn’t end there, and that’s where most people screw up.
Delegating is the first piece. Following up to make sure that what you delegated has been done is the second – and more important – part of the process.
It is really important as a leader to take the time to point out when your team does things right – whether its through delegation or their own initiative that things go right. When you delegate to someone, you’re asking them to take something on and be responsible for it. You, as a leader, have to follow-up to know that what you’ve delegated has been done and whether or not they’ve done a good job.
Human beings have feelings and we all want to be acknowledged and validated – it’s why we like the hearts on Periscope. It acknowledges us and validates what we’re doing and we feel like we’re doing a good job.
When you delegate something to someone and you don’t acknowledge them for doing a good job, you minimize your opportunity to create loyalty with those people. You miss an opportunity to build confidence and let them know that they matter.
If you only focus on what goes wrong, you won’t be a very pleasant person to work for. When people ask me, “How do you find good people?” I say, “Start by being a good boss, and a good leader.” Treat people well for their contributions, acknowledge them, be nice to them, and learn how to delegate and follow-up – before the due date – to ensure that nothing gets missed. All of this is common sense, but rarely common practice.
