Insights on Excellence | "Insights on Excellence" Archive

You have the power to stop the dumping

by Stephen Hawley Martin
for Virginia Business
August 7, 2006

Some teams are really good at coming up with solutions, but when it comes to implementing them, it's often the team leader who gets stuck with the job. Why does this happen? Many leaders are true believers in the old adage "If you want a job done right, do it yourself."

Aside from causing the team leader to work late frequently, and miss his son's Junior League games and his daughter's dance recitals, that's not the best way for a team to operate. It makes even more sense to go by the adage, "Many hands make light the load."

So, how do you get others to take responsibility, and do their share? Here's a process to use:

1. Identify and discuss the dumping issues. When an employee brings you a problem, talk about it and identify who should solve it. It might surprise you that most problems don't need your "expert" intervention. Employees can solve them themselves, provided you give them the tools to do so.

2. Assign the responsibility. If your employee can solve the problem, make her responsible for it. Of course, make sure he or she has the knowledge and resources to solve it. If she doesn't, clearly define what she needs to do to solve the problem. Take responsibility for those tasks she doesn't have the resources to complete, pair up on those tasks she doesn't have the knowledge to complete (and teach her), and allow her to do those tasks she has the skills and knowledge to do.

3. Follow up. When you do, you'll find one of three things:
- The employee carried out his responsibility and solved the problem. Nothing more is required from you or him.

- The employee has run into some problems. She needs your help to remove barriers. For example - she needs your signature to authorize her to purchase supplies. Provide the appropriate support and then let her solve the problem. Establish a new follow-up time to make sure she has done her part.

- The employee did nothing. This is where most managers drop the ball. If you let the employee do nothing, you have allowed yourself to become a dumping recipient. Instead, if the employee does nothing, give him a new deadline and tell him it is part of his job to complete the action. Not completing the action may be a performance issue. If the problem is more personal in nature (for example - the employee's paycheck is wrong and he chooses not to get it corrected), it is the employee's issue - not yours. It's not your problem to solve!

The hardest part in stopping employees from dumping on you is following through - don't let the employee off the hook.

Remember: Your job is not to solve all of your employees' problems. Your job is to enable them to solve their own problems.

This is true empowerment.

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Stephen Hawley Martin is a former principal of The Martin Agency in Richmond and the author of more than half a dozen books including his newest, Lean Enterprise Leader: How to Get Things Done Without Doing It All Yourself. He is editor and publisher of The Oaklea Press, a book publishing business dedicated primarily to helping business executives increase productivity.