Mistakes Versus ‘Missed-Takes’

The Do’s And Don’ts Of Delegation

Once you reach a certain level of responsibility in a company, delegation can be one of the most challenging—yet vital—parts of your job. Too often, managers are reticent to entrust tasks and projects to others; meanwhile, their own workload keeps piling up.

There are a variety of reasons that delegation can be challenging; it requires leaders to properly train their team members and empower them to succeed at what they are asked to do. It also requires trust in their abilities while also scheduling follow-ups and coaching at certain points throughout the project.

Delegation requires time, and we are often in short supply. However, if done with intention, you’ll find that the output greatly exceeds the input.

Don’t dump.

When managers offload simple or tedious work to those on their team, it is called “dumping.” Let’s be plain: Dumping is not a synonym for delegation. It is a short-term solution for leaders who feel overwhelmed by mundane tasks. While it may clear your desk for a brief period, there are no long-term benefits to dumping work onto others. In fact, the opposite is true. Employees who are stuck with uninteresting work will not grow or be able to complete higher-level projects. Eventually, they’re likely to grow bored and leave—searching for a place that recognizes their potential and strives to grow their talent.

Don’t divide (for long).

Dividing is another form of dumping, though sometimes necessary. When a manager divides work, they divvy up tasks among the entire team. Everybody takes a piece of the work, but the manager does not consider individual strengths or career goals. They also do not take into account how many projects a person already has on their plate.

When a team must quickly put out a fire and manage an urgent problem, division can be a helpful strategy. However, it is not ideal long-term.

Do decide.

Deciding is a more intentional form of delegation. As in the “dividing” form of delegation, a leader will take larger projects and figure out how to break them down into smaller pieces, dividing the work between teammates. However, deciding requires intention because the distribution is based on the individual’s talents, current workload and desire to grow in certain areas.

A leader needs to evaluate the talent available to them, distribute the work according to their team members’ strengths and plan out the scope of the project or tasks with corresponding deadlines. Within the distribution process, training might also be required, and follow-up is essential.

In a previous article I wrote on the Pareto Principle, I talked about a senior human resources (HR) representative in a medium-sized company whose workload became too much. Among his other tasks, he was the sole person responsible for conducting case-based interviews for all new hires. The project demanded extra time and travel that went beyond what was feasible.

To best manage the hiring responsibilities, he began to train other representatives on his team to share the workload. He hand-picked people who wished to be given more responsibility and learn new skills and who could take on more work.

With permission from the candidates, he taped a couple of interviews. Then he organized training sessions where he would watch the replay of the interviews with team members, pausing to make comments and explain different expectations and pivotal points in each interview. Then he allowed each team member to sit in on an interview or two that he led and finally asked them to take the lead with him as a shadow in the room—ready to step in if necessary or offer feedback afterward. After several months, the intentional training paid off. He successfully shared his workload with competent team members, freeing up time to concentrate on his other tasks and empowering those around him.

Deciding is the optimal form of delegation—but also the hardest because it requires intention, training and follow-up. Leaders should ask themselves, “How well do I know my people?” In a world of video meetings and remote workspaces, we may need to make more of an effort to get to know the people we are working with to successfully delegate in a way that benefits everyone involved.

Separating ‘The Story In Your Head’ From Reality



As film producer Robert Evans is quoted as saying, “There are three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth.” Our background and past experiences color how we perceive every situation we encounter. While often the lessons we have learned help us better navigate our present-day situations, they can also create biases and hamper our ability to stay objective.

When you find yourself in a tricky interpersonal situation in the workplace, you may need to take a step back to observe and evaluate, trying to discern reality from the story in your head.

Here is how to start:

Let go of the small things.

Have you ever replayed a conversation in your head after the fact, running through the encounter repeatedly—trying to read into every word that was said or went unsaid? Sometimes, trying to make sense of an unpleasant or strange encounter can be helpful and allow you to gain insight into a strained work relationship. Other times, a weird comment or strange wording does not mean anything.

Imagine a coworker makes an offhand remark that rubs you the wrong way. If this person consistently makes passive-aggressive comments, then action needs to be taken. However, if this coworker is usually pleasant or personable, just let the comment go. Chalk it up to them having a bad day. Letting it go without a response can help you stay in a beneficial mental headspace while also maintaining a positive working relationship.

Watch out for confirmation bias.

While being onboarded at a new company, one of my clients, Jennifer, found herself trained by two colleagues who disliked each other immensely. They would warn Jennifer of the other’s negative attributes and tell her to “watch out” for that person.

Over the next few months, she found herself tense and defensive around these two people, basing her own expectations on their opinions. For example, she saw arrogance instead of confidence because her other colleague had told her that “Jack” was arrogant. This is called confirmation bias. Once Jennifer realized that she was shading her own professional relationships based on preconceived biases, she had to work hard to separate her own thoughts from those of her colleagues. Once she was able to do that, she had a much more enjoyable experience and was better able to collaborate with her teammates.

Talk with the other person.

Communication can be beneficial when separating reality from the story in your head. If you believe someone has an issue with you, invite that person to have a conversation with you. Explain your perception of certain troublesome situations, and ask them for their input. Their point of view may be different. Together, you can analyze and work through the issue to better root out the reality from perception.

Many of the stories in our heads are based on presumptions. Eliminating those suppositions and getting other perspectives can better align your story to reality.

Ask a simple question.

When someone says something that surprises you and you are not sure if it was a careless remark or a passive-aggressive comment, this strategy will throw them off and help shed light on the situation: Look them in the eyes and say, “I’m not sure I understand what you mean. Can you explain it to me?”

Say this in a very objective way—demonstrating your curiosity and willingness to listen and engage in conversation. Their reaction to this question can tell you a lot about their intentions.

Get out of your head.

It can be tempting to replay your own movie on repeat in your head, but you can get closer to the truth of a situation by getting out of your head. Lies and deception—even the ones you tell yourself—thrive in the shadows, so getting your story into the light can help you get closer to the truth.

For example, journal with intention. Writing words on paper can help identify biases in a story.

You could also ask for help from an unbiased third party. Choose a confidante, such as a coach or a peer, and discreetly explain your thoughts as objectively as possible. Be careful, though. Make sure you are not causing more drama by approaching the wrong person. Your intention should be to help clear up biases—not create them.

See the bigger picture.

The best way to separate reality from the story in your head is to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Examining a story objectively is key to better work relationships and a more pleasant office environment.

Nurturing Problem-Solving Skills In Our Teammates



Choosing what to eat for breakfast. Picking out what to wear for the day. Charting out a new project. Saying no to a proposal. Our days are full of decisions. Some are small, while others could affect a company’s profit margins or a person’s career trajectory.

As leaders, we have learned to feel comfortable with the process of problem-solving and thoughtfully making decisions when the time comes. However, we may come across team members who need our guidance to do the same. Especially those with what are traditionally referred to as “left-brain,” analytical minds can suffer “analysis paralysis,” where an overload of information or uncertainty can make decision-making impossible.

Here are some ways you, as a leader, can nurture the skill of problem-solving in your employees.

Guide, Don’t Solve

First, it is very important to guide your people toward solving the problem rather than immediately solving it yourself. I know of a team in which one member was struggling to fully understand and utilize the company’s AI programming to its fullest capacity. A more experienced colleague tried to help, but he would simply pull up a chair to the team member’s desk and figure out the issue or use the function himself without fully explaining what he was doing and why. That team member needed someone to support his learning process, not someone to just “fix it.”

If you give a person a fish, you feed them for a day. If you teach them to fish, you feed them for a lifetime. This team member needed to be taught more about the program. He needed to be shown training materials or given non-priority work tasks that would give him the freedom to experiment and play around with the programming, learning the ins and outs of the application. Having a colleague fix each specific issue was only providing fish for a day—not teaching him to fish for a lifetime.

Nip Perfectionism In The Bud

Another aspect of nurturing problem-solving is to offer assurances that perfection is unattainable. Too many people are afraid of being wrong. Of course, being wrong about everything is not the goal. However, if the fear of making a bad decision stops a person from making any decisions, then no progress will be made. Talk to your people about this difficulty and explain that you understand and embrace the struggle that is part of the process of decision-making.

One of the best ways we can demonstrate this struggle is to share stories about times we ourselves have experienced difficulties with business issues and then grown from those moments. We can talk about the processes that we used to overcome challenging situations and how they were eventually resolved. And if appropriate, we can invite them to glimpse some challenges that our team or company is currently working through. Talking about struggles, both past and present, can make the conversation commonplace and combat some of the fear that may fester in an indecisive personality.

I have a friend who says that she has no regrets because she always makes the best decisions with the information she has at the time; I think that way of thinking fosters confidence in the problem-solving process.

Encourage Collaboration

Lastly, I recommend fostering collaboration in problem-solving. If someone is having a rough time in a project or wrestling with a decision, they are much more likely to overcome those challenges in a collaborative environment. A company culture that encourages teammates to approach others with challenges and ask for collaborative thinking sessions to brainstorm solutions is ideal.

Several people recognizing a struggle and working together to overcome it will help a person see that their struggle is valid. Also, collaborative thinking will hopefully provide several creative solutions and cut down on the time it would have taken to solve an issue if it were just one person.

Final Thoughts

Cultivating our team’s ability to face multifaceted obstacles with confidence is beneficial for everyone. When we nurture resourcefulness and independent thinking, we can trust in our team’s capacity to grapple with any of the many business problems that may arise daily—both large and small.

A Leader’s Power Of Observation



How well do you know the people you work with? How observant are you about their personalities, attitudes, schedules, work ethic or team interactions?

Employee satisfaction often stems from a sense of being seen or feeling valued in the workplace, so with that in mind, it is the leader’s responsibility to observe and see. The power of observation is a handy tool for a business leader in any field.

Noticing and acknowledging a person’s work or accomplishments can positively impact both the output and morale of that employee. Feeling seen has a powerful effect on the psyche and will act as a motivating factor to continue excelling in their tasks.

For example, a client of mine was charged with creating several lengthy marketing materials for her company. The project was estimated to take a year, and she broke it up into small steps to make sure she was reaching her goals in a timely fashion to adhere to the year-end deadline. After six months, she was halfway through and losing steam. Several aspects of the project were more challenging than originally anticipated, and a change in staffing limited her ability to rely on colleagues. She felt that after so many months of work—the finish line seemed very far away.

Though not her boss, I was able to encourage her and validate her efforts to motivate her through the rough spots. However, what if she hadn’t had a coach on her side observing, noticing and validating her efforts? How much more motivating would it have been if her own supervisor had been observant of her triumphs and struggles and encouraged her along the way? The process of creating those materials may have been less rocky. A good leader would have seen her frustration with lags and delays and taken a moment to encourage her through them. When your struggles feel seen and acknowledged, the work somehow seems easier and less frustrating.

Observing is not limited to an individual or their work. It can also be noticing a team’s social dynamics. Noticing how teammates interact and work together can provide valuable insight into their strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities. Observing interactions can also help leaders see breakdowns in communication and tension points early—allowing them to address and diffuse issues before any serious repercussions affect the work culture or negatively impact employees’ psychological safety.

Another of my clients was a fantastic observer of his team. He started noticing an extroverted and talkative employee constantly interrupting other teammates in meetings. This employee was well-liked, and his interruptions were often dismissed by others without a second thought—except for one teammate. After being talked over or shut down during the meetings over the course of several weeks, my client noticed that she spoke less, contributing little to group meetings and instead resorting to one-on-one email communications. She took the interruptions very personally. This was unfortunate because her insights and contributions were often valuable to the whole team. After addressing the issue with both parties—asking the extrovert to wait his turn and encouraging the other to speak up—the issue was resolved.

People want to be seen, so it might be time for leaders to start looking. Noticing and acknowledging a person’s work or a group dynamic can positively impact both the work output and morale of a team. What discoveries might you make by just taking the time to observe?