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I had a nice chat with the owner of a Napa winery today. For those of you who don’t live in the Napa area, the Napa valley is a beautiful region that hosts one winery after another. They are often beautiful estates that throw gala events a few times a year to announce new vintages. Live music, dancing, gourmet food, and of course, fine wines are lavishly served to those fortunate enough to be invited.

I was invited to call. My call was directed straight to the owner. But she couldn’t help me. She was all apologies because she had delegated the handling of this particular special circumstance for this special set of customers for this special event.

She then went on to lament how much of a burden it was to carry the rest of the load from her large operation since she only ever delegates in such special circumstances.

I asked, “Are you happy with the person to whom you delegated this task?”

“Oh yes, very,” she replied. “She’s just terrific with this kind of thing.”

“I’ll bet you have drawn quite a few people like her to your operation,” I responded.

“Oh yes,” she replied, “I am so proud of our staff.”

All right, time out. It is your turn to finish this conversation. What do you advise her to do?

“Lady, for crying out loud, delegate more! You have great people, capable, smart, eager people who would be more than happy to relieve you of these burdens.” Wow, you give really good advice.” And I bet you don’t follow it yourself.

Here is why. When most people delegate, they have two modes: delegation in name only, and abdication instead of delegation.

Delegation in name only is when you delegate a task, then give instructions that only a three-year-old would require to carry it out. You hover and “manage”, you give non-stop advice, you visibly cringe at everything that is subtly different than how you would do it, and you spend more time sweating the poor person you granted the task than if you had done it yourself. Perhaps you even take the task back just to “clean up a few things”. Since this works out so poorly, you realize that you just can’t delegate things anymore. Whew, you are saved from having to delegate which was your secret agenda all along.

The other side of poor delegation is abdication. You read that last paragraph and resolve, “Oh no, that’s not me. I am really going to delegate.” So you give cursory instructions, close your eyes, cover your ears, and start singing a rousing chorus of the National Anthem. Pleadings for clearer instructions are unheard because you are “trusting” your faithful subordinate to muster their considerable abilities to do a great job, perhaps an even better job that you. But since all you did was throw it over the wall and they really don’t know what you want, they turn in a weak result due to their timid undertaking of a murky task with no clear objectives. You are very disappointed and find that this delegation thing just doesn’t work in “your business” because you are oh so very special – which was your secret agenda all along.

Right about now you are realizing what a horrible person you are. Do not despair. You are not a horrible person. It’s just that you have received poor business parenting. It is likely that no one ever delegated to you properly. With no good models to follow, you would have to stumble into effective delegating by accident. Fret not. Here is your model. It is simple to follow but it must be followed completely and in order.

1) Start with the Results

How is anyone going to succeed unless they know what success looks like? Make sure you are clear about what they need to accomplish and that they understand you. “We need the inventory counted and this inventory spreadsheet completely filled out by Thursday at 5PM.” “You are to find five possible CMS systems we can use and you are to recommend one based on these defined criteria in time for our monthly management meeting.” “You are to schedule and manage the support staff, ensuring that we have uninterrupted coverage Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.”

2) Give Authority, Not Just Responsibility

Responsibility without authority is a common scenario in business and is usually followed closely by poor customer service, disheartened workers, decreased profits – in short, failure. You must give your people authority or you are not delegating, you are just setting up a scapegoat for the inevitable failure.

3) Communicate Effectively and Regularly

It’s not just the opening of the project that requires communication. Make sure they can come back to you for help. When they do, don’t forget that you granted them all the authority they need to handle what is now their responsibility. You did that, right? If not, go back to #2. You may also need them to periodically check in to keep you informed. “Periodically” does not mean continually, let your people breathe. When you are getting your updates, get the highlights, not the petty details. The details are their responsibility; because they are responsible now. Are you seeing a pattern here?

Start with easily defined projects, things that are easy to measure. As you develop confidence in your people and they get clear that you will actually let them handle the job, give them more.

Imagine what things could be like if you had a gal Friday, a right-hand man, and a go-to girl. Why, you would actually have time to go to gala events at Napa valley wineries. Preceding that, you would have time to manage your business, to come up with creative new ideas, and to improve your processes.

So I am going to see our lady winery owner and chat her up with a glass of her wine in hand. I am going to praise her staff and offer her your good advice. And maybe next year we’ll see you there.

To your success,

Kenneth Vogt

Kenneth Vogt is CEO of Content Crooner; a quality content distribution service. He is an established internet marketing professional and respected Web expert.

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