Planning and Delegation

Let's have a meeting about it. Or not.

“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Proper planning is important to smooth implementation. As leaders, we need to make sure that it is done, but that does NOT mean we need to do it all ourselves. Effective delegation and empowerment don’t happen well if we hover too much, but giving our people growing responsibility at the planning stages helps grow them as professionals.

• Make sure you “plan the planning.” Does the project need just one dedicated “point-person?” Does it need a team or committee? Don’t waste the time of an entire team when this could be one person’s “baby,” and don’t overload one person with the work of an entire team.

• Stay in the loop. Schedule status updates, so that you can see where things stand with planning, implementation, and if there are any challenges or problems. Brainstorm and trouble-shoot with your team members as needed, but resist the impulse to take back the task. Have an “open-door” policy, so they can come to you if they have problems (or at least have an “office hours” policy, if you need some time with the door closed each day to get other things done).

• Bring the focus back to the “big picture” on a regular basis. Sometimes, people get so “down in the weeds” with process that they forget WHY they are developing the process.

• For each project, find the balance point between “the buck stops here” accountability (in which you require your team to run every decision by you) and “delegate and abandon” (in which you assume it will get done and don’t check to find out). One size does not fit all. Different people and different projects need different accountability/autonomy balance points.

• Work with the individual or committee planning the project to make sure they get buy-in from the people who will be implementing it. For many people, that means they want to have some input. For others, it means they need to see the value of it—it’s right, or it’s going to be successful, or it’s going to be great for the team, etc.

(image source: https://modern8.com/design-by-committee/)