I realized the other day that my daughter is really good at delegating. She usually starts with, “Mom, can we...” which usually translates into something I must execute. And as annoyed as I am about being assigned a task by an eleven-year-old, I am happy she has a sense of how to use the “resources” around her.
One of the missing skills I see in many young employees these days is the ability to delegate efectively. Delegating I realize is often about entrusting a task or responsibility to someone more junior and therefor a skill often associated with more senior roles. And when you are at the bottom, it sometimes feels like there is no one below you. But, the ability to know when to delegate and who to delegate to, is the often the first sign of a future leader.
Why we don’t delegate
Many people starting out are focused on doing everything possible to prove themselves. And sometimes that means taking on everything that comes their way, never asking for help and most certainly never delegating. Unfortunately this often leads to working hard, but not necessarily working smart and inevitably leads to burnout.
For many, delegating feels like a loss of control and junior people can be just as guilty of holding onto anything that feels like control and power as much as a more senior person.
Delegating takes planning. For many of us, it often seems like telling someone else what to do, will take as much time, if not more, than simply doing it yourself.
The who and how of delegating
Being junior doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have people to delegate to. Often, in any number of organizations, there are roles with overlapping responsibilities. The accounting team maybe able to pull reports or follow up on invoices on your behalf. A coordinator in another group maybe able to follow up on the status of project if she shares the same supplier. Keep your ears open, when someone mentions they are looking for something to do, speak up and take advantage don’t wait for someone more senior to beat you to it.
Remember, when you are junior and you are delegating, it is important to ask permission - from someone senior and from the person you are asking. And remember to be willing to reciprocate.
Delegating - is about trusting and communicating
When you delegate to someone, you need to be clear about what you expect them to do and when they need to do it. And be prepared for them to do it their way. And even if you suddenly get less busy, please don’t step in and pick up the task you delegated unless you have communicated first.
Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be and he will become what he should be.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
The golden rule
Time and time again when junior people delegate they never give feedback. They will chat amongst themselves about how poor a job so-and-so did, but they won’t tell that person how to do it better. Providing constructive feedback is another key skill of good leaders. When someone does something for you, you need to find a positive way to give feedback. It will enable that person to learn and grow (an opportunity I think you would want for yourself) and helps create a better resource for you in the future.
When you are the reason a project isn’t going forward, chances are there is something on your plate you need to delegate. It could be a task related to that project or perhaps it is another project on your plate that is getting in the way. Step back, look at what is on your plate, think about who can help, reach out to your manager for support and then delegate to get it done. I promise you, it will show that you have skills well above your level.
I am a big believer in the impact of positive thinking. Over the years I have become a fan of Martha Beck who advocates envisioning and even feeling what it will be like for you to achieve whatever it is you are seeking to achieve. This past summer I had an experience that convinced me more than ever how powerful outlook can be.
My husband and I had planned our summer vacation to South America for over two months. On the afternoon of the Saturday we were due to depart, my husband realized his passport had expired. Our first reaction was irrational, “maybe no will notice”(I did say we were irrational). My husband couldn’t believe he hadn’t checked earlier, he felt sick and kept saying, “what do you want me to do?”.
I had an appointment to get my nails done and decided to still go, besides it was his problem to solve - right? And I still needed nice nails, crisis or not - right? As I left the house I told him to check on-line, and call everyone we knew, someone would know how to solve this.
As I got my nails done, I tried to calm myself down, my Spanish is limited, but I could step up and my daughter and I would get by until Tuesday when my husband could join us. I was fairly sure he could get a rush passport on Monday. Monday was my backup plan (I always need a back-up plan) because I kept thinking there has got to be a way to get a passport now, I mean aren’t there situations when people can’t wait till Monday?
I got home and my husband was still defeated. He had found the information for the 24 hour rush passport but nothing else. I wasn’t convinced that was all there was. I decided that if there was something, we would likely have to act quickly. So I sent my husband out to get his passport picture taken.
With him out of the house I went into action. I don’t even know what I typed into the search engine but I landed on a Government of Canada page that gave me two email addresses related to emergency or rush passports. One was an s.o.s address and since we were just idiots, I emailed the other address first. The email response was quick, I was told that because it was after hours, I should use the s.o.s address...okay, now I had permission! Again, response back was almost instant and now I had a phone number to call.
I called the number and burst into tears as soon as I started talking. I was honest, we simply didn’t check the passport until now, our flight was at 10:30 tonight, was there anything we could do? She took my number and said the passport office would call us back.
When my husband walked in the door with his passport pictures, I ordered him to start filling out the passport forms. He was half way through filling the forms when he got the call from the passport office. I don’t know what they said, I just heard what he said. He was honest (my advice, I will admit, was for him to beg) “it is a trip to see family, planned for a few months... yes we leave tonight... yes we have our tickets and boarding pass...yes, I can be there in 10 min, really, 10 min, I have my pictures and I am about to print the form.” When he get off the phone he said, “I think I am getting the passport today.”
Within an hour he had a new passport. At 10:30 p.m. we boarded our flight as if nothing had happened.
I did make a point of saying “It is a good thing you have such a determined wife.”
Truth is, I was determined, I thought there had to be a way and I found it within 10 min of looking. My husband had looked for over 45 min. And he is as savvy when it comes to searching for things on-line as I am, but he was defeated. He found what he was looking for, the 24 rush option - accessible only on weekdays. I found what I was looking for - a same-day-even-on-the-weekend option.
We don’t wish things into being, but we can impact how things turn out when we combine our actions and our thoughts.
Do you ever find yourself giving advice and then wonder why you aren’t following that advice? Today, my advice giving and then me actually acknowledging that I should be taking that advice took all day.
A couple of weeks ago a friend told me she wasn’t sure what her next career step should be. I suggested she go onto job sites and read as many job descriptions as possible to see if any of them resonate with her. My thinking was, she may see a job that is one step up and realize she already qualifies for it, or she will see a job she loves and realize she needs a specific type of job training or additional experience to qualify for that job. Either way, she would be shedding some light onto the possible paths that could lay ahead.
Today we had a different conversation, today we talked about strategies to get her the job title she thinks best reflects the job she is doing. She has fallen into the trap many of us fall into, she is waiting for her employer to give her a new title. And sure that works in many organizations when all roles are predefined. But in this particular situation, my friend’s role and the organization she works for, job titles and roles are not pre-defined - which creates a range of possibilities for creating something new.
My advice? Create the job title you think you deserve including the related job description. Be sure to outline what you think you are already doing, as well as what additional tasks you will take on. And, as is the rule with anything you want your organization to do for you, be sure to explain how this role benefits the organization.
So how does this advice relate to a consultant? In my situation, I am obviously not looking for a job title, but I am looking to clarify my role with one of my partner agencies. I could wait for them to figure it all out, or I too could take charge of the situation and craft a role that I know works for me and that I can sell into this organization, because at the end of the day, if it doesn’t work for them, it won’t fly!
Taking charge shows initiative and it also potentially makes your employers life easier - your work could mean one less thing for them to do.
As I pointed out to my friend, crafting a title and job description does not mean it is a done deal, it could simply be the start of the conversation. Just as I need to be prepared for my agency partner to push back on some aspects and perhaps ask for additional commitments from me in other areas, she needs to treat her proposal as a negotiation. With any negotiation, it is a good idea to offer up something you are prepared to give up. You also need to be really clear with yourself and your employer what you can’t or won’t give up.
It is time for me to take my own advice. What advice do you give that you also need to follow?
It is Sunday, a beautiful Sunday and I am sitting in front of my computer trying to stay focused, productive and stress free. When I first sat down to work I Tweeted, “working on a Sunday, keeping the to-do list short so I can feel a sense of accomplishment” - my way of publicly committing to not letting myself get overwhelmed on a Sunday afternoon.
I have an endless list of things I could tackle, but realistically I know that I can’t do everything. If I give my self just a few things to do today, I will get them done and I will still have time to relax and enjoy the weekend.
I remember, way back in my first year of university, sitting down with a counselor and talking about how overwhelmed I was getting with school. The man I sat with told me a simple story that I have carried with me ever since - a story I wish I would live by more often. Every day this man would ride home with a colleague, he and this woman had very similar jobs and work loads. Every night she would bring home a pile of work to do and every night he would bring home one thing to do. Every morning she would be stressed and admit to having gotten nothing done and every morning he would start the day with a sense of accomplishment - his one thing done.
"Do what you say you will do - it could be the most powerful thing you do."
- Danielle LePorte
Today, I needed to do what I said I would do - for me. But, it is even more important that we do what say we will do with others. As Danielle LaPorte says so eloquently in her video, it not only makes you more reliable, but it eventually forces you to be careful about what you say you will do. It may even, dare I say it, lead you to say “no” or actually refrain from volunteering to take on one more thing.
Like so many others, I am guilty of taking on too much, but I figure today is a good a day as any to focus on changing that habit.
How about you, do you do what you say you will do?
Sometimes I think we all need to be reminded that most change takes time and happens one small step at a time. The thing is, I am in need of this reminder so I thought I would share it just in case any of you were feeling the same frustration I have been feeling for the past few weeks.
The thing is, I haven't posted as often as I would have liked. And, I am feeling pretty crummy about it. And to top it off, I am adding a whole bunch of other things to the list that I am not feeling so great about, like having a super yummy and decadent chocolate truffle when I had promised myself I would't have sugar today.
The truth is, I accomplished a lot over the past several months that I have every right to feel proud of. While my blog posts at Ella Says dwindled, I wrote several guest posts for the YWD blog and you should check them out because they are full of info and tips that are useful to, well, everyone.
I worked on my first ever political project and we were successful (in this case re-elected). And I am well on my way to achieving my very personal goal of being more involved in my community. I am even more active than I have been in years, if I am not biking or walking to work, I am going to the gym.
And yet somehow, its not feeling like enough or fast enough me these days.
I read a post the other day by Leo Babauta., the author of Zen Habits, titled How I changed my life in four lines. In this post, he explains how he tackled his debt, changed the way he ate and became a marathon runner and lost 70lbs all by taking four simple steps; making small changes, only making one change at a time, being present and enjoying the activity(don't focus on the goal) and being grateful for every step he took.
All this has me thinking about goals and how many we take on at any given time. As a marketer, I can tell you that the less goals you have, the more targeted and effective your campaigns and ultimately your business will be. One of my favorite getting started books, Get Clients Now does a great job of getting readers to focus on one goal at a time. Are you generating leads or converting them? The idea being that for each 30 day period you focus on one key area.
I find it hard to have one goal, I want my business to be successful, I want my husbands business to be successful, I want to be active and healthy role modle for my daughter and active member of our community, I want to change the way we manage our finances, I want quality time with my family and friends and every now and then I want to sit around and read a book. I am sure I missed something, like the big long list of things that I wish I was better at like remembering people's birthdays, or finishing the cleanses I start but never stick to, just to mention a few.
So how do we get there?
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Chinese Proverb
It really is about small steps and I think it is also about realizing how it all fits together and understanding most thing don't need to be mutually exclusive, it just takes time for it all to come together. Think about Leo the marathon runner, as he ran and started paying more attention to how he felt, he started drinking more water and craving healthier foods, he stared making his lunch more often which saved him money and on and on. I am not saying that is how it happened, but it is easy to see how eventually one thing flowed into the other.
It is easy to look at other people's success and see it as easy, often because we only notice them when they arrive at their success and not all the years leading up to it when they struggled or simply took one small step at a time.
For now I am going to do my best and take Leo's advice:
1. Making small changes
2. Make one change at a time
3. Be present and enjoy the activity
4. Be grateful for each step you take
And you know what, writing this post felt great. Thanks for reading!
In our culture it usually takes something health related before we consider slowing down, doesn’t it? Let’s face it, the word “slow” has negative connotations doesn’t it? I mean who ever came in first by going slow? You are on to me aren’t you? You are expecting me to remind you of the tortoise and the hare...well you aren’t to far off.
The other day I noticed that I have slowed down, physically slowed down. I have long legs and have always had this wicked fast stride, but these days I don’t seem to be moving very fast. People actually pass me on the sidewalk. I can’t tell you that I consciously decided to slow my pace down, it just sort of happened. And I like it.
It doesn’t mean that I don’t get places on time or that I get less done, in fact I think I am on time more often, I know I am more productive and I definitely enjoy more of what is happening around me. For me, life is better now that I have slowed down.
I while back I wrote a post about the impact of multi-tasking, just one example of how we negatively impact our lives when we try to do too much too fast. I have also talked about the importance of truly disconnecting so that we can be present with the ones we love.
But what I have failed to notice is that I was really talking about slowing down. And there are full fledged international movements dedicated to Slow. The Slow Food movement, which has thousands of members around the world is dedicated to getting us to not only slow down and enjoy the food we eat, but also to step back and revisit the way it is produced.
According to Carl Honore, the Slow Movement goes beyond food to how we live our lives, run our cities and even run our corporations. So much speed in our daily lives from speed dating to speed yoga is actually causing a back-lash. I hope you take time to watch the video I posted and check out his web site, Carl’s message on slow is one I think more of us need to hear.
Slow isn’t always easy. I sort of stumbled into it in my attempt to create a better life and more rewarding career. It seems funny now to realize that all I really needed to do was slow down and take on less. But to go slow, to have time to enjoy the breeze and gaze in the shop windows as I walk to a meeting means I need to leave earlier. And to leave earlier means I need to have less to do in the mornings which usually requires more planning to ensure it all fits in and for me it has meant doing less and saying no. Like Carl, it means sometimes I turn off my phone and I don’t say yes to every project I am asked to work on.
Just this afternoon a funny thing happened, I had a flurry of urgent changes from a client, and although I addressed what I could immediately there was one thing I couldn’t change without the help of a graphic resource, something I didn’t have access to this Friday before a long weekend (the client knew we were closed). Rather than stress out about not being able to fix everything instantly, I headed off to the park to see my daughters play (something I had promised to do). When I got back the I found an email from the client saying they changed their mind - the graphic change was no longer required. Makes me wonder if they had slowed down in the first place maybe none of these last minute panic changes would have been needed.
Yesterday I sat down with a client and told them they needed to charge more for a service they are providing. The price they were asking was less than it would cost to do the work, but they thought it would make the service palatable to more people. My feeling is, if you give into price sensitive clients, rather than winning them over, you actually help them undervalue your service.
By going in with a higher price, you also leave room to create a special or limited time price offering without completely undermining your bottom line.
And do I really need to do the math? If my price for a service is $500 and I want to make $5,000, I only need to sell the service to 10 clients, but if I reduce the price to $300, suddenly I need 17 clients to reach the same goal. Is a $200 dollar savings really going to mean 7 more people will buy my service?
Sarah Bray’s blog post that landed in my in-box this morning and a link she included to Tara Gentile’s site really got me thinking about charging what you are worth.
The other day I spoke to an old colleague who said, “I would love to work with you, but you are expensive”. I have to stop and point out that relatively speaking, my rate is not high, there are many who offer similar services, with half of my experience asking almost double my rate. Rather than saying that, I pointed out that because of my experience, I add a lot of value and I also happen to get things done quickly. It is something I noticed with a writer I have worked with for years, most people would balk at his rate, but I know that with him, I will likely pay less and get far more value than I could ever get from someone with a much lower rate.
"It also didn’t make me a greedy person to price my work in relation to the value it provided others. And, finally, that just because I raised my prices didn’t mean others couldn’t afford it – it meant they had to prioritize it."
There will always be people who think your rate or your service is too expensive, and sometimes it just means those aren’t the right people for you to work with, because chances are they don’t truly value your unique contribution or service.
Sometimes it is about negotiating something that works for both of you, like a lower hourly rate but a guaranteed fixed amount of hours. I have even been known to do somethings for free - yes free, but even then, I find myself only doing that when I feel that what I am doing is really going to be valued.
So there, my little reminder to myself that I am worth it and to you that you are worth it too - so ask for it!
What is it about yourself that you most want to share with people when you meet them for the first time or reconnect with them after so many years? I am thinking about this because a colleague just got back from a weekend away where she connected with some friends that she hadn’t seen in almost 20 years. As great as the weekend events were, the one-too-many, “are you married and do you have kids” left her feeling kind of crappy. She isn’t married and she doesn’t have kids and the “I have a great career” response felt like the wrong answer.
Here is the thing, at my last high school reunion, I too hated the “are you married and do you have kids” question. I am married and I do have children but that doesn’t define me. I am not sure my career does either, but to me it feels like much more of an accomplishment that I wouldn’t mind talking about. The idea that marriage and kids are the only things we have to talk about makes me feel crappy and sad too.
Not all marriages are perfect and having kids fulfills all of us in very different ways. I sometimes think the stay-at-home moms who are miserable fare far worse than women who are frustrated with their jobs. Women are supposed to be fulfilled by motherhood and marriage so when they aren’t I think it is often hard to get the support of friends and family to make positive changes. But I can’t really say for sure not having experienced it first hand.
And what about the people who can’t have children or lost a spouse or went through a nasty divorce - are any of those the types of conversations you really want to start over a drink?
I really wish that people wouldn’t ask questions like “do you have kids” or “are you married”, maybe they could say things like “what have you been up to” or “how do you keep busy”. These are questions that let us tell what ever story we want. Sure its been 20 years but maybe I want to tell you how much I have traveled or an anecdote about getting together with mutual friends. And if I just met you maybe I want to talk about biking in the city because I noticed you rode your bike to the gathering.
We all define ourselves in different ways, but regardless we all have stories to tell so next time you see someone you haven’t seen for years or when you meet someone new, why don’t you find a way to let them tell you their story.
We have all heard how important and beneficial routine is, especially for children. Knowing what to expect and when to expect it creates comfort for children. Better said, routine removes worry and apprehension and with this out of the way children, or anyone, for that matter, is freed up to be more engaged in whatever else they are doing.
I have always been a huge fan of routine with my kids. Put your shoes in the same place and guess what, you always find them. In our household, consistent bed times have meant less cranky kids. I realized it doesn’t work for everyone, but when you have a kid who wakes up at the same time no matter when they go to sleep, a consistent early bed time starts to make sense.
In my working life, I was under the impression that I wasn’t tied down to a routine. I no longer worked a fixed 9 to 5 schedule. If it made sense and fit with deadlines I would pop out to do groceries or run an errand in the middle of the day and I regularly scheduled lunch or coffee dates. Day to day or week by week, my schedule was far from routine.
Or was it?
Going back to an office threw me for a loop - I was only off my game for a week, but I really couldn’t understand what happened. How could going into an office for 4 hours a day cause so much havoc?
I had taken my flexibility for granted and in a way it had be come routine for me. I wasn’t planning shopping or errands into my schedule, I was simply doing them when I had a free moment and I had a lot more free moments when I wasn’t commuting into an office.
If it is a family member getting sick, a car breaking down a sudden emergency trip or in my case, needing to go into an office, we have to be ready to break our routines and shift directions. Cali Yosk, one of my favourite work + life fit writers sums it up well in her post, “Top 10 Work Life “Fit” that Every Woman Needs to Know”. The ultimate message? It takes patience, effort and flexibility and you will have far more success if you realize perfection is not the goal.
For me, I now need to do a bit more planning to get it all done. I have also decided to officially stop beating myself up and I will for sure take time each day to reflect on what I need, because if I am the one getting it all done, I need to make sure all is good with me first!
Are your routines helping you or holding you back?
Okay, so that is mostly a headline to get your attention. The office I am working in is far from gross, in fact I like the space and really enjoy the energy in the place and the people. But, I truthfully was a bit grossed out this week by sick people in the office. I haven’t been exposed to sick colleagues in over a year and the thought of it made me want to run back to my germ free home office. Okay, so my home office isn’t germ free, but you know what I mean.
Really folks, why are you going to work sick? Chances are you aren’t going to be productive and you will likely get your co-workers sick too. Know what happens then? Not only are you not productive, but you risk impacting the productivity of your entire organization. All that because you want to be the hero who isn’t a suck staying home with a cold or a flu?
The impact of coming to work sick is significant - a study out of the US says that presenteeism costs that economy up to $150 billion a year due to lost productivity.
I realize I am being snarky, people don’t really come into to work to be heros, the culture of being recognized, rewarded and evaluated for simply being at your desk is the biggest motivator for people coming to work when they are sick.
The best way to avoid this is to create an environment where working from home is acceptable. Obviously if someone is really sick and not going to be effective, they should un-plug and relax. For many people, however, being able to check emails, line up a few meetings, review a file or finish up a report actually makes them feel better and lets them relax and recover quicker.
It is ironic, the reason that most organizations or managers are against people working from home is because they fear people will goof off and not get their work done. But, when management creates an environment where people feel they have to come to work sick, management is the one who is responsible for the drop in productivity, not the employees.
For those of you who can work from home, next time you feel yourself coming down with something, grab what is most urgent and make sure you bring it home with you so you can stay home. Be the hero by sending in that urgent report from home rather than from the office where you would just make others sick too!
