Delegate, Trust, Verify
Fixing a job gone wrong is the easy part. Fixing what got you there is where the real work begins.
All too often business owners and project managers take on running every aspect of an installation. While this can make the individual in charge feel confident that they have all the facts and control the process, it is a false security. The best way to take your eye off the ball is to simultaneously attempt to be a player-manager. You may have all the skills to play every position but it is not very practical plan.
Stop fixating on being the only source and learn to be a hub of information. Micromanaging only enforces a rule of inaction by your employees. It is a vicious cycle of management overreach, staff hesitation to act as a result, then anger by management at inaction and delay. Stop it now.
There are three things you can change now to empower your staff and help prevent bad installs.
Delegate aspects of the job to your team members to accomplish. You hired them because of their smarts and self starting attitudes, let them earn it.
Trust that your team can do the job and will take individual responsibility. If you have micromanaged in the past this may take some time to take hold, until the team can trust that you will not be nosing over their shoulder.
Verify that what you need done is actually being accomplished. This not a thousand emails status checks a day, rather it is a mid-day and end of day conversation with your team leaders. Yes, you are still the one who will need to answer to the clients so being appraised daily should be worked into your daily routine.
Macy’s Fire Truck
No one likes to say no to legitimate work, but sometimes it is the best course for everyone involved. Saying no can be a constructive exercise and get you dedicated clientele. It sounds counter intuitive but helping a client find find a constructive solution or alternative will garner you good will and dedication that cannot be bought.
In the classic seasonal film Miracle on 34st, our hero protagonist, Santa, suggests to a harried mother that the fire truck she seeks is not at Macy’s but another store down the street. He, Santa, was to push another toy at all requests, if you recall. The general manager nearly has a blood vessel burst until the woman in a fit of euphoric joy proclaims herself to be a loyal Macy’s shopper for life.
This is not to say that one should send potential jobs into the arms of your cross town rivals. Perhaps a collaboration or trade off will benefit both. In the end, treating folks as clients and not simple consumers builds relationships which extend beyond a cash transaction.
Build on Bad to Make Good
By taking responsibility for mistakes and mismanagement you can turn around a bad install to a positive. Identifying where tasks and responsibilities can be assigned, giving you more time to see the big picture can help prevent them again.
