my manager delegates to the group rather than to a person by Alison Green on June 29, 2017 A reader writes: I want to know: Is this weird? Is this a reasonable management style? My manager has taken to emailing several of us at once, asking that one of us decide to do a task/project and let her know. I’ve had previous managers do this verbally when we are all in the room […] Read the full article →
how to get people to take more ownership over their work … so that you’re not in charge of every damn thing by Alison Green on May 24, 2016 Managers often complain that they wish their staff members would take more ownership over their realms so that the burden of thinking and planning and spotting potential problems didn’t all fall to them, the managers … while simultaneously doing things that pretty much guarantee that will never happen. If you want people to take more ownership over their […] Read the full article →
how to delegate when you desperately don’t want to let go by Alison Green on July 7, 2015 If you’re a manager, there’s a high chance that you struggle to delegate and have trouble letting go, especially when it comes to work that you enjoy doing or aren’t sure you trust others to do as well as you. But you know you’ve got to ease up on the reins to get your other priorities […] Read the full article →
how to manage a project where roles aren’t clear by Alison Green on May 5, 2015 Ever managed or worked on a project where it wasn’t clear who should be playing what role, some pieces of the work didn’t get done, and the project languished because no one was explicitly charged with driving the project onward? (If you’ve ever been involved with any project with multiple people, the answer is probably […] Read the full article →
resisting delegating work? here’s how to move more to your team by Alison Green on February 3, 2015 If you’re like many managers, you sometimes find yourself resisting delegating a piece of work or a responsibility to someone on your team, because you’re worried that it won’t be done well enough. But in most cases, if you give in to this impulse, you’re forfeiting the benefit of having a team, which is to […] Read the full article →
what to do when you don’t have the right person to delegate work to by Alison Green on November 4, 2014 You need to delegate a project but no one on your team is precisely equipped to handle it. But the work needs to get done, and you don’t have time (or skills) to do it yourself. How do you proceed? When you don’t have the right person to delegate work to, here are six questions […] Read the full article →
how to delegate last-minute work without a mutiny by Alison Green on July 24, 2014 No matter how well you plan out your team’s work, you might occasionally need to delegate an urgent project at the last-minute. Here’s how to do it without sending your team into rebellion or causing anyone to have a panic attack. 1. Acknowledge to your staff that the deadline is not ideal. Employees are more […] Read the full article →
how to keep track of the work you’ve delegated by Alison Green on July 8, 2014 If you manage a busy team, you’re probably doing a lot of delegating – of big projects as well as small details. In an ideal world, you’d be able to rely on your team members to circle back to you on everything you delegate to them – but in reality, you need to have a […] Read the full article →
how to delegate when your team is already overloaded by Alison Green on July 1, 2014 What do you do when you have an important new project that you’d like to delegate to a staff member, but your entire team is swamped? If you go ahead and dump it on them anyway, in the hopes that they’ll find a way to fit it all in, that’s a recipe for a frustrated […] Read the full article →
how to manage work when you don’t have authority over the people doing it by Alison Green on April 8, 2014 As challenging as managing people can be, managing work when you don’t have formal authority over the people doing it can be even more challenging. Managing sideways – or influencing the performance of people who don’t report to you – takes special thought. Here are four keys to doing it well. 1. Be sure to […] Read the full article →