102 / TAKING UP YOUR LEADERSHIP ROLE
Focusing your energy
As a leader, you are likely to be inundated with communications,
requests, new tasks, and initiatives. Recognizing—and focusing on—
what is really important is critical to your success and that of your
team; it is vital that how you spend your time reflects your priorities.
How to prioritize tasks
Typical activities
Dealing with phone calls
and emails as they come in
Dealing with others’
priorities not in line with
your vision
Typical activities
Low-level meetings
Time-wasting
Unfocused browsing
What happens when you spend
time on this
Lack of clear goals
Crisis management
Feeling out of control
Behaving inconsistently
What happens when you spend
time on this
Failure to take responsibility
Inability to complete jobs
Increased dependence
on others
Insecurity
HIGH URGENCY: LOW IMPORTANCE
LOW URGENCY: LOW IMPORTANCE
Action: Delegate it
Action: Leave it
LOW
LOW
HIGH
URGENCY
IMPORTANCE
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FOCUSING YOUR ENERGY / 103
Managing your time
It is easy to get distracted from key
tasks by less important, but nonetheless
urgent activities. Prioritizing your actions
is something you should schedule in
every day, and approach with discipline.
A simple solution is to write a “to do” list
at the end of each day. Scrutinize this
list, assessing each item against your
vision, values, and key objectives; then,
number each item in order of priority.
Alternatively, try categorizing your tasks
more systematically under the four
headings shown below.
Typical activities
Dealing with crises
Being closely involved with
time-critical projects
Attending key meetings
What happens when you spend
time on this
Constant crisis management
Exhaustion and stress
Burnout over the long-term
Action: Do it now, but review your time planning
HIGH URGENCY: HIGH IMPORTANCE
Typical activities
Planning ahead
Anticipating problems
Guiding and training the team
Delegating
Building relationships
What happens when you spend
time on this
Overview
Vision
Balance
Action: Schedule it
LOW URGENCY: HIGH IMPORTANCE
HIGHIMPORTANCE
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104 / TAKING UP YOUR LEADERSHIP ROLE
Reserve at least
10 percent of
overall project
time for
contingencies
Getting back on track
Missed or delayed deadlines and
recurring problems that you never seem
to get around to fixing are symptoms
of faulty time management. If the root
cause is not addressed, your work life
could soon run out of control, sapping
your energy and stifling your creativity.
Stop, take some time out, and refocus
your thoughts. Plan in some time to
address strategic activities, and think
what and how you could do to improve
delegation within your team.
Improving standards
Building networks
Recording and analyzing how
you spend your time
Being realistic about durations
Doing work you could delegate
Never leaving your office
Reacting to stimuli as they arrive
Starting without a clear schedule
WORKING SMART
Do’s Don’ts
MAKE ROOM FOR
CONTINGENCIES
You should set aside
time with your team
to brainstorm likely
barriers to delivering
on time. Reserve at
least 10 percent of
overall project time
for contingencies.
Tip
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FOCUSING YOUR ENERGY / 105
Choose carefully who you delegate a task to. Assess
the probability of things going wrong.
Only delegate tasks that can be clearly defined. If you
can’t specify the desired outcome and timeframe, it is
unreasonable to expect someone to succeed.
Delegate time-consuming, recurring tasks.
Check that the person to whom you are delegating
shares your understanding of the task in hand.
Monitor progress and provide support—you cannot
abdicate responsibility after delegating.
Delegating means allowing people to find their own
solutions: you must accept that these will not
necessarily be the same as your solutions.
Don’t apportion blame if things don’t work out:
remember it is you who shoulders responsibility
for ultimate success or failure.
Establish and agree on milestones, working
procedures, resources, and deadlines.
Delegating successfully
Delegation is a critical leadership skill,
and one that—when done well—has
great benefits for you and your team.
It liberates your schedule, makes
members of your team feel valued,
and develops capabilities in people
throughout the organization. Delegating
well requires more than just handing
a task over to a subordinate, there are
many issues you need to consider
carefully before you act.
How to delegate
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106 / TAKING UP YOUR LEADERSHIP ROLE
Milestones/reviews
Review at end of task
Selecting personnel
To identify the best member of your
team to take on a particular task, try
using a “Plan to Delegate” table, such
as the sample at right, to give a degree
of objectivity when making a decision.
To use the Plan to Delegate table:
•
List all members of your team.
•
Devise your criteria for choosing
someone—those on the sample
table are a good starting point.
•
Rate each member of your team for
all criteria from 1–10.
•
Add the scores.
•
Add comments on the amount and
type of training, development, or
support each individual needs.
When you carry out this exercise, the
best fit candidate is not always the
most obvious. You may have developed
the habit of just asking one experienced
and skilled team member to do jobs for
you. However, others on the team may
have more time to devote to the task,
and will benefit from the experience
and responsibility.
Current capability
and experience
CRITERIA
Skills/competencies
Development potential
Availability
Motivation/commitment
Total score
Task consistent with individual’s
goals for development
Other comments, such as
training or support needed
None
CARRY OUT A DEBRIEF
Once a task is complete,
allow time for a debrief—
discuss what went well, and
what did not. How would you
change the process next
time? What was learned?
Was this a suitable task to
delegate to the individual?
Tip
Plan to delegate
8
JANE
7
9
3
8
40
5
of managers
find it
difficult to
delegate
70%
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