Delegating.

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ptonsparky

ptonsparky

Tom
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
For those of you that have gone through the growth of a business, how did you, or employer, let go and delegate to others the responsibility of the jobs they were hired for? What changed your mindset of having complete control?



I was asked this question. My own business was never big enough.
 
The only delegation I have done is hiring a foreman for larger jobs and then try to stay away from the job and let the foreman manage it. I find this hard. I want to visit and see what's happening.
 
We give them the broad scope of projects but they are expected to figure the smaller things out. They are journeyman after all.

We hold performance reviews every 6 months.

If you hold their hand too much and don't delegate, you are limiting their potential. If you don't knock the training wheels off at some point, you'll never know how they fare on their own. If you are afraid they won't fare well on their own, you may need to look at your hiring and training practices.

On top of that, you just have to make sure they aren't making the same mistakes twice, and that you hold them accountable for what they do. If they do well, I let them know, if they fall short, we talk about that too.

We have some of the highest electrician wages in the nation in our area, and with that comes higher expectations in my opinion.
 
In the 1990's a business school undergraduate professor introduced us to "The Peter Principle", which explains that people are promoted to their level of incompetence. When they can't do the job, promotion usually stops.

For example, when working in occupied buildings & people are standing around watching, they are asked to help.
With residential service work, homes are always occupied, and the owner is usually interested enough to ask questions.
So of its the owner, I ask, "do you want to save money by helping me get out of here sooner"?
"Can you hand me that tool, and get me that part?
"Hey, your real helpful. Try pulling this wire while I feed it to you".

Things go well, until the "Peter Principle" kicks in, which is usually during finish wiring, and device terminations.
Never seen a novice strip wire without nicking it, no matter what tool, or how many times we try.
Same goes for landing #12 solid properly on lugs, or getting devices in the box, no matter how many times demonstrated.
Neither can novices be trusted to work around anything energized, they get zapped every time.
When spending more time teaching than working, promotion stops, and people make a parts runs to get out of my hair.
 
Coppersmith said:
The only delegation I have done is hiring a foreman for larger jobs and then try to stay away from the job and let the foreman manage it. I find this hard. I want to visit and see what's happening.
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As the Boss, you get to visit a site and talk to the foreman. Do a quick (1 minute) walk-around to get a feel for the job. Ask if there's anything they need. Leave (and take care of the things they need).
 
My personality instinct did not allow me to delegate well, and I was not able to overcome it. When I think back on it, I consider myself a failure.

I was a much better installer and trouble shooter than I was a manager. Although I did have someone I hired call me a couple of years after I left the company I worked for (as a manager) and thank me "for making him the man he was today". :)

What you didn't make clear is what size and type of projects are we talking about?

ETA: If you pay for cheap help, you will never be able to delegate. You don't always get what you pay for, but you pay for what you get.
 
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