They Don't Teach Corporate in College (48 page)

Similar to your own goals, your employee's goals should be just challenging enough that she will continue to put forth effort on an ongoing basis. Early in your relationship, meet with your employee and help her draw up a list of goals. If you are a new manager, it's a good idea to think about this before you're sitting across the desk from your new employee. Taking into account her skill set and any existing goals from previous performance reviews, jot down what you think your employee's goals should be. Stuck? Ask your boss or a senior manager for help.

Write your employee's goals in the format of an informal contract, and add it to her performance review. Note what actions each of you will take to ensure that these goals are achieved. For example, suppose you and your employee agree that she needs to increase her comfort level when interacting with other departments. Suggest that she arrange and lead next's week meeting with the IT staff, and help her finalize her agenda ahead of time. Set timelines and follow-up dates for all goals so that the two of you don't forget about them once you leave the room. In between progress meetings, reinforce your employee's positive steps by rewarding productive behavior immediately and consistently.

Does your employee have a goal you've already achieved? On the job, you can help her practice new skills so that she develops the confidence to use them in her work. In his book
Emotional Intelligence at Work
, psychologist Hendrie Weisinger recommends using modeling, or demonstrating effective behaviors to be used in a particular situation, and role-playing, or simulating through live interaction how a situation might play out.
Modeling
might sound like a complex psychological term, but it can be as simple as having your employee sit next to you and listen to you call a prospective client. Role-playing in business is less fun than charades, but much more productive. Let's say your employee is nervous about presenting a new idea to a senior member of the department. Acting out the conversation (with you playing the role of
senior executive and the employee acting as herself) will help her articulate her thoughts ahead of time and anticipate potential questions and issues.

If you're going to engage in either modeling or role-playing, be sincere and enthusiastic about it. It's your duty to be sensitive to your employee's development, don't ever treat it as a joke. Be cognizant of situations in which your employee may be in over her head, and suggest other alternatives if appropriate. Sometimes you might not have the personal experience needed to assist your employee with her individual goals. If you don't think you can be an effective role model in a particular situation, direct your employee to someone who can. It's always better to admit you don't know something than to lead your employee in the wrong direction.

A key part of your job now is to make sure your employee meets her goals. You may actually be measured on it. Improve her chances for success by applying all of the people-management tips from
Chapter 6
. When your employee achieves a goal, don't let the event slip by unnoticed. Praise her, and then encourage her to reach even higher. Basking in the glow of your appreciation and approval, your employee will be motivated to do her best.

This one guy I work with can't delegate a task to save his life. He runs himself ragged while his staff sits around all day doing nothing. I know he does it because he thinks no one can do the job as well as he can, but what happens is that the work doesn't end up getting done at all. Everyone in the department avoids collaborating on projects with his group, which is a shame, because he has some talented people who are totally underutilized.

Terry, 27, Tennessee

You were likely assigned an employee because your workload is too much for one person. Because there are only so many hours in a day, it makes sense to hand off as many assignments as possible. However, many twenty-something managers resist delegating tasks, even if they are in danger of drowning. Some of these reasons are probably close to your heart:

As the senior team member, you'll do a better job because you know the subject matter and the company's resources inside and out.

It's easier and less time consuming to do the task yourself than to explain the assignment to your employee.

You're afraid your employee will screw up the assignment and it will reflect badly on you.

Your boss likes to micromanage, so you don't want to lose control over the process.

You like doing a particular task and don't want to give it up.

Any or all of these factors might play a role in your particular situation. That's why delegating work is one of the most challenging managerial skills for a perfectionist twenty-something to develop. Case in point: When I first became a supervisor, I held my cards so close to the vest that my poor employee, Danny, had no idea what was going on. I didn't trust him enough to share the work, so Danny had no choice but to sit in his cube and stare at the wall. After a few months, I developed the reputation of being a bottleneck—assignments arrived in my office and never came out. No one in the department was happy with this situation. I was so stressed that my hair was standing on end, my colleagues were annoyed because they had to go around me to get things done, and Danny felt useless and demotivated.

I eventually figured out that properly leveraging Danny's contribution did not mean wasting his time with “safe” tasks, such as raiding the mailroom, or giving him ultra-specific instructions on how to do the smallest assignment. Rather, I had to invest time in helping him branch out, so that he could become a self-sufficient member of our team. The day Danny was promoted was one of the best moments of my career, because it was proof that I'd finally mastered the art of delegation. Once I offered Danny guidance based on what I knew, and then gave him the freedom to approach tasks in his own way, he actually learned something! Here is an example of the process I used to make it happen.

Step 1:
Plan a task to delegate based on your employee's knowledge, skills, and willingness.

Example:
“Danny is really organized and a great multitasker. He did a stellar job helping me with the Widget World booth last month, and I know he's interested in attending a trade show on the West Coast. I think I'll put him in charge of managing our booth at the Widget Symposium. I can see Danny moving into a show
management role as early as next year, and I feel that this project would be an excellent jumping-off point.”

Step 2:
Clearly state the expectations and requirements of the project.

Example (to Danny):
“I'd like for you to manage our booth at the Widget Symposium in California in October. As you know from working with me on the Widget World booth last month, we have an approved procedure for coordinating the components and staffing of the booth. However, I would love to see what creative ideas you can come up with for our corporate demo and our visitor giveaways. You'll need to be on-site October 4–8, and I expect planning for the booth to take approximately half of your time in the month leading up to the show.”

Step 3:
Explain why the task is important and what you hope your employee will get out of it.

Example (to Danny):
“The VP of Corporate Communications considers the Widget Symposium to be one of the top five annual events for generating company visibility. I hope the project will give you valuable experience working with senior executives and managing vendor relationships. As you move into full-time show management, these skills will be critical.”

Step 4:
Empower your employee by asking for his feedback on the best way to accomplish the task.

Example (to Danny):
“What do you think about managing this booth by yourself? How do you want to approach reviewing the show's marketing strategy and then getting everyone together for a preliminary planning meeting?”

Step 5:
Suggest a few resources your employee might use to get the job done, but be careful not to micromanage.

Example (to Danny):
“You should definitely take another look at the booth planning procedure document we followed for Widget
World last month. I will also email you a list of all the internal staff and vendors we worked with on last year's Widget Symposium.”

Step 6:
Set target dates for follow-up and completion, and ask your employee to develop an action plan.

Example (to Danny):
“I know the details of planning a booth can be overwhelming. To keep the project manageable, why don't you draft an action plan? We can meet on Monday afternoon to go over it.”

Step 7:
Meet with your employee regularly to monitor progress, expressing confidence in his ability.

Example (to Danny):
“The action plan looks great, Danny. You're doing a terrific job so far and I know the marketing people are impressed with you. Can we meet twice a week until the show, so I can answer any questions you have?”