Article

Understand Your REAL Job

Some of the most powerful management concepts are also the most simple. Here is a "blinding flash of the obvious" for your consideration:

As managers, I believe our job is not to run the joint, it is to teach our staff how to run the joint! You will never be able to move on to new projects (or get away to spend more time with your family) unless your crew can assume responsibilities that presently fall to you . . . and the only way they will be able to do these new jobs is if someone teaches them.

Think about it. If you are doing something that someone on your staff is capable of doing - and you are not giving it to them to do - that is disrespectful. Disrespect will quickly destroy the working relationships in any organization.

Not passing tasks along may also deliver the message that you don't think the other person is capable of doing it. Reluctance to let loose of tasks, especially routine tasks, could be seen as your way of keeping the power in your own hands. In any case the organization suffers because qualified people will leave for jobs where they can advance their skills. At the same time you perpetuate the overload that leads to management stress, exhaustion and burnout.

Take a look at your day and see where you are spending your time. Do you spend hours doing the schedule? There is no law that says you have to do it, only that a schedule needs to be done. If you have it down cold, or if it is driving you crazy, teach someone else on your staff to do it! After all, at some point in your career someone had to trust you with the job for the first time. It will be a relief to you and a job upgrade for them.

The same thinking applies to other typical manager jobs like taking the inventory or doing the ordering. There is no reason why someone on your staff, with a little coaching, cannot handle these duties as well as you can and it is not hard for you to keep score on how they are doing.