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 The latest episode of The Apprentice saw two new team leaders being tested as Kevin Shaw and Michael Sophocles were appointed to run projects that involved the creation of a new greetings card.
Christopher Davies, professional support lawyer, Halliwells
The task itself was roughly split into three stages. There was the initial planning stage to create a theme, a design stage to create the actual cards, and then finally a selling stage where pitches were made to major retailers in order to gain sales. Kevin’s team achieved less than a third of the sales that Michael’s team managed to promote.
Kevin as team leader was held responsible by Sir Alan and was fired. In the boardroom the blame was placed predominantly on the theme that had been chosen at the start. Promoting green issues and environmentally-friendly lifestyles had appeared to be a very worthwhile theme yet as Sir Alan pointed out having a 'Save the Planet' week will hardly inspire people to send cards as the last thing he would do “was send a card which is worsening the case”.
Management style
However, in addition to a flawed theme, the failure of the project was to a certain extent also down to the management style that Kevin adopted. He was hands on at the planning stage, the design stage and then who was going to present the sales pitches, yes, Kevin again.
It was only hours before sales pitches were due to be presented that he seemed to realise that he had taken on too much himself. He had failed to properly delegate.
Delegation and impact on performance
Delegation can be an issue for managers, supervisors or any team leaders. It is perceived by some managers as dangerous. Allocating a team member to carry out a task means the manager loses control. This causes worry as they are then dependant upon the team member’s performance rather than their own.
The threat of eventual failure by reason of someone else’s performance is just too much for the manager and while it means taking on considerably more work the task is not delegated.
Trust issues & confidence
Clearly the essential ingredient missing in this scenario is trust. A manager must be able to trust their team sufficiently to allocate work out. Unless the manager delegates effectively they will eventually demotivate and even alienate their team members. Distrust will be picked up on by employees who may feel that there is no future for them in a business where the manager has no confidence in them. This in turn could lead to higher staff turnover, disruption and costs.
Briefing and resources
Generally the best approach is for managers to prepare in advance for tasks to be delegated. In The Apprentice Kevin tried to delegate the sales pitches too late when he was under pressure. This was bound to fail as at that stage he was clearly looking for a way out of the hole he had made.
Right at the start of the project he should have asked whether the team member was happy to take on the task, and then work through it with them. A manager with concerns could provide a brief with clearly defined, planned out and prioritised objectives and make sure the team member has all the resources and tools to complete the job and set a timeframe.
Monitoring progress and feedback
Follow up meetings to monitor progress are appropriate but care should be taken to avoid making the team member feel as if the task is being taken from them. The meetings should be used as an opportunity to provide feedback and review how the task is progressing.
Giving full credit for their accomplishments will clearly be important. There is a line between appropriate delegation and just off loading jobs that are not liked or interesting. Identifying that line will be an important part of developing good management skills and improving employee relations.
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