I guess most of us are familiar with team mates and organisation members just abusing of our goodness of mind and ensuring we do the work on their behalf. And yes this could happen to anybody, including to managers, just because is based more on a very human feeling of being pragmatical and helping others rather than the professional approach of correctly delegating.
In corporate world, many managers end up taking on the work of their employees simply because they are kind. But the shift from “kind” to “stupid” is very short.
If put under pressure, here are some of the reasons they provide for their behaviour which, ideally, I would like to accompany with a relevant question that I would like to ask and that I invite you to reflect on.
- When work is too much (for everybody, including you). “I don’t think it’s fair to ask people to stay late or work weekends.” Question: Maybe it isn’t, but is it right that you are doing it for them? Isn’t worth to work as a team and do a common effort rather than taking everything on your shoulders?
- Speed is deriving from experience. “I am so prepared hat it will take me far less time to do it.” How will he ever be as good and fast as you are if you don’t allow him to learn and experience the business? Clearly I would not try to teach your team when you are close to deadlines, but in normal office and project life there’s plenty of occasions to give your team time and opportunities to become as experienced as you are.
- World is terrible. “My team is overloaded with projects and activities.” There may be something exaggerated in this statement, don’t you think? Could be that they are making reality appear slightly (or definitely) worse so to avoid new work coming in or simply to give a different feeling on their contribution.
Some managers in good faith, risk to become the dust bin of all unwanted activities! And without necessarily wanting to be cynical, but it is easy to observe that some employees will take advantage of the situation if they understand that their manager is a really helpful person.
So, can you change course? Yes for sure!
It’s not unlikely that someone has tested you to see how far you could go and is taking advantage of it; It is also possible that by being too patient and doing more work than you should, you are entering the paradox of hindering the development of your resources.
There is a huge gap between being a “monster” that stresses and “burns” people and being so kind that your team’s resources never get a chance to take on a challenge, learn new things, and become more efficient. As in many things it is necessary to find a balanced approach.
So here are some rules of thumb to follow:
- Planning and aligning is essential. Define an approach that is acceptable to you and check with individual team members to see how appropriate it is for each of them. Make expected standards and expectations clear, then monitor regularly. Keep everything flowing correctly by being sure everyone is managing what you consider a good amount of work. Then hear their position but give it a weight that is different from yours so to avoid the “why always me” bias.
- Praise in public. Keep track of who excels and is available, give them exposure and reward publicly. You will create a resonating platform helping to see who is in line with company values and to be seen as positive models.
