Your Lack of Planning Is Not Someone Else’s Crisis
Want to lose credibility with your employees really fast?
Give them little to no warning about last-minute work that will fall onto their lap.
Bonus points for a tight deadline (24 hours or less.)
We’ve all been there before.
Running between meeting to meeting and buried under managerial tasks.
Then all of a sudden, you remember something you had to get done.
It was important enough to be on your radar but not important enough to prioritize above your other responsibilities.
So then you decide to delegate the work last minute to your employees.
While this might sound like a quick solution for you, it creates a pretty miserable experience for your employees.
Your lack of planning is not someone else’s crisis.
Give employees enough time to complete work
If you’re going to be delegating any type of work (high priority or not), make sure to give a respectful lead time.
You won’t always have the luxury of time on your side, but the least you can do is relay the work as soon as you know it needs to be done.
Set expectations
Since you’re the one delegating the work, you’ll probably be aware of essential details around priority levels and what a “job well done” looks like.
Share as much information as you know and give everything your employee will need to complete the work.
Make yourself available
Just because you’ve delegated the work doesn’t mean you can fade into the background.
Offer to be available for any questions or clarification along the way.
Sure, they’ll be doing the work, but you’ll be the one responsible for how it turns out.
