We all need to learn to scale our leadership amongst our staff to make sure they are as productive as possible. As leaders, we can’t do everything ourselves. Organizations everywhere are pushing for us to do more work faster, smarter, bigger, but with less resources. Sometimes these projects require us to learn to scale projects, and decide if things are right for you, your team, or if it should be delegating elsewhere.
Many times when a leader is promoted it is because they are good at what they do. Because of that, they tend to see themselves as the best person for the job when delegating work amongst a team. This is a common mistake, and leaders must learn to put work in the hands of their team, but not without the tools to do the work. Make sure that you are enabling and empowering your employees, and coach them to work with the project. This will help them take on your skills and perform better.
Communication becomes extremely important. They say that “the greatest enemy of communication is the illusion of it.” Make sure your staff understand deadlines, and know that they can communicate anything with you that comes up. If they are struggling to meet a deadline, or are struggling to complete a project, they need to communicate that information before it becomes an issue. That goes both ways though, so make sure you are open with them.
Goals should be set not only within your team, but within your entire organization. Everyone should be aware of the priorities and objectives of the organization and the teams in it. This keeps everyone in sync and prevents double work.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “if everything is important than nothing is important.” We have to be willing to say “no” from time to time, or else nothing will ever get done. A good leader knows when to say no just as often as saying yes, and has to have the foresight to make those decisions. Saying no can create backlash, so be careful to fill in your staff when someone may be upset about a decision you made. This way, if they are approached by the staff member or client, they will know you have already made the decision and they can refer them back to you.
Monitoring staff as well as yourself is equally important. Leaders need to leverage their staff and use their resources. If you focus on doing all the work yourself, you will burn yourself out, and can even become ill. Monitoring your staff can help notice small things like they aren’t sleeping well or eating right, which leads to poor performance or productivity. Just being aware of issues like these can help you take care of your team, and help them through tough projects.