Avoid making these mistakes while delegating
Hey friend,
I had a deep discussion with a friend of mine. He felt scared about losing his job and thought layoffs were looming over us.
Even though he is doing well in his career, he is scared that he has no control over the layoffs. And this is something that I'm sure a lot of us can connect with.
How can we feel better or not think about being scared by layoffs? There is no right or wrong answer here.
But I want to share the discussion I had with him.
It is by not tying your identities to your job. Working in 9 to 5, we identify ourselves by our job, but there is so much to you. You have hobbies, you are probably fun, and you probably love many things that are not tied to your job. If you don't, that is okay.
Even if you feel the pressure at work or your boss says something mean to you, don't let that impact your life outside of 9 to 5 because it is just a job. But what's more important is who you are outside of work.
Well, try to think of one or two things that you want to get identified by outside of work. Is there something that brings you joy but you haven't really focused on? well, it's time for you to start thinking about it.
Anyway, as I was prepping for the launch of Developer to Leader and wrote about the Common mistakes leaders make while delegating tasks. I had a lot of fun creating funny names to describe each mistake 😂.
It's more fun to learn when you can remember and are having fun with it.
We can divide the common mistakes while delegating into these fun characters so you can avoid being one.
🦅 The Hovering Hawk
When a manager just can't let go and micromanages every move. Constant interference can undermine their confidence and create unnecessary stress.
🥅 Mission Unclear
When the manager's instructions are as vague as a riddle, leaving the team members playing detective trying to figure out what they’re supposed to do.
🦸🏽♀️ The Solo SuperHero
They expect team members to work like superheroes, saving the day without any support or resources.
🗼 The Jenga Tower Tactic
Piling tasks onto team members like they’re pack mules trekking across the Andes instead of distributing the load evenly, aka Overloading Individuals
🐧 Penguin Pajama Problem
Suggests the discomfort of trying to make something fit where it doesn't, like penguins trying to wear human pyjamas and not considering the skills and capabilities of team members when delegating.
🧿 The “See No Evil” Approach
Blissfully ignoring what’s going on with the delegated tasks until the storm hits. Regular check-ins are important to address any problems and provide guidance if needed.
👻 Ghost Town Feedback
Where feedback and recognition are as scarce as tumbleweeds rolling through an abandoned ghost town, not providing feedback or acknowledging the effort and achievement of team members after task completion can demotivate and demoralize them.
🌊 The Deep End
They have thrown folks into the deep end of the water to speed up their learning and be their lifeguard. Instead, you need to be their coach.
🚒 The Delegation Firehose
Turning on the delegation hose to full blast and indiscriminately soaking everything, even tasks that should be kept close. Delegating tasks that should not be delegated
🥁 The One-Man Band Fallacy
Trying to play all the instruments in the band single-handedly by not delegating anything at all.
Which one are you? Have you repeated any of the above mistakes? Don't worry if you did, as you are not alone.
This Week’s Action Step 👇
Try to identify who you are or reflect on which character you have been in the past. It is completely okay to be this person but work towards rectifying it.
🧰 The Engineering Leader's Toolbox
- Becoming an Engineering Manager Series: My Youtube series will help you figure out if Engineering Leadership is right for you.
- Experiment before spending weeks on the build
In the Developer to Leader community, we talked about experimentation and here is a good article to assess how you can roll in experimentation in your work and when to stop letting biases take control. - How Engineering Managers run teams without managers a great article on how you can run teams without managers
See you next week!