Everyone Knows What to Do

How many times have you or someone who reports to you been in this situation?

You earned a major promotion by being a Star performer. But the promotion came with a dark side! You find yourself suddenly overwhelmed with work. No one knows how to do your old job as well as you do, so you're constantly answering questions and doing your old tasks as well as learning your new job. You practically live in front of your computer. You've been working nights and weekends for weeks, but you just can't get it all done. You're so exhausted your performance is suffering and your boss wonders why she promoted you. If you can't get things under control, you'll end up in the hospital or the unemployment line.  What do you do?

A. Work harder! Sooner or later you'll catch up?
B. Spend more time teaching your staff to take over your job?
C. Take time to create detailed work instructions and an Operations Manual for your staff?

Let's look at the options:

A. Working harder isn't the answer. Working smarter is. You've got to learn to delegate. Don't fall into this career quicksand! Could you be scared of your new job and feel more comfortable doing the work you already know? Get over it!

B. Teaching others to do your old job is the right idea. As long as no one else knows how to do your old tasks, you'll be stuck doing two jobs. That's a classic Star Performer trap. You've got to teach your replacements. Unfortunately, the more time you spend teaching and coaching others one-on-one, the farther behind you'll get in your new duties. And, if it's all word-of-mouth people will naturally forget details so you've got to be available all the time for questions. By making yourself too available, it's easy to still end up doing the work yourself anyway--or obsessing over details and driving everyone crazy. Just teaching isn't the best strategy.

C. Writing down standardized procedures that anyone can follow is the best way to delegate. If you spend just a fraction of your overtime hours in a quiet room writing simple work instructions for how to do your old job, you'll get out of the overworked trap much more quickly. Sure, it takes a little effort now, but it pays off BIG in the long run. With written instructions, not only will other staff members be able to perform new tasks right away, but they won't interrupt you constantly to ask questions because they forgot or weren't paying attention when you explained things verbally. It's all written down. They'll be productive faster, and be empowered in the process. You'll have time to concentrate on your new job and you won't be tempted to break down and just do your old work because no body can do it as well as you. Everybody wins. You might even get promoted again!

For more on this topic, see previous post on All Systems GO! blog  Got too much on your plate? Create a delegation system.