Resolve problems

In most cases, your employees will be able to work through difficulties with delegated work if you provide a little help. To illustrate, you can:

• Complete parts of the assignment to lighten the load.

Example

Suppose you've delegated a marketing brochure project to Rania. She's responsible for managing the design and printing of the brochure. Initially, she's overwhelmed by the project, because she's finishing up several other major tasks at the same time. So while she completes the other tasks, you offer to help her get started by phoning several printers and getting quotes for handling the job.

• Offer additional resources.

Example

You offer to bring in a graphic designer from a temporary agency for two days to help Rania format the brochure.

• Treat mistakes as growth opportunities.

Example

Rania discovers that she hasn't given the photo researcher detailed enough information to find the right images to be used in the brochure. As a result, the photos submitted by the researcher aren't going to work. You tell her that you learned the same lesson when you first handled this type of project. You give her some tips for providing more detailed specifications to photo researchers. And you show her some examples of effective photo specs.