Delegation: it’s all about teambuilding and trust.

Micromanage: a word that’s become synonymous with annoying bosses, for good reason. Quality leadership is built on trust – managers who don’t know how to or won’t  release control enough to let the team do their jobs, can unintentionally harm the self-confidence of their staff.

Just as impactful is how holding that control affects the manager. If you’re not using the tools and resources at your disposal, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to grow and to focus on new tasks that can propel your success.

The bottom line is: management is delegation, and it starts with surrounding yourself with people you trust.

Building a team you can trust

Most micromanagers actually mean well. They want to do a good job, but may see themselves as the only ones able to do that. For one reason or another, they’ve lost trust in their staff – or never had it to begin with. Skillful managers understand the significance of surrounding themselves with the right kind of people.

Keeping an eye out for the following attributes will help you assemble a team worthy of your trust.

· Drive. There are those who – even in the most mundane tasks – simply can’t rest until their job’s done right. That means you can count on them to not only do the work, but do it well.

· Thinkers. People who love to think also love to think about their jobs – how to make improvements, how to communicate problems effectively, how to problem solve independently.

· Passion. The philosophical novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, asserts that, “Care and Quality are internal and external aspects of the same thing. A person who sees Quality and feels it as he works is a person who cares.” You want people on your team who care. While you can’t expect everyone to be passionate about their direct job, you can find people passionate about contributing to a larger goal.

The Art of Delegation

Delegation can be a tricky balance. Here are a few ideas for finding beauty in distributing the workload.

· Communicate your vision. The first step of executing an efficient plan is making sure everyone's on the same page. Ensuring your team understands each of their roles, and how they fit into the big picture, generates confidence and your ability to trust your players to do their jobs.

· Dig introspectively. Taking a close look at your plan before you’re neck deep in it will help you identify which tasks you should take on, and which to delegate to your crew. If you wait until you’re in over your head, the mission, and your crew’s confidence in you, may suffer.

· Who and when. Usually, “who” is obvious – the person best suited for the job. However, sometimes the “who” is dictated by the “when.” College football coaches offer a perfect example of this. Often when a team’s ahead by a decisive margin late in the game, coaches use it as an opportunity to give their second and third string players experience. Putting someone in a position a little advanced for them, where there’s some wiggle room for mistakes and learning, can be a tremendous confidence builder for everyone involved.

· Execution. Everyone on your team should know what their job is, when to check in with you, the limits of their auto-determination, and where their individual deadlines fit in with the overall timeline for the project. Including your team in this process can be helpful in delegating to the right people, as well as garnering a stronger collective emotional investment.

· Trust yourself. In order to trust your staff, you have to have enough faith in your process to be able to let go. This doesn’t mean disappearing. Rather, have the confidence that you’ve built a team you can trust, you’ve established your plan, and you know what you’re doing. As Joe Namath famously said, “When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.”

Building a team you can trust is all about you... or is it?

You put your team together based on your values, and how they influence your gauge of who’s best for each job. But each project you and your team take on is ultimately defined by how it affects your company, clients, and community.

Understanding our company’s role in the big picture is crucial for providing superior service. Baker’s Pride bakes fresh and delivers early because we care about our commitment to the St. Louis area’s foodservice industry as much as we do about creating quality products.

For more information on delegating your foodservice needs to our talented crew, contact us today. We’re looking forward to working with you!

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