July 2011
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| Learn the purpose behind the chart and the Blackberry. |
Ah-Ha! Moment – A "very big deal" around our office in July and August was an office upfit. Over two weekends, we had our 10+ year old broadloom carpet replaced with carpet tiles and a new coat of "eggshell finish" paint applied over the existing "flat" paint (also 10+ years old).
Neither my Practice Manager, to whom I had delegated the project, nor I had been through an upfit before. Although I could understand most of the steps she took – we had to pack up the entire office! – the one I could never quite get my head around was putting a numbered sticker on each book. With over 1,200 books on 50 shelves, she believed a sticker was the best way to get the books back in the correct order, which was important because we catalog and shelve our books by the Library of Congress system. Fortunately, she politely ignored my "suggestion-phrased-as-a-question" to just stack them, in order, in the boxes. Her idea made unpacking and restocking the book shelves very easy and quick – no thinking required, and every book returned to its rightful place.
Because her vacation coincided with the first week of packing, my Practice Manager also had to delegate to our Office Assistant. Planning work schedules, explaining tasks to temporary staff and supervising them, and making decisions as issues arose – these were all new experiences for our 20-year old Office Assistant, and she performed them admirably!
The lessons learned?
- One way to create value for others is to delegate challenging projects to them.
- Once you've delegated the project to them, you have to move to the sidelines – give them the opportunity to shine!
I'm glad I learned both lessons, because it made me feel great to see my Practice Manager and Office Assistant really shine!
