“It’s not a hand-off”

What’s the image that comes to mind when you think “delegate”? Most often, partners tell me it’s a “hand-off” – Partner gives instructions, and the associate comes back with a nearly perfect work product on the due date. Though occasionally true, this isn’t how delegation to an associate can or should be thought of. A hand-off with an expectation the work will be completed timely and close to what we want presumes that the person we are handing off to:

(1) Has all the skills and knowledge they need, generally and for this specific matter and

(2) Has the ability and skill to control their schedule.

We can “hand-off” a tax issue to a tax partner, but when we are delegating to an associate we can’t assume (1) or (2) is true. Each and every Xth year has different skills and experience and each has other projects with different demands. Partners often say to me “They should be able to…” and my answer is always “Why? Have they done it before? Has someone spent time to help them learn it? Were you clear about your expectations? What else do they have on their plate?” They have answers, at least partial, to some of these questions. But they can’t possibly have the answers to all: Partners work with a variety of associates and each is developing rapidly – it would be impossible to keep up.

So, it’s a mistake to frame delegation to associates as a hand-off, a mistake that leads to frustration/disappointment. I encourage partners to see delegation as the beginning of a collaborative work process, with partner and associate working together, each making important but different contributions to the work product. What those contributions are differs widely depending on the work, the practice, the experience of the associate and the timeline.

Shifting the image of delegation from a hand-off to collaboration highlights that that open and continuous communication is critical to success. The key to getting the best work product back is not the first meeting/“hand off” but that associate and partner stay in communication. In practice, I recommend:

1) The initial delegation be a concise description of the desired work product, partner’s thoughts on key issues, critical background, forms/resources shared and timeline [This is my recommendation for delegation to anyone who has done a similar task before. My recommendation for “new” work is for another post],

2) The meeting should end with “Please take some time to dig into this and let’s meet again [in an hour, tomorrow, next week] so you can ask what you need to know to get to do the work and

3) After that next meeting and every meeting thereafter a check-in is put on the calendar.

As I posted previously, there will always be questions, so no “call me if you have them.” And there will always be new information to be shared. So, there should always be a next point of communication scheduled.

The shift is a simple one, but the impact on partner satisfaction with work product is often immediate.