Risk Management in Team Delegation
Lisa Symons, Symon Says Communication
SOX has created a new world for risk management. Within team delegation, it is critical to understand the potential risk. You can do this by simply creating a risk list.
What is a risk list? It is a list, in order of importance, of the areas of significant risk for a given objective or project. It is important to understand the consequences (to the project, team, or organization) if the tasks do not get done. There are several types of risk including: staff-related or technical, such as a late delivery of critical components. Look at the big picture for your project when you are assessing the risks.
When determining risks, anything that might affect successful delivery of the project is a risk. At the first sign of trouble, you must be ready to assist the team in risk reduction.
Risk management includes monitoring the overall health of the project, but keep autonomy in place for the delegated tasks and their owners. This can be a tricky, but it is easier once you understand the steps to follow when risk arises.
When I first started delegating project roles, I did it out of necessity, not any great management style. I was working way too much, and with a global team, things were getting stuck in a holding pattern until I was able to deal with them. I needed global people on the team to keep things moving. To do this well, I needed to understand the potential risks when delegated tasks went off course. Any task runs the risk of getting off schedule.
The most importance step of risk management is to have a clear process communicated before the problem arises. That way, you are not tempted to step back in and take control at the first missed milestone.
Now, once you know these problems and you've created these steps, you need to create a process to correct them.
These steps include: 1. Fully understand the problem. 2. Ensure that the person you've delegated to has the confidence to resume the task. 3. Provide support and suggestions, but keep the delegated role within the individual's ownership. 4. Help them develop a procedure to prevent any recurrence of the problem.
Ownership You can't Delegate Now that we have covered the joy of delegating - it is time watch the other shoe drop. There are certain things that you just cannot delegate as a manager. The most important, of course, is your leadership. You also need to maintain ownership of any kind of reward system for your team, whether it is based on project or as an annual review. Concentrate your management effort on exceptions. Don't micromanage the day-to-day. But if there's problems or if they get off-track, be ready to step in and provide the necessary support.
You also need the final authority overall. We talked a lot about providing autonomy and authorization to the individual. But overall, the bottom line is that this is your team, your project, your department, so you have that ultimate responsibility.
You should also retain ownership and not delegate strategic planning. You need to make sure that the entire team is involved and understands your path and your direction. But that ownership is really left up to you as the manager. Take the time to manage the risks and your delegation will go smoothly.
Lisa Symons has 12 years experience managing global IT teams ensuring project deliverables. Are you tired of team conflict impacting timelines, projects and staffing, but don't have time to implement a solution? Resolve team conflict - FREE six step Audio program (
http://www.addressingteamconflict.com/ ) Addressing Team Conflict
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