“Different” doesn’t mean “wrong”, when it comes to problem solving.
Were you ever appointed to a team lead role, only to have your manager swoop in and take control of your project when it became increasingly important or highly visible to executives? Or perhaps your manager saw issues that needed fixing and ‘jumped in and out’, confusing team members as to who was in charge.
In fast-paced environments, a useful resource deployment approach is to appoint non-managers as team leaders and delegate to them. Doing so avoids reshaping formal staffing hierarchies, and doubles to groom staff members for career advancement.
But too often, these informal leaders aren’t properly supported or utilized, as described earlier. I’ve been in both roles, as a team lead, and later as a manager doing the delegating. In this blog, I’ll share what I learned about what works and what doesn’t work. Although written as a guide on best-practices for managers, it is equally relevant for potential team leaders to use these practices to better work with the delegating manager to avoid common issues.
Appointing and Delegating
As a manager, how good are you at delegating authority, not just accountability? When appointing a team leader, we tend to focus on the task and desired results, yet handicap the individual by leaving out the level of authority he/she will need. If you don’t empower your team leader with authority to make decisions, and make such empowerment clear to the team, then confusion and dysfunction may occur. In particular, if a manager jumps in periodically and gives direction, the team leader (and the team) can be left wondering what they own and what they don’t.
Guide, but Don’t Direct
Managers should play an active role, but work in the background with their team lead to provide guidance and support commensurate with the team lead’s experience level. Here are some appropriate support methods.
A new team lead I once appointed complimented my approach as he appreciated “being given the leeway to meander about the path forward, while being kept from falling off the road.”
Avoid the Temptation to Jump In and Save the Day
Sometimes hot issues arise, and without hesitation, a manager intervenes to give direction. There are several drawbacks to such tendencies:
What if the approach by the team lead looks almost certain to fail? Shouldn’t the manager intervene immediately?
Incentivize
Is your team lead fairly compensated for the extra responsibilities? Many companies provide monetary rewards such as bonuses. Nonetheless, you should look into intangible incentives as well, especially during times when pay increases and bonuses are frozen. Managers can help your team leaders in their career growth by ensuring they get appropriate visibility from senior management. You can also help them translate their skills developments into different and/or expanded roles. Check out my earlier blog for more ideas.
Bottom line: be a coach when managing team leaders, take a step back and let them lead.