Delegation and Accountability: Two Strings of the Same Bow.

Those of you who read the earlier separate articles on delegation and accountability may have noticed several similarities in the concepts, and that is no accident because these two building blocks of management are in truth two sides of the same coin, or as the title of this article says, two strings of the same bow. Yes, to have effective delegation, you need to hold your designees accountable, and to be successful in holding your subordinates accountable you must have effectively delegated the required authority.
Let us review the concepts. First Accountability. In leadership roles, accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions within the scope of a role or position, encompassing the obligation to report, and be answerable for resulting consequences. There are five basic requirements for creating accountability. You need to ensure you have:

- Understood Goals - the subordinate must understand what they and their team are trying to achieve;
- Buy in - subordinates must believe in the goal and be a part of the success;
- Benchmarks and a Quantifiable Result - subordinates need milestones and a result that can be measured;
- Two-way Feedback - feedback from the supervisor to the subordinate and from the subordinate to the supervisor;
- Evaluation - once a goal is accomplished, celebrate the success. Conversely, do not shy away from criticism if performance falls short.
Turning now to delegation, we said a basic principle of organizational management is that enough authority needs to be delegated to a manager to take the actions necessary for accomplishing an objective. It is also necessary for the limits of the authority to be clearly defined. This means that the subordinate to whom you have delegated the task knows not only what they may decide, but also what they may not. The same five requirements apply, clearly defined goals, buy in, benchmarks, feedback, and evaluation.
Repeating what we said before, to effectively delegate you must hold your subordinates accountable, and to hold your people accountable you must delegate the required authority.
In that statement is implicit the main reasons people fail at delegation and holding their people accountable. They cannot entrust authority to their people. "How can I trust them not to make a mistake?" or "I need to know what is going on." The problem is that if you cannot overcome these fears, you are still the one doing the job. To be free to to the job you are supposed to be doing as CEO, you have to get over it. Once you do you will never be the same again, and surprise! surprise! not only will the work be done better, but you will get your life back.

Discipline in your Small Business

The imposition of a regime of discipline in any small business is an issue that faces the CEO and other senior managers. The problem is not as insoluble as it appears, and help is on the way. Visit the Articles page here.

How to Use Delegation in Your Small Business

One of the most important skills a small business CEO or other senior manager must master is delegation. The reason is very simple. He cannot do it all himself. Unfortunately delegation is not that simple, and mastering it takes commitment and practice.
So what is delegation? Probably the easiest way to answer that question is to demonstrate what it is not. Delegation is not giving instructions and monitoring the result. That is supervision, and it is what most of us do. The reason it is not delegation is that authority is not transferred in the process.
So why is that so different? Well, if you do not delegate authority, then every time something happens which is not covered by your specific instructions, no one has the authority to make a decision, and they must come back to you for further instructions. That is inefficient. It is also aggravating for your people.
A basic principle of organizational management is that enough authority needs to be delegated to a manager to take the actions necessary for accomplishing an objective. It is also necessary for the limits of the authority to be clearly defined. This means that the subordinate to whom you have delegated the task knows not only what they may decide, but also what they may not.
You notice we never mentioned delegation of responsibility. Certainly in the process of delegation we give employees the responsibility of completing tasks, but unfortunately for owners and CEO's, they retain the responsibility. That means it is up to them to ensure that their employee has the training, the resources and the authority to get the job done right. I have found that the managers who truly understand that failures by their subordinates are really their own failures turn out to be the best managers.
Go to my website http://www.trainmetobeaceo.com for more information.

Work Smarter not Harder = Get Your Life Back

The other day one of my associates asked me, “What is the most important thing your clients take away from their association with you?" My answer was simple, “They get their life back!”

A grand statement, but it is true. Most entrepreneurs are great at what they do but they are lousy managers. This has one of two results, either there is a lot of conflict in their company, or they end up doing more than their fair share of the work. Result 60+ hour weeks, no vacations, and stress at work and at home. The crazy thing is that running the show the right way is much easier than doing it the wrong way, and learning how to do it only needs one thing – commitment to change.

The concepts are not rocket science, they are simple logical processes, and when mastered make the job so much easier. Yea, it costs a little in dollars and effort but getting your life back – Priceless.

Managing the Cash in Your Small Business

The recession seems to be nearing it's end and good times are on the way. Sales will begin to grow and we will be busy again. End of problem? Not really- beware of the cash crunch.

Yep, as sales grow, cash decreases. How can that be? Read on.

In the article "What does the CEO of a small business need to Know" I referred to the importance of Cash Planning. In that same article I noted that cash flow was more likely to cause your business to falter than any other reason. How can I say this? Simple. Experience tells me that most small business owners, CEO's, Presidents, or owners don't give this important area the attention it deserves.

"If the business is making money, there will be enough cash!" I have heard this so many times but it is so wrong. Why? Firstly, because all profit is not cash. Most often the the "profit" is consumed by increases in receivables and inventory and cash actually goes down. Yes I know you need inventory, and receivables are a part of business but the point is if you prepare for them. they are manageable.

So what do we have to do. The simple answer is to project where we are going to be in a week, four weeks, or more, up to twelve weeks if you can. After that, update your projection each week. "That's fine," you say, "But who's got the time?" A good question, but the answer is just as good, "Learn to do it properly, and you and your accounts person will not only have the time, but you will find that the time you have saved on dealing with crises gives you more time for other things. Now this is not a platitude, it's a promise.

I recommend a little spreadsheet that does all the hard work, and most of the data will come directly from your accounting system untouched by human hands. All my clients will receive the tool that will help them do this function seemlessly. Go to my website http://www.trainmetobeaceo.com for more information.