Nothing without you. Why is a manager's vacation a blow for the company?

I’m both hungry and itching – this is how one can describe the desire of many entrepreneurs and managers to go on vacation. Eh, at least for a couple of weeks forget about business, rush away and turn off all notifications. But business doesn't let go. As soon as the founder (or manager) crosses the threshold, some kind of bacchanalia begins in the company (or department).

Quality drops when you delegate tasks to others

Let's look at a situation in which many recognize themselves. Just recently you realized that there is absolutely no way to grow further without a sales department. You start looking for and hiring sales people. Charged young guys come, learn quickly, and from the second day they go “to the fields,” that is, to communicate with clients. It’s clear that they need time to understand the product, find out key customer objections, and develop an individual working script.

But now a month passes. Behind him is another. But the results are still lower than when you sold without a sales department. You are trying to explain the full depth of the tasks and all their importance. But people still don’t seem to “understand” them completely.

You hire a department head. It helps, but the results are still average. Plus, ROP seems to have his own understanding of “what’s right”; he doesn’t always hear and understand the entrepreneur’s big idea. The current situation does not give the founder the opportunity to disconnect even a little from the sales process.

Usually at this moment he begins to think that their subordinates do not fit in, are not competent enough, do not want to take responsibility and create results for the company. “They don’t delve into the details, they do the work formally, just to report, receive a salary at the end of the month and go drink beer with colleagues” – these are approximately the thoughts that arise in the head.

So how can you go on vacation? When everything literally collapses, only the owner wants to blink. It becomes like some harsh version of the game Jenga, where the tower only doesn't collapse if you're looking at it.

However, the real problem lies in the entrepreneur's own approach to management. It is important to understand that his task is to learn how to effectively achieve results through other people.

Let's say a sales manager does not fully understand the technical nuances of a new product. Instead of blaming him for incompetence, it's worth asking: Was he provided with in-depth training on this product? Were conditions and incentives created for him to strive to delve into the subtleties? Creating an environment in which employees create results for the company without regular focus from the owner is his key competency, the absence of which turns company management into a chaotic selection of actions, in the hope that one of them will bring results.

In short, An employee is not a cog who must understand everything on his own. This is a tool that you need to learn to use skillfully. And this requires constantly improving the management environment: training, motivation, communication, regulations and other things that everyone hears. The better the management system is built, the lower the requirements for the starting qualifications of employees. And the higher the return on their work.

Only in this case will the manager have the opportunity to calmly go on vacation, entrusting the tasks to the team.

Employees endlessly go for advice and do not understand the priority of tasks

There are managers who complain that their employees constantly come for advice and approval of decisions made. How can this behavior of subordinates be explained? Of course, laziness and lack of initiative, unwillingness to take responsibility. And our favorite: “this is the whole new infantile generation, they are simply afraid to take responsibility and are spoiled. That’s why they have to constantly wipe their a**.”

And here, too, an interesting situation arises. Employees come for advice, and it is difficult for an entrepreneur to refuse them. And it seems quite reasonable: “How can I refuse if I know the answer, I know how to do it faster and more efficiently. If I don’t give advice, I will harm my own company, because then the work will not be performed at such a high level. In the meantime, while the team gains experience, we will lose a lot of money and time.” This is partly true. In the short term, the company may lose some resources.

But let's take a long-term view. The first option is for the entrepreneur to continue to give advice and prioritize tasks himself. There are more people, there are more requests for advice, the entrepreneur’s time is slowly eaten up by subordinates, who ask and get advice every now and then. And now, even on vacation, he doesn’t get out of his phone. And only when a family vacation is ruined by the formal rather than full presence of one of the family members (you know the ones), this family member suddenly realizes: “something is wrong.” Or maybe he won’t understand.

And the second option is that the entrepreneur begins to let employees go without advice from his side. With the expectation that they will try to decide for themselves, make mistakes, learn and find a solution. Perhaps not as quickly as with your advice. With probable loss of money. But still. This is the only way to create an environment in which people independently create results through trial and error. And they accumulate collective experience. And he is an important capital of the company.

Of course, the decision to simply stop giving advice will not create the necessary environment; this requires more management decisions and implementation.

However, the key idea that we wanted to convey is that the manager’s task is not to replace a subordinate by performing part of his work, but to create conditions in which the employee will act as independently as possible within the framework of his authority. This includes the provision of the necessary resources, training, clear and understandable KPIs and regulations, and delineation of areas of responsibility.

Then, gradually, the responsibility of employees will increase, they will become less likely to resort to the advice of their manager, and their competencies will increase significantly. And the manager will have the opportunity to calmly go on vacation, without fear that the team will not be able to cope without him.

Let's summarize the key idea

In our experience, the main difference between an entrepreneur who can’t go on vacation without a phone and one who gets a great buzz “on silent” is in the vision of what management is. And as a result – in actions that are supported by vision.

IN TG channel We help move from a distorted view of management to a realistic and effective one. Join us, friends, we are already discussing this topic a lot inside.