When it's time to give your team the finger

(00:00) hey there friends and welcome to becoming a boss where we take some time each week to talk with someone who is wrestling with a specific situation at work some want to be helped and some just want to be heard I'm Megan here with Wallace today and this week we are listening to a caller who is facing a problem with delegation it's a good one a lot of people talking about already know so okay let's dive in we are going to listen to what the caller sent us here (00:36) we go let's do it hi I'm calling in to share a problem that's been bothering me at work so I recently moved into my first leadership role at a time when my project team is facing a lot of turnover so I'm working on an IT project and during all this turnover we've lost a lot of technical colge on my team and at the same time my company is trying to implement an agile approach to projects but it seems like some of my previous team members have interpreted agile to mean that nothing needs to be documented (01:09) no I have a team of mostly brand new people and a backlog of work that has very high level descriptions of what needs to be done but not any detail on how exactly to do it so I was urling a lot with how to delegate when no one seems to know what's going on since I've been on this project um for a while prior to becoming a lead I know a lot about how to use the system and I set up a lot of knowledge transfer sessions to help teach my team fundamentals of what they need to be doing but I really need to find a way to empower my team to (01:43) learn and work with others on the project and take on this work that is ambiguous on their own without coming through me for every question because to be honest I can't keep up with everything and I'm closly becoming a bottleneck to the progress on my team I really do have a great team and they're all eager to learn but I could tell that they get frustrated out of clear Direction and I toly feel how that I can't give them a clear Direction but the work itself is sometimes confusing and super technical and a lot of times I (02:13) don't even know myself how to specifically solve a problem that they're facing and I know there's broader problems on this project that I've kind of inherited and I I don't feel like they're all my fault but I really feel like I want to make this team better I'm wondering if you have any advice on how I can help me my team first this I'd really appreciate it thank you so much for all your help bye it seems like you know and something's been wearing on you for some time yeah I (02:41) don't know it's kind of hard with her having a almost new team mhm yeah that's hard no matter what and then she's saying she sometimes doesn't even know mhm yeah like how to solve it where is the documentation that seems to be part of the problem there is no documentation yeah I think that's the biggest like if we could pretend we lived in a perfect world it should have been documented because that's how agile Works have you worked with agile before no well okay so it's an approach to project management (03:13) where it breaks everything into really small pieces of plan build test which is I love personally because the technical team and the operations team work so closely together it's hard to make a mistake because you're always together and you're collaborating but that's not what happen happened for her because they're not collaborating because they're not documenting all the things are not going well she's in an awkward situation yeah and it's hard because we can say start documenting and that would (03:42) be good for going forward but how do you because like she said it's it kind of can become a bottleneck if now they're going to come to her for everything mhm right the bottleneck thing happens all the time I'm sure you've seen it I've seen it and what stinks about that is that as their manager the very last thing that you want to be is the reason work isn't being done correct right it's the opposite of what we're trying to do but when she's talking about this I had almost the exact situation at work so (04:11) long ago I worked in Youngstown Ohio and we went from being dead last to kicking we were winning everything they were amazing it was amazing but somewhere between being in last place and getting to first place they started coming to me and they're asking me all these questions and I had have already my own things that I need to do I'm holding one-on ones and I'm doing coaching and I'm holding people accountable and I'm having team meetings and I have to plan and you know all these things and then (04:40) plus I'm juggling the client expectations so they're coming to me all the time and they're asking me questions that I it's stopping me from doing work so this goes on for some time and finally I'm frustrated and I hear the caller's voice we we can hear frustration her voice and I remember feeling that way and so one day team meeting end of the day and I just explain to them here's the situation and there's a whole bunch of there's probably 12 of them at this point and I just say I'm not getting my work done (05:09) y'all coming over here a million times a day and you're asking me a bajillion questions I can't I can't get any work done so can you please come to me at the end of the day we're meeting every day in a team meeting anyways can you just wait till the end of the day or go ask your colleagues because you are all together all the time you're in the same meetings you get the same training if you don't know probably Lena knows right so you know or whoever so go use your resources right right right and I loved (05:40) them and I think they knew it but that did not stop them from asking me questions the very next day it went right back to how it was so I gave them the finger not not not that finger this finger where I'm just so they're coming over finger the pointer yes the pointer finger so they're coming over and they're bustling they're mov moving fast and here comes thear running around the corner and he has that look on his face and I give him this finger and I look at him and he looks at me and we just know (06:09) that we have just talked about this yesterday yes yes yes and I cannot be put in the situation but let me ask you this though it sounds like your team was a seasoned team or at least they had it didn't sound like they were new were they new they weren't new to their role but we were a new newly formed team so would you compare it to the caller team that sounds like I would okay because I came from another place to Youngstown so they didn't know me I didn't know them and and it had not been a long time we (06:39) were still not winning at this point we were in the middle okay and it was new to every which I think is why they were asking me so many questions because they were kind of new to the program okay and you know people want to do a good job right and they were new to you or you were new to them yeah so I'm sure they they did want to do but it took me the maybe the rest of the week or a few days and I'm just I continuously hold up my index finger is that what pointer pointer finger yeah but I can't have people think I don't (07:12) know what what the technical this one give me a minute finger and eventually they you know they stopped yeah they stopped which was great and one thing that I thought about after the fact when I was thinking this through because we've been talking a lot about trust in the other in the other training one thing I accidentally talked them was that I trust you I trust you whatever it is that you are about to ask me I trust you to go figure it out make the decision or you know or whatever I I don't need to hold your hand right you (07:43) are a valid boss in your own right you are trained and you can do it I wasn't thinking about that at the time but I was accidentally teaching them that I believed in them and I did I did believe in them so yeah give them the finger give them the finger that is yeah give him a finger that is the advice we heard it here first no but I'm just wondering so in that case it sounded like there were kind of resources that they could reach for they had each other they had each other do you think in this team and I'm (08:17) only thinking a little deeper into it because like Steve Works in it and documentation is huge and the difference sometimes between something taking you an hour versus something taking you 8 hours by the time you're on the phone with Microsoft by the time you're on the phone with it by the time you troubleshoot on your own by the time you so like documentation is so so critical in it that I'm just wondering when you don't have it mhm yeah in a team of new people mhm and I mean you're in trouble (08:51) that's the answer and how could they how could they be each other's support and each other's resources without having to go to their manager time and time again asking questions which then causes a bottleneck it does but she even said herself it's not if it's not documented she doesn't have the answer either right so true put your brains together I mean because remember she shared with us already she had been holding several meetings several sessions training sessions so they are as up to speed as (09:21) they are going to get it seems like it and now it's their turn and I'm not saying this is the only way I'm just saying she's new in the role they're new in their role there is no documentation so although yeah we have to change our ways going forward what are we going to do right now right this is true and what's certainly not going to help is sitting around waiting for answers right just go just you know and and honestly if you're meeting with your team all the time it's not like you don't have access (09:50) correct and if you really if it's a million I don't know I guess it depends how much your company but if it's a million dooll mistake on the line then then okay save it for the team meeting and let's get some type of clearance right but if it's just you know I think it's better to move forward I air on the side of action that's my right well no and that's what's going to save the team going forward yeah I I think it goes without saying but I would want to make sure that someone or everyone is now (10:19) making it a point to document everything goward for the sake of the team and those coming after heaven forbid I think that's the first thing right that's the very first thing that is the very that should be the very first thing yeah who is being are they each being accountable for documenting different things obviously I don't know the structure of the team or how they have tasks you know divided among themselves or whatever but documentation going forward is please a m please do that first a must so we have (10:48) any other thoughts on this I I feel bad she clearly cares about our team she clearly feels like her back's against the wall yes and I feel a sense of of frustration because she doesn't have all the answers and she really wants to be a source of support for them you know your process of meeting every day at the end of the day I think it's really good and I wonder if this caller has a similar schedule or Cadence with her team because I think that also would eliminate the question after question if (11:23) everybody knows that okay if I have questions I'll save them right for this so like if you know in advance that there will be an opportunity to ask your questions right that'll keep everyone moving mhm I agree until set time and it'll give her the freedom of knowing that but she can expect to not be interrupted she can expect that questions are going to be at this time and then the rest of the time she's going to just be doing her work about her life so I think that that is also something really important to implement yeah (11:56) because if I wasn't doing the team meetings and it doesn't have to be every day it depends on your business but if you're meeting with them regularly then they have access to you if they didn't have access to me I would kind of I mean that would make them maybe feel abandoned like I don't care about them so I would never that's the very last thing correct that we want to do is make them feel abandoned but they had an outlet right right right and I think that's important it's important to for (12:26) her to continue to do her work without feeling so down mhm and also they know they have access to her and get to ask questions yeah I think that I think that's brilliant if what you said to your team hey go figure it out go Talk Amongst each other go you know research do everything everything you can do yeah and if at the end of the day you still have this question then let's discuss it together and you know to your point if you don't know maybe they don't know but maybe they do know It'll point being it'll benefit everyone (13:02) in the team to have the discussion together yeah and then other people are learning from other people in the meeting right which is better for everyone correct right okay well so to summarize I would say communicate to your team what you're facing just being honest with them I'm struggling in my own work just be honest right and then make a plan of to solve it whatever it is cuz it maybe oh could you guys ask in your team oh maybe you could ask each other maybe you could use this document for you know whatever the answer is and (13:33) then lastly when they don't listen to what you said and it's not that they don't listen it's just people we are creatures of habit and if we're already in a habit of asking questions we are going to continue to ask questions that's just how we are yep going to take a second and as a leader one I think one of the most critical things is when you set expectations clearly and then they come and they do the same exact thing to just repeat refor yes and reinforce that answer because it's not that they don't (14:03) care about what you said we are all creatures of habit and we just our natural inclination is to do the same thing to do the same thing we did before yes you you you know how to do it you don't think you can do it but you can do it mhm so anything else you want to add Miss walls before we Boom for today how would you summarize this no I think it's give the finger I give him the finger is highlight for sure I just want to say I appreciate this caller's heart you can just tell from their message that they (14:35) really really care and that they really want to do the right thing and that they really want to be supportive and all of that and I just want to say to the caller and to everyone listening that is half the battle when your leader wants to do the right thing yes they want to be there for their team they want to be a source of support they want the best for everyone around um that is half the battle so I just want to say say to her Kudos and you're doing a good job things will get better um you're you're doing (15:05) everything you can do including calling here for advice so you're doing all that you can do and things will get better I'm anxious to hear maybe we we can start getting reports right yes I did this it worked and it worked yes absolutely oh man that sounds great well that's it for today thank you to all of our boss listeners for tuning in thank you to our caller for sharing her story and thanks also to my dear friend Wallace for hosting with me today and a big shout out to Mike Tey for letting us (15:35) use his Dope song on our podcast and before we go if you're like us and want to see lives change give us a five-star rating or if you think your story can help others give us a call at 864 6191 1683 to help us Inspire and equip others on their journey of becoming a boss and listen friend we know it's not easy but remember that whatever it is you're walking through You are not alone and together we can make the world a better place to work thanks for listening team take care and see you next week I'm the provide for me that's why (16:09) on the books