My fence is looking drab and in need of a fresh coat of paint, but I don’t want to paint it myself. I ask my colleague, who is an Associate Fence Painter, and fairly new to the world of fences.
By instructing the Associate to ‘Paint the fence’, I am assuming that they have quite a bit of knowledge about how to paint the fence in a way that I, the client, will be happy with.
This approach comes with a big risk that I won’t be happy with the outcome.
To delegate the task effectively, I need to tell them what brush to use, how to check for uneven coverage, maybe even remind them to wipe any spills and wear the right clothes.
Remember that even if the Associate paints this fence well, they may not have the experience to paint a different fence, with a different paint type, or for a different client.
Only when they have the experience of painting a few different fences for different clients, can you move to the next level of delegation, and instruct them simply to ‘Paint the fence’.
Once the Fence Painter graduates to the Senior Fence Painter, I’d expect to move to the next level. I might not need to instruct them – they would show initiative and come to me!
‘Sarah, I noticed your fence needs a fresh coat of paint. Would you be happy for me to schedule in time to paint it next week?’
You can see this person is becoming a real asset. At this level, I would still check with the writer, (sorry, ‘Fence Painter’) exactly how they are planning to do it, and check in a couple of times during the week to help with any unexpected issues.
At the Principal level, I’d trust them to surprise me with the freshly painted fence. The Principal Fence Painter might even impress me with their more strategic approach:
‘Sarah, your fence is looking a little worn. Can we talk about my ideas to refresh it? I suggest we add a nice trellis that makes more of the flowers and use a more modern paint colour.’
The more astute readers among you will have replaced the fence painter in this story with medical writer. The Principal Fence Painter with , yes, Principal Medical Writer. The fence? Any type of Med Comms project.
The parallels are obvious and the message is clear: the success of a task may depend more on the way you delegate than on the abilities of the person you delegate to.
