Lessons From The Office: Part III

Lesson #3

Good managers make others better.

I only have seven more days left at work before I leave to help start my new company, Justice Financial Group. During my last month at AV-Base Systems, I'm gradually providing training and documentation for various people so that they can take over my duties. The staff that I have supervised will be overseen by other managers. The procedures that I have developed will now be used by others.

During this process, the fruit of my work as project manager and superviser become quite apparent. Did I try to make myself indispensible by hoarding knowledge and controlling too many things? Did I break down by employees or encourage them and build them up? Did I micro-manage my people or did I empower them? These are important questions for me as I evaluate my career at AV-Base and as I prepare to take on even more responsibility and authority at my new company.

Over the last year, I have overseen the Quality Assurance Team. The two girls, Cam Tran and Michelle Pedden, handle the majority of our software beta-test cycle. This past week, there were two major opportunities for them to prove themselves as the superb QA team that I know they are. I couldn't help them in these tests, it was all up to them.

In the first case, they needed to provide printed evidence that the month-long testing project that we're currently doing is going well. They pulled out their test document (22 pages) and their test results document (18 pages). Perfect. They came out of that meeting having proven that they have a good process, that they are highly knowledgeable about the software and that they are good at what they do. I couldn't have asked for a better presentation. I saw this as a make-or-break meeting: Can we trust the QA team to function on their own without me? And the answer was a resounding yes!

In the second case, Michelle had to provide software training for this same project to our owners and a few others. Generally speaking, Michelle has not led many meetings at AV-Base and this presentation was highly technical. She and Cam worked together to prepare and then, at the last minute, Michelle was told that she had to do the presentation on her own. This time, she was so impressive that my boss went out of her way to tell me about it later and to congratulate Michelle personally afterwards. Home run, out of the park.

I tell you, there's almost no greater satisfaction for me than to see my QA team do well, on their own terms and without me as their safety net. I see my small role in what they have done and it's a wonderful thing to see them flying on their own. I almost can't describe this feeling, but maybe it's what a parent feels like when they see their kids succeed. (I look forward to that day, too.)

Back about a year ago, I used to give them a fairly constant stream of feedback. I used to jump in to help with QA and to review our progress and specific results. As time went on, I gave them some minor suggestions about how to implement some of their ideas. I gave them the chance to lead certain meetings and training sessions, to work on new documentation that we needed. I gradually gave them more and more autonomy and instructed them to use their own judgment. Eventually, I got to the point that I could merely give them a gigantic one-month project with little to no instructions otherwise and I was confidant that they could organize and complete the work effectively and efficiently. And here we are, ready for me to step out and I know that they will be fine without me. More than fine, they will great.

I relate it to the years when I led and taught the youth worship team at my old church, FCCC. I always had a very specific goal in mind: I wanted them to be able to prepare and lead a worship service by themselves from beginning to end without me helping in any way. I wanted the youth to fully use their gifts and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. I wanted them to minister in a meaningful way to the congregation. I did indeed achieve that goal - or rather, they achieved that goal. By the end, they were capably leading monthly Sunday worship and I was able to hide in the the congregation and just worship God. It was the same feeling for me then.

Give people the instructions and tools that they need. Give them the encouragement and training that they need. Allow them to stretch their skills and gain new experience. Walk beside them as they take some of those first few dangerous steps on their own. Give them the best opportunity to succeed.

And then get out of the way!