Using a Crane to Pick up Buckets

In the current tight labour market one of the keys of business, owners and managers need to ensure they use wisely, is to ensure we are maximising the skills and abilities of our people. Sadly this does not always happen. A great analogy that encapsulates this is “Using a crane to lift buckets.” If you have ever struggled with delegation and “just done it yourself” because it was ‘quicker & easier’ you have fallen foul of the situation this analogy describes.

This lovely, simple picture describes the misuse of resources in a business. Whenever a highly skilled (and typically more expensive) team member is required to do a basic task because you ‘just need it done and trust them to do it’ you are likely wasting company time and money and, arguably more egregiously, undervaluing and frustrating your best employees. If you don't trust the people you have employed to do the job they are meant to do, be careful not to make your champion employees pay the price of your lack of management skills and inability to train. 

People need to feel challenged at work. It is a basic human need to feel a sense of achievement and contribution. When we give the right tasks to the right people we have people executing skills that match their experience and you avoid expending extra resources like using ‘cranes to pick up buckets!’ You need both cranes and buckets - each team member doing their role to the best of their ability. 

There are many reasons why companies use resources that appear to be overcompensating and throwing “weight” behind tasks. In some situations there is a need for speed to gain a tactical advantage or meet a tight deadline. Outside of these exceptions it is important to discern and ensure this is not happening in your teams. Often lack of skills in delegation and management lie behind managers asking (and relying) on higher skilled team members to do tasks below their abilities. Not making time to train people and/or not training properly can create a culture where time pressures push the skilled team members to do the work.

Do you need to ensure that you are using your team and their skill sets in the most effective way to heighten job enjoyment and give best return on invested skills? Are your roles clearly defined and do you have updated and clearly visible skills matrix to show who can do what? Are you team engaged and feeling suitably challenged and appreciated in their roles? 

All of these questions require “heavy lifting” - that is where your abilities and the “crane” in your team should be focused!