Dear Founder: Letters of Advice for Anyone Who Leads, Manages, or Wants to Start a Business

by Maynard Webb

Over years of managing teams, I have learned that effective delegation means that you know that the task/project will get done with the results that you expect. At the outset, this means that you have to: • Assess the capability and willingness of the team to do the task. Often, people will volunteer for a cool assignment, but can/will they really do it? • Communicate what success looks like to the people you are delegating to. What is the timeline, quality, etc.? • Ensure they know that if they encounter problems, you are there to guide them. Overall, you are still accountable for the results. Delegation is not abdication. • Establish checkpoints to monitor progress so you don’t get any nasty surprises at the end. • When the team delivers, celebrate their success.

The first step in this model is to clarify what the decision is and when it has to be made. Write it down. Then, you employ RACI, an acronym that delineates the necessary stakeholders in a decision. This outlines the person who is: • Responsible. Who is the owner? Who sets the strategy? Who will decide? Ideally this should be one person, but it can be two. Remember, decision-making needs to be pushed down to the lowest competent level. If that’s not done, it means you are not delegating enough. Worse, it means that you may be running a monarchy. • Approves. Who will ratify or veto? This person is the one who delegates the work to the “R.” • Consulted. Who will be affected? These people do not have the right to make the decision, but you have the obligation to get their input before the decision is made, and you want to know what they have to say. • Informed. Who has to be informed about the decision? Always err on the side of informing too many people rather than too few.

Setting goals is natural and easy to do. Setting goals that are achievable, realistic, and inspirational is where the magic comes in.

Marissa Mayer gave weekly updates at Yahoo! called FYIs.

Here are some steps you can take to stay in touch with alumni and build your network: • Send every team member off well. Thank them for their service and solicit their willingness to stay in touch. • Create an alumni page on Facebook or LinkedIn. Keep an in-house contact list. • Periodically create content to update alumni on the latest goings-on at the company. Include things they may be able to help you with, such as suggesting candidates for a job opening. • Be willing to show up at alumni events. You might want to even consider hosting them. • Make everyone feel that they are still in the family even though they’ve left the house!

I suggest having periodic meetings with key investors and running those meetings as though they were board meetings, but with none of the other members having voting authority and control.