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Ask HN: Any recommendations on building a team and delegating?

6 points by martin-adams ↗ HN
So I'm currently contracting under my own business and find myself working with and managing remote teams more and more. At the same time I'd like to start building my own team to delegate work to.

Does anyone have any recommendations, such as books that are good reading on this topic? I'm looking to improve my delegation and technical management skills, but also grow my business.

Thanks in advance.

5 comments

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caw
While I haven't any book recommendations, I think one of the key things for delegation is to understand that you don't have to do everything. If you believe that you have to do everything because otherwise the work won't get done, then you either don't trust your team to be able to execute, or you want to be the "hero", neither of which are good things.

For more inexperienced delegates, you'll have to spend more time forming the task into something concrete for them to work with. However, over time you're building them up to be a productive member of the team that will need less and less instruction. I'm not sure a book can teach that, because I believe it's knowing your team, what they're capable of, and making the most out of their talents.

I'm assuming for this response that you have someone to delegate to. You also have "building my own team" as a discussion point, and I can't help there.

martin-adams
Thanks! Very helpful. I can certainly see both the lack of trust and "hero" traits in me. I've known this for many years and realising this is going to be a very crucial factor in being able to scale up my business.

I've got a couple junior people on a part-time/freelance basis who I can delegate to.

I think one of my biggest challenges is learning how to progressively disclose the level of complexity about the task and not bombard them. But also providing them with clear measurable goals for them to work on.

Right now I feel like I'm too much in the teaching role because the people I have available are learning, but I can't yet afford anyone with more experience (yet).

caw
> I think one of my biggest challenges is learning how to progressively disclose the level of complexity about the task and not bombard them. But also providing them with clear measurable goals for them to work on.

I agree with this. It's not an easy problem to tackle. You could manage other people for years and still not have a good handle on it, but hopefully it gets easier to feel over time, as to what's too much for them. How well you know the other person is also a factor in this.

wiggity
I worked with my organization's leadership development team for the past few years, here are two recommendations to get you started:

the leadership challenge by kouzes and posner (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DM2MK8) - the canonical book on business leadership, well worth the investment. it's research-driven and full of case studies and examples; many MBA programs will teach an entire semester on this bad boy. not much to say here that isn't in the reviews.

it's okay to be the boss by bruce tulgan (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061121363) - if the leadership challenge feels a little too high-brow or abstract ('transformational vs. transactional,' in leadership jargon), this little book can scratch the itch for tactical management tips. tulgan can seem a bit directive and simplistic at times, and his advice may not fit with every organizational culture, but he's a savvy student of organizational leadership, and a quick read.

leadership, especially in a remote environment, isn't trivial - congratulations on being willing to invest in this skill. best of luck.

skram
This isn't a book, like you asked, but my startup has found project management software, when used correctly, to be helpful in doing this. We have settled in with PivotalTracker.com for its compromise between price, customizability, and feature set/enforced ideology.