When it comes to overseeing an advisory practice, one of the most important things a top-tier manager can do is delegate to underlings tasks they are equally well equipped to handle.
That was a key theme of a talk given by Daralee Barbera, who spoke during a general session of GAMA International's Leadership and Management Program (LAMP) 2007 at the organization's annual conference, held here March 18-21. The talk recapped lessons applied from GAMA's 5-day residency program, "The Essentials of Leadership and Management," which covers multiple elements of agency and career development.
"We all need to grow new business, retain and service old business, hire and develop new advisors and managers, keep senior advisors happy and stay current on all pertinent information," said Barbera, a certified financial planner and managing principal at Waddell & Reed Financial Services, Overland Park, Kan. "But if we're not careful, we can get overwhelmed by all this stuff."
To avoid that outcome, she added, managers have to "deskill," meaning they should delegates tasks that others on staff can accomplish equally well, while maintaining under their charge responsibilities only they can fulfill. Citing her own experience, Daralee observed that managers often fail in this exercise because they trust only themselves to do certain jobs or because they don't want to impose on others. One result is lost productivity and a misallocation of resources.
"If you catch yourself doing something that someone else can do, then you have just got to stop it — even if it's a small thing — because it all adds up to time not devoted to things only you can do," says Daralee. "By giving someone else the opportunity to develop skills [in delegated areas], you will increase your organizational depth and improve everyone's ability. And if you don't have anyone to hand a job off to, then you have a hiring opportunity."
One area that Barbera deskilled at Waddell & Reed is office administration. An assistant who reports to her now oversees administration of 5 California-based registered offices for which Barbera has overall responsibility. (The company has more than 500 registered offices nationwide.) Barbera additionally hired individuals to provide administrative support — managing special projects, assembling seminar packets and placing calls, etc. — for company advisors.
The delegated work extends as well to keeping tabs on advisors' productivity. To that end, Barbera hired an activity manager to assign points when advisors complete certain tasks (e.g., securing an appointment, conducting a fact-finding or closing a sale); impose accountability standards that require a level of oversight beyond what the firm's managers had time for; attend "focus meetings" with advisors; and handle record-keeping.
Also impacted was top management. Weekly staff meetings at each of the 5 offices, which formerly fell under Barbera's purview, now are conducted by the locations' district managers, though she continues to attend and contribute to discussions. One upside to the change, she said, is that meetings now conform to the managers' own style, which allows for a more free-flowing interaction among participants.
