Delegating projects to your staff is a key to success for food truck vendors. You need to spend more of your time working on jobs that bring your truck more revenue. However, if you don’t pay close attention, you may find yourself doing even more work. Have you ever delegated a task to a staff member, and somehow it ends up back on your plate? Beware of this style of reverse delegation.

Today we’ll explain this mistake and how to avoid it.

Why Reverse Delegation Happens

Delegation is sometimes called an artform. It is the art of communication, mixed with the art of encouragement. So, why do so many vendors allow reverse delegation to occur in their food trucks?

  1. Vendors like to solve problems.
  2. Vendors like to help their staff.

Food truck employees who are unsure how to do something may enlist you in doing it for them. Don’t automatically solve problems or make decisions for hesitant staff. Focus on generating alternative solutions together, making sure the employee maintains responsibility for executing.

Don’t fall for it when a staff member makes statements like, “You  do this better.” While flattering, and possibly even true, it’s often a way to get you involved when you shouldn’t be.

How To Avoid Reverse Delegation

One thing you never want to do is to allow a staff member to leave a conversation thinking that they’re now waiting on you for something. You should always be waiting on them.

A better option is to say something like…

“I trust you to come up with a solution. It’s why I hired you.”

or take a harder line with…

“Don’t come to me with problems, come to me with solutions,”

There are dual benefits to following this process. On the one hand, it prevents reverse delegation and keeps your workload from escalating. But even more importantly, it helps build up your food truck employees’ skills and self-esteem.

RELATED: How To Choose What Tasks You Delegate

The Bottom Line

As your food truck business grows and the more you separate yourself from day to day operations of your food truck the more imperative it is to delegate work, unfortunately it’s not always easy. If you want to regain more of your time, develop more resourceful and responsible food truck employees. Also, create better leverage and  make sure you refuse to allow reverse delegation to happen.

Have you ever had to deal with reverse delegation? How did you handle it? Share your stories in the comment section or on social media. Facebook | Twitter

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