Many managers simply will not slow down enough and take the time to explain and document how to complete a task. Caught in a situation where time is tight and there are limited opportunities, the manager will continually complete the task on his own and then sulk because there is “no one else who can do it.” Again, this reflects the management skills of the manager – not the staff.
It reminds me of when my boys were small. I could tie their shoes in under 10 seconds. Or I could show them how to do it and wait for them to tie their shoes. Which took somewhere between four minutes and forever and was rarely done well enough to even walk to the door without the laces coming undone. My mother called teaching kids to tie their shoes “investing ten minutes to save ten seconds.” But, as a parent, I needed to teach my children how to tie their shoes on their own. Yes, I could do it better and faster than them, but as long as I continued to do it, they would never learn and gain that sense of accomplishment and independence they needed to mature.
The same is true with managing people. You must invest a long amount of time to teach someone how to do something you could do better and faster. But as long as you do not teach and delegate the tasks, they will fill your day and you will never get the truly important items that will expand your business.