Delegating Leadership at Wanda’s Widgets

Tyler Avis

Background

Wanda's Widgets is a rapidly growing lawn and garden tool manufacturing company with 80 employees. It specializes in creating tools and other items (widgets) to help do-it-yourselfers complete yard work faster and more efficiently. The company’s workforce has employees ranging from seniors in high school to engineers with over 25 years of experience in design and engineering, some even holding their owner patents. Wanda’s grandfather started this company in ‘the shed out back’ on their family farm in the 50s, and in the mid 2000s she was featured with her grandfather's original weed pulling widget on a popular tv show where inventors pitch their products to investors that can drastically change their lives by making an investment in them and their companies or products, taking them to scale nationally or even worldwide. Although she wasn’t able to make a deal, the publicity put her company in the national spotlight and last year the company grossed over $10 Million in sales for the first time.

Key Characters

1. Freddy Smith – Senior Project Manager with 10 years of experience in project management. Known for his strong leadership skills and was promoted to his current role six months ago.
2. Megan Burke – Team Lead with 7 years of experience at Wanda's Widgets, highly skilled in engineering and development. She manages a team of 12 developers, all of whom are self-motivated and competent in their areas.
3. George Dell – Manufacturing Supervisor for the past 12 years and oversees the 7 current lines of production of the most profitable tools and widgets.

Situation

Wanda's Widgets has recently landed a multi-million dollar deal with one of the nations most premier home-improvement retailers. This will require production to nearly double from current levels, requiring the company’s number of employees to jump quickly as well as construct a new manufacturing facility within the next 14 months.

Wanda has a history of employing a hands-on leadership style, involving herself in all aspects of running the company. However, with this new deal, she is aware that her time is limited and she needs to quickly find a partner that can help her navigate through the most exciting time in the company's history. After careful consideration, Wanda decides to adopt a delegating leadership style for this project and promote George to Vice-President of the company, trusting George’s judgment and leadership to help her handle and navigate through the day-to-day tasks of planning and executing this expansion. An expansion team has been assembled that consists of many of the department supervisors, of which George will preside over.

Leadership Approach

In the kickoff meeting, Wanda explains her approach to the team while also giving direction to George:

• She will provide high-level guidance and ensure the necessary resources and support are available.
• George will take ownership of the day-to-day management of the team.
• Each team member is responsible for their individual deliverables and will report directly to George.
• Regular updates will be provided to Wanda, but she will not micromanage the details unless Georgel or the team encounters a roadblock.

Wanda’s decision to delegate aligns with her belief in empowering her team. She trusts George’s technical expertise and the developers' ability to manage their responsibilities.

Challenges

1. George’s New Role: With George’s ability to manage successfully in his most previous role, he is now the primary decision-maker for the success of the company's future. He is comfortable about managing team dynamics, but wants to make sure he places the correct people into the correct roles underneath him to ensure that not only the company finds success, but that he can also continue to take pride in his ability to lead.
2. Megan’s High Expectations: Megan feels she could contribute more to the engineering and production teams, however, since George is leading, her role is more limited and her day-to-day functions primarily focus on timelines being met. She is used to taking on leadership roles and feels frustrated by the lack of influence she has in the company's expansion efforts.
3. Team Communication: While Wanda’s delegation gives the team more autonomy, the reduced oversight leads to a breakdown in communication. Some team members feel they are not receiving enough feedback or guidance from George.

Key Events

1. Mid-Project Review: Halfway through the project, Wanda checks in with George and discovers some minor delays. George admits that he’s struggling with managing both his production management duties and the leadership responsibilities. He’s reluctant to ask for help because he feels that would contradict Wanda’s delegation strategy.
2. Wanda’s Feedback: Megan privately expresses her frustration to Wanda. She feels underutilized and believes that some of George’s decisions are not optimal. Wanda must decide how to handle this without undermining George’s leadership.
3. Tightening the Deadline: The national retailer suddenly moves up the deadline by two months, increasing the pressure on the team to deliver sooner. Wanda is forced to decide whether she should step in and take a more hands-on approach or continue delegating leadership to George.

Discussion Questions

1. Was Wanda’s decision to delegate leadership to George appropriate given the context? What factors should leaders consider before adopting a delegating style?
2. How could George balance his technical responsibilities and leadership duties more effectively? What kind of support or training might he need?
3. How should Wanda address Wanda’s concerns without undermining George? Is it possible to give Wanda more influence in the project without disrupting team dynamics?
4. With the deadline moved up, should Wanda intervene more directly, or continue trusting George to lead the team? What are the risks and benefits of either approach?
5. What steps could George and Wanda take to improve communication within the team, ensuring that all members feel supported and guided?

Author Bio

Tyler Avis is a department director of a small Iowa city with 10+ years' experience in working for local governments.

License

This case study is licensed CC BY 4.0.