“My team keep making mistakes”
A client this week told me: "I’m trying to give my team more autonomy, but I can't keep the quality up without stepping in to correct it myself. I don't have time to do my work and my team's."
If you can relate - you're not alone. You give clear instructions, follow up, and expect things to run smoothly—yet somehow:
Reports come back with errors.
Deadlines get missed.
Emails go out with wrong details.
So, you end up checking everything, which kind of defeats the whole point of delegation.
While this can be a team issue - that's usually not the problem —it’s more likely a leadership one.
Step 1: Find the Root Cause
Before jumping to conclusions, figure out why details are slipping.
Common reasons?
🔹 Lack of clarity – They don’t fully understand expectations.
🔹 Lack of accountability – Either we aren't holding them accountable for their mistakes, or there are too many chefs in the kitchen - so accountability for the task doesn't sit clearly with one person.
🔹 They don’t see the impact – We need to communicate WHY tasks matter when we delegate them.
Get to the real issue first. Then, fix it. This might mean removing excess contributors to a task, explaining the why or resetting expectations for the task.
Step 2: Raise the Standard
If your team isn’t detail-oriented, it’s because they don’t think details matter that much. That needs to change.
Here’s how:
✅ Make the consequences real – Show how small mistakes lead to big problems. Remember, if we say details matter, but never hold anyone accountable for attention to detail mistakes - our actions are undermining our words.
✅ Set clear expectations – Make attention to detail a non-negotiable - make it clear exactly what standard is required.
✅ Stay consistent – If you let things slide, they’ll assume details aren’t that important.
Step 3: Promote Ownership
If you’re the one always catching and fixing mistakes, your team will never take full responsibility. That has to change.
How to make them own it:
🚫 Don’t fix their mistakes—have them fix them.
🚫 If they send incorrect info to a client, they correct it.
🚫 Help them connect their work to real stakes.
Of course, we could always micromanage our teams into getting results, but this is how we can get results without having to default to that (and working too many hours).
