Dear Bob ...Thanks for the quick reply to my last question ("Clarifying levels of manager ability," Advice Line, 3/1/2006).The [chair-maker] metaphor reminds me of my technical days in automotive manufacturing (15 years ago) when “quality improvement process" was taught throughout the organization and everyone was aware of the same concepts and terminology.I feel I have developed many process for my staff to f Dear Bob …Thanks for the quick reply to my last question (“Clarifying levels of manager ability,” Advice Line, 3/1/2006).The [chair-maker] metaphor reminds me of my technical days in automotive manufacturing (15 years ago) when “quality improvement process” was taught throughout the organization and everyone was aware of the same concepts and terminology. I feel I have developed many process for my staff to follow. Some also have developed their own processes and I have encourage them to do so. I feel I need guidance on how to make the staff feel they have ownership of a processes and can improve upon them – without feeling the need to come back to me for validation or because they don’t want feel responsible for them. Any suggestions?Also, any suggestions on IT management books or seminars to help me improve as a manager/leader?– Leveling off (again) Dear Leveling …A few thoughts:* If you haven’t, tell them! Use the line from Abrashoff’s book – instead of It’s Your Ship, say, “It’s your department. It’s your process. How do you want it to run?” * Also borrow Abrashoff’s approach to your involvement – if it could wreck the department, cost more than something or other, or whatever your criteria, ask you first. Otherwise, use good judgment. This, of course, overstates things for emphasis. What you want to do is make it clear that unless the decision will exceed some important thresholds, it’s perfectly fine to just let you know about it after the fact. (And pay attention to the phrasing. While there’s no mathematical difference between “If it doesn’t exceed these thresholds,” and “If it’s too small to require my approval,” the semantic difference is night and day.)Don’t go overboard, of course. If it’s big enough to get you into trouble with your boss, it’s big enough for you to have some involvement in the decision. Also remember: Trust should be neither entirely earned nor entirely bestowed. There’s a balance in there where some level of trust is assumed until abused, while another level of trust doesn’t exist until you’re sure it’s warranted.* Very obvious once stated: Make sure everyone receives at least basic education about what it means to manage a process instead of managing the work. If they haven’t, telling them to manage that way will just make them feel uncomfortable. And be sure to co-pilot the managers responsible for the various processes for a month or so, so they don’t feel like you’ve just tossed them into the deep end of the swimming pool. Books and other resources:For process design and management you’ll have a hard time finding anything better than Paul Harmon’s Business Process Change (2002).So far as leadership seminars, [Warning: Sales message follows – Bob] we offer an excellent one if I say so myself (http://www.issurvivor.com/Seminars/default.asp), but only on an in-house basis. Otherwise, the American Management Association is pretty much the standard go-to resource for this kind of thing. For reading material, I’ll of course promote my own Leading IT: The Toughest Job in the World first – that is, after all, why I wrote it.I also think you’d find Abrashoff’s It’s Your Ship to be a worthwhile read. And for something more hard-boiled, Anton Jay’s Management and Machiavelli is very well done and can provide a lot of help dealing with some of the situations most of us would prefer never came up, but usually do anyway.– Bob Technology Industry