You have a brainstorm for a new product or service and decide to make it happen. You start get excited as you embark on a new venture. You gather your team, tell them what you want them to do, and three weeks later you receive a finished product from them that only vaguely resembles what you told them to create. Have you experienced scenes similar to the one described above?

We hand over projects to our teams or our employees and pray that they perform well and make us proud. How many times have you delegated a project to a team or individual and received a finished product that was faulty or did not meet the requirements. How many projects have come in late or over budget? How many times have your teams trotted down the wrong path while you worked on other tasks, unaware of their misdirection? Have you received work from staff members that only vaguely resembles what you wanted them to produce?

I know the agony you feel over all the wasted time and energy. Let's banish the wasted hours and miscommunications! Setting up clear guidelines and developing a shared understanding of what you are delegating to your team is critical to your success. "Up front time," the time you invest at the beginning of a project to gain clarity and buy in from staff members, pays off big. The following is a list of the areas you should discuss with your staff as you start new projects. If this discussion is a collaborative conversation, rather than a lecture, you will generate "buy in" from your staff.

1. Identify goals and objectives: What will the end product look like? What will it do? Who is it for? Review specifications and requirements.

2. How this project fits into the big picture: Where does it overlap with the future vision of the organization or your group?

3. The growth opportunities for the staff member. What skills will she develop? What new knowledge will she learn?

4. Time line for work. Include milestones. What will the staff member do if they are falling behind?

5. Develop a budget. What are the available funds? How do they obtain funds and pay for supplies? Set optimal spending goals and a spending ceiling.

6. Review resources available. Resources include people, supplies, and information that may be needed to complete the project.

7. Determine the level of autonomy your team or employee has for this project. The levels below describe the behavior you expect from your employee. Level one is the highest level of autonomy and level six is the lowest.

Level 1: I make all decisions and act quickly.
Level 2: I make decisions, act quickly, and report to my manager periodically (once a week/month).
Level 3: I make decisions and report to my manager quickly (once a day).
Level 4: I make recommendations to my manager and act once we develop a plan together.
Level 5: I ask my manager questions and follow my manager's directions.
Level 6: I wait to act until my manager tells me precisely what to do.

8. Communication time line: Schedule times for informal check-ins and formal reports

9. Negotiations with vendors and clients: Who talks to what clients/vendors and what can they discuss? Are there any subjects they are not supposed to discuss? How much room do they have to negotiate before they need to talk to you?

10. Chain of command: Can your team/employee talk to your boss? What can they talk about? Should they come to you first? Will you feel cut out of the loop if they make an "end run" and talk to the CEO about a problem they are having?

11. What are some problems they may run into?

12. Brainstorm solutions to any problems they might face.

13. Determine next meeting time and place.

You are starting a new year, your team is ready to take on the world, and to make things happen. It requires time, commitment and discipline to clarify the issues outlined above, but the time investment will pay off down the road. Set your teams and employees up for success. Focus them while you release their inner resources. Jump Start your team today.