Delegating: top tips
Delegation is an important component of most leadership roles.
When you first start your career, you are usually on the tools yourself, doing tasks assigned to you by others. However, as your career progresses, you’ll quickly discover that it pays to have the right team.
The trouble is leaders often have a difficult time letting go of responsibilities.
It’s easy to assume that only you can deliver the right outcomes for your area of responsibility.
However, studies suggest that delegation can increase the overall performance of any organisation.
Delegating empowers others in your organisation to make the most of their skills. Delegation can be an essential part of reducing some of the stress on you. Sometimes, though, leaders avoid delegating because they worry about overloading their team. Of course, this can be a valid concern. However, it can also sometimes mean the leader is avoiding giving the team access to development opportunities they would in fact be excited to take on. Stop feeling guilty about delegating!
Knowing When To Delegate
Before you can learn how to delegate effectively, it’s important to know when it would be beneficial to share tasks with your team. Not every task can be delegated.
No matter how hard you try, there are going to be certain issues that you’ll want to handle yourself. For instance, you can’t have your staff performing their own audits or performance reviews. Sometimes your role is to influence across peers and more senior stakeholders on behalf of your team. Always be mindful of whether something really needs your direct involvement, or whether it’s work that could be distributed across your team.
The most obvious times to delegate are when:
You simply don’t have the right talent or skill to handle a task on your own.
Someone else at the organisation is better equipped for the task in question.
You don’t have enough time to handle all the tasks in front of you.
Other priorities are rising to the surface, and you need to restructure your time.
Someone in your team will benefit from learning through doing the task.
As items come onto your radar, always be triaging them. Ask yourself: do I need to do this myself? Who is better placed to take it?
Knowing How to Delegate
Delegating isn’t something that always comes naturally to a leader. That’s why you need a plan!
Try these strategies:
1. Get to know your team. Every person has specific skills and talents that make them better suited to certain challenges. Your staff might even have goals that they want to accomplish, and delegating tasks to them could help them to achieve those targets.
For instance, if your employee wants to develop their leadership skills, and they’re well-versed in finances, you could have them lead an internal audit with the help of your team.
Great delegation starts with knowing your employees and understanding how to leverage them advantageously.
2. Define desired outcomes. You’ll need to be really clear about the objectives you want to accomplish in order to see results.
Know exactly what you want your employees to achieve before you assign them any task and ensure that they’re clear on their goals too. Laying out clear expectations can save you a lot of time and money on mistakes.
3. Provide the right resources. If the person you’re delegating your work to needs help to get the task done, ensure that they get it. Sometimes, your employees will require specific training, authority, and resources to get through the assigned project.
Remove any red-tape or hurdles in advance.
Giving your team all the resources that they need up front also means that you can fight the urge to micromanage. Trust that the person has everything they need to be successful in their task. Then, step back as much as you can.
4. Establish channels of communication. It’s important to have a system in place that encourages positive input and feedback when your team members have questions.
Think about the most effective modes of communication you have in your organisation, from video conferencing to instant chat. Setting up regular communication strategies will save you a lot of time and effort.
Ensure that it feels safe for your team to come to you with questions. You don’t want issues hidden in the Cave of Unreported Issues.
5. Allow for failure and reward success. Finally, avoid delegating with the assumption that your team members are going to fail. Be confident in their skills and abilities, as this will help you to avoid micromanaging. However, do keep in mind that things might not go exactly according to plan.
Recognise mistakes and use them as an opportunity to give useful feedback for the future. You might even learn that you need to give better briefs or be clearer about your requests when you’re sharing information with staff.
When delegation goes well and your team deliver positive results, recognise it. Pay attention to the effort exerted by your team members and acknowledge their results with awards and praise.
Whether you own your own business or you’re a leader where you’re employed, following these strategies will set the foundation for positive outcomes for you, your team, and your organisation - now and in the future.
Until next week,
Take care of yourself and others
Madeleine
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