What Effective Delegation Actually Involves
Delegate. Chances are you have heard this word before. And you might have been told to delegate by multiple people. Yet, whenever you try to delegate tasks, they return to you worse than before. It seems like you are better off doing the work yourself. But you are a human with only 24 hours per day. The answer is to actually learn what effective delegation involves and to gradually implement the necessary steps and systems. Read on to find out more about the art of delegation.
Set Time To Delegate
Delegation is time-consuming. There is no escape from the initial time investment. Yet, it’s worth it. Especially when you know how to delegate properly.
Effective delegation involves a few key steps we are about to explore in the next sections. But the first one we need to start with is setting a time to delegate.
How much time, you ask?
Well, here is the thing. When delegating a task, it is important to:
- Find the right person
- Train the person
- Equip the person with the necessary tools
- Supervise as necessary
All these activities take time. And you can be sure that the first time you delegate work to someone, it will be time-consuming. The second time, it will be faster and easier. The third time, it will be even better. You get the point.
So, get ready to spend time. It’s an investment for a better, more successful, and productive future.
Choose The Right Person
Once you have the time set aside, the first action item on your list should be to find the right person. Who you assign the tasks to matters as much as how you delegate.
So, who are you looking for?
First and foremost, you want to find someone who loves the work you are assigning. If the work involves data analysis, you want someone who enjoys crunching numbers. If it’s all about reaching out to people, then choose a person who has fun connecting with others.
We are all kids and love playing. Find someone who sees the work you are delegating as child’s play.
In addition, you also want to assign the work to a person you trust. Ideally, this will be someone who shares your values and standards.
Define What Success Looks Like
Once you identify the right person, it’s time to schedule time for the delegation.
Start the initial conversation with why you chose them to do the work. Share how much you value his or her superpower of crunching numbers or connecting with people from the delegation examples above (or whatever the superpower is). And don’t forget that we all wonder WIIFM (what’s in it for me?). Describe what’s the opportunity for them in doing the work you are assigning.
Once you share these two essential points, it’s time to delegate. Effective delegation involves the following important points:
- Clearly define the goal. What does success look like? What exactly are you trying to achieve?
- Discuss the reason for the work. Why are you doing this? What’s the business impact? How about the impact to customers and the team? The why behind the job matters. A lot.
- Set measurements. Once you have a clear understanding of the goal and the reason for the work, it’s time to set measurements. What is the timeline for completing the work? When will you have checkpoints? What’s the expected progress for each checkpoint?
- Have quality standards. In addition to clearly defining what success looks like, discuss the quality standards you want to have and how these will be checked. Agree on how to handle problems and when the person should reach out to you for help.
- Don’t tell people how to do it. No one likes being micromanaged. You are delegating the objective and the goal, not the procedure. Allow the person to do the work his or her way. After all, this is child’s play for them. Chances are, they might know better ways of completing the project or task than your way.
- Communicate clearly. Share your piece about the delegated work, and then listen. Allow the person to ask questions and to be a partner in the conversation. All points above should be agreed upon by both of you. And don’t forget to keep the communication channel open and transparent throughout the whole process.
Ensure The Person Is Equipped
This one is simple, yet sometimes, the common sense items are the ones that trip us. Effective delegation involves ensuring that the person is adequately equipped with the necessary tools and resources.
While most of the time, you might not need to do anything to provide the resources, make sure this is part of your system. Always check to confirm the person has everything he or she needs to complete the work and achieve the goal successfully. Again, most of the time, you will only ask to confirm. Yet, a few times, you will discover that there are missing tools or resources that you need to provide. The sooner you know this, the better. Make it part of your system.
Trust The Person
The person you delegate to should have the responsibility and the authority to complete the work. Once you delegate, they are responsible for the work. And they should also be authorized to make it happen.
At the same time, verify that things are going well. This is why you want to have checkpoints. Especially the first time you are delegating to this person.
Remember. No one likes being micromanaged and told what to do. Yet, checkpoints allow you to give the responsibility and authority away to the other person while being there for support and supervision. They are perfect opportunities to course correct when things don’t go as planned or celebrate and reinforce when progress is as expected.
Effective Delegation Involves Having Fun
Like any other skill, effective delegation involves learning for both you, the delegator, and the other person. And it’s normal to suck at it in the beginning. Use the plan-do-review-adjust framework to get better at it. Don’t let the fear of “mistakes” stop you from trying.
Ultimately, you want to have fun at delegating just like your team has fun while doing the work. You’ve got this, fellow high-achiever. Tap into Level 5 or 6 Energy and enjoy the ride.
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