We all want to have control over everything, but when we take control, we kind of lose sight of what’s in front of us. In leadership and working with a team, you gotta let go. I know, I know, it can seem challenging to delegate work. You think “I am giving someone else power.” Not necessarily, but you’re empowering your team. It will allow you to dedicate more time to important tasks.
But knowing what and how to delegate can be daunting, especially if you’ve never done it before or you may have, but it wasn’t effective. Delegating is a leadership skill you’ll develop. Learn how to become a better delegator with these 10 useful tips.
Identify Work To Delegate
Practice Letting Go
Clarify Priorities
Set Your Team Up for Success
Provide Guidance
Communication and Feedback
Focus on the Results
Trust, verify and do not micromanage
Give Credit when Due
But first you must know what delegation is!
What is Delegation
By giving work to other people, you can get more done yourself and show your team that you trust them with important tasks. The group is stronger than any one person. Together, you can accomplish more than alone if you know how to delegate.
You know what helps prevent burnout? SUCCESSFUL AND EFFECTIVE DELEGATION! It isn’t your job to do all the work. Instead, as a leader, you’re responsible for seeing the big picture in order to delegate the right tasks to the right people.
Let me tell you a story. I work with this client, and she was doing all the things. Mind you, her business is a big production line with lots of moving parts. It's not like she can do one task and be done. No, her work involves a lot!
I mean she could do everything but then would be working 70 + hours, never time for herself or her family. She needs to focus on the bigger picture, which is being the face of her business, voice what's going on while I literally manage the team. Doesn't that sound lovely?
If you’re thinking, ummmmm duh, where do I sign up? Right here, contact me!
It's a weight off your shoulders and you can feel at ease when you delegate.
What Stops People from Delegating Tasks
It can be difficult to know how to delegate, especially if it's your first time. Some struggle to delegate because they:
Worry that it’ll take more time to explain how to do the work than to do it themselves
Don't understand the priority of the work
Want to work on interesting projects themselves
Feeling guilty about assigning more work to other people
Aren't sure who else can do the work
When to Delegate Work
It's not always going to be straightforward for when you should delegate work but ask yourself some questions to determine if the work is beneficial to delegate:
Does the person who I want to delegate to have the information to do this work?
Is this an opportunity for someone else to grow and develop their skills?
Will this work recur in the future?
How much time is involved? When you delegate the work, do you need to train and do you have time? Do you have the time to answer their questions and do you have the time to review their work?
Is there time to re-do the work if needed?
There doesn't have to be a YES right away but these questions can help you outline what you should delegate and whom to.
10 tips to Delegate Work
Learning how to delegate work is a skill you can learn. It's tough to give someone else the “control” but delegating will help you become a better leader and allow your team to get more involved and more engaged.
Here are 10 tips to get you started with the delegation process:
1. Identify Work to Delegate
Not everything can be delegated. Although it would be cool if it all could. But there are some things you should do versus what someone else should do. Before you delegate, take out a pen and paper or pull up a blank document and write out everything you do along with what everyone else is doing.
What is important? What can wait? What do you want to keep? Even if you keep some work, remember your role.
If there’s someone else on your team with the experience and skills, delegate to that person. If you don't have that person and you really want to let go of that task, now you have to consider hiring.
How to identify work that needs to be delegated:
Work that will recur in the future: If you have a recurring task and can't really automate it, it's worth delegating it to someone else.
Work that aligns with someone's interests: If a team member has expressed interest, who wants to develop a new skill or add to an existing one, delegate.
What are your team members' professional goals? As mentioned previously, if they have expressed interest.
2. Practice Letting Go
Letting go can be challenging. I remember the first time I delegated a task. It was hard. I kept going back to the task and had to stop myself because, well, this is why I hired out, so I didn’t have to do it. You’re giving someone else responsibility by doing this task. You may feel they might not do it correctly, but here’s the thing: you’re delegating, to not only empower them but to give them the opportunity along with teaching them how to do it. I mean, I have fun teaching someone else how to do a task.
Be patient both with yourself and your team members. It's going to take some time but together, everyone is building new skills and building trust within the workplace.
3. Clarify Priorities
Figuring out the importance and difficulty of a job can help you decide if it can be given to someone else. If you need to get something done and it’s important, ask yourself if it can be given to someone else. It’s possible, but it depends on the work. If someone else needs to send an email, that’s fine, but if you need to write a grant and no one else on the team can do it, do it yourself.
4. Set Your Team Up for Success
Is your team set up for success? I have seen this time and time again where tasks get delegated and said person does not have the right tools and resources to do their job. This is where it gets messy. So, before you hand off a task to someone, communicate with this person and make sure they have what is needed.
5. Providing context and guidance:
Guidance on how to get the work done
What is the due date
Documents and resources needed to complete the task
What are the goals of the task
What is the desired outcome
Whos overseeing the task
Yeah, you might find it easy when you’re completing the tasks but if this person is new, you must keep in mind you’ll need to take the time to walk them through the task and answer any questions before anything gets started.
6. Invest in Training
Now, when you’re wanting to delegate and notice no one on your team is qualified but might have expressed interest in learning and depending on the time, it’s great to take the time to train someone on how the work is done so they can take the task, learn the ins and outs and do those tasks moving forward. If for some reason everyone on your team has a full schedule, then you might want to consider hiring even if it's part time.
Training takes time, so it might be tempting to do it yourself but think of the training as investment for the growth of your business and the workplace as a whole. Overtime, you won't have to train as someone else can do that for you. Sounds great, doesn't it?
7. Communication and Feedback
Can we just say, communication needs to happen, no matter what! Make sure the person you’ve delegated to has a way to communicate with you. Also, set up regular check-ins such as 1:1 meetings where you can review things in more detail.
If you’re in leadership, you need to communicate with your team, if you’re part of a team, you need to take accountability to make sure things are getting done and never stop asking questions.
Provide and receive feedback. Ask open ended questions to ensure everyone is set up and has what they need to complete their work.
8. Focus on the Results
Know this, things change, and everyone has their own way of doing things as long as it gets done and delivered on time. When you delegate work, your team member doesn't have to do the work exactly like you have done, it's okay if someone does something differently than you if they can achieve the desired results.
This gives them the space to learn their own skills and demonstrates you trust your team with the responsibility. Once you have trained and coached the team member, give them space to come up with their own process for doing the work.
9. Trust, verify and do not micromanage
Once you’ve delegated work, don't micromanage. You want to create an open-door policy in which they can come to with any questions or concerns. As mentioned earlier, you can have weekly meetings for check-ins but those would come to an end once your team member is good to go.
10. Give credit once work is completed
Effectively delegating work gives others on the team the opportunity to develop new skills and get involved in important projects. Once the work is completed, give them the credit. You can do this in team meetings because this will encourage others to do the same. Also, you’re building trust within the workplace.
I love when I see my clients give the credit to their team. It's satisfying but also gives the person who has completed the task a boost of confidence.
DO NOT take credit for someone else's work!
Delegate Effectively
Effective delegation is a crucial leadership skill that empowers your team and allows you to focus on more important tasks. It's challenging to let go of control, but by identifying the right tasks to delegate and following these 10 useful tips, you can become a better delegator and leader.
Delegation is not about giving away power, but about trusting your team with important tasks. It prevents burnout and allows you to focus on the bigger picture. However, many people struggle to delegate because of concerns about time, priority, interest, guilt, and uncertainty about who can do the work.
To determine when to delegate, consider if the person has the information, if it’s an opportunity for their growth, if the work will recur, and the time involved.
The 10 tips for effective delegation include identifying work to delegate, practicing letting go, clarifying priorities, setting your team up for success, providing guidance, investing in training, ensuring communication and feedback, focusing on results, avoiding micromanagement, and giving credit where it’s due.
By following these tips, you can build trust, empower your team, and achieve better results through effective delegation. It’s not about giving up control, but about leveraging the strengths of your team to accomplish more together.
I know you’re ready to empower your team but may need some help, this is what I do with my business management services. You tell me what’s going on than I am off to delegating and managing your team.
Before you go, don't forget to sign up for the Learning Center to get blog posts sent to your inbox!
Commentaires