Three ways to be better at delegating

Delegation is key to tapping the talent and creativity in your team, but it isn’t always easy to share responsibility. Occupational Psychologist, Maggie Evans, offers three simple ways to be a better delegator.

Effective Delegation: Key Insights

• 30% of employees feel overqualified and under-challenged in their work. This shows that there is talent and motivation within our teams that we need to tap. The question is how to delegate well.
• Effective delegation should be well-planned in advance. You can ensure that you are using a good structure by following a 5-step approach to great delegation.
• Managers are not the only people responsible for delegation working well. The delegate should also take an active role, by reflecting on the success of the 5 steps taken. Employees can report back to you, or ask for more support, according to the structure.
• Learning and development is a key motivator for professionals. By delegating tasks well, leaders can offer a chance to grow whilst also freeing up your own time and resources.
• Poor delegation or a lack of delegation is often the result of negative beliefs. As a leader, you should question why you are not delegating well and correct these assumptions. 

Read on for more advice on better delegation and leadership. Or, to discuss your employment needs in this field, please contact your local consultant.

Be a better delegator: Background 

We hear a lot about scarcity of talent. However, a recent report by the CIPD found that 30% of people feel overqualified for their role. This suggests that your team actually includes lots of potential that’s just waiting to be released. A surefire way to start tapping into this latent talent is to master the art of delegation.

Delegation is a crucial part of leadership. Too many leaders get stuck on the details and fail to address the bigger picture, the longer-term view.  A lack of delegation also reduces learning opportunities, hindering your team’s development. This in turn lowers their engagement and leads to higher turnover.

According to the Centre for Creative Leadership, delegation is one of four key skills that leaders around the world need in order to develop their own effectiveness. That leads to the obvious question: how do you master the art of great delegation?

I have three places you can start to improve immediately.

Delegation involves a lot of things, but at its very best it is . . .

Planned and structured

It’s difficult to delegate well if you don’t think about it in advance. We’ve probably all been on the receiving end of poor delegation. When someone asks, “could you just do this for me?” it leaves a lot of uncertainty about expectations, deadlines and specific requirements. 

If you want to delegate effectively, you need to inject some structure.  Here are five simple steps:

1. Understanding capability:  Ask yourself, does this person have the ability, skills, knowledge and motivation to do this work? Do you trust them? If the answer is no, then you need to start by building the skills, knowledge and trust required.
2. Provide context: Describe how this task or project fits with the wider goal. Explain why this work matters, how it helps you and, if appropriate, talk through what the individual can learn by undertaking it.
3. Set goals and expectations: Have a discussion to ensure you share an understanding of what needs to be done, how, and when. Make sure that you agree on the scope of decisions they can make, and when they need to check back with you.
4. Review progress: Ask for updates in line with an agreed schedule. Use these updates to solve any issues or update on any changes in the bigger picture. Be prepared to adjust goals and expectations as the context changes.
5. Share feedback: Ask the individual to reflect on how they think it went. Then share your feedback. What did you like? What didn’t work so well? What could they do better, or differently next time?

A shared responsibility

People often act as if great delegation is the sole responsibility of the person delegating. This is actually not the case. You don’t want your team to be passive receivers of the work you hand out; you want them to step up and take accountability. Great delegation involves delegates who are proactive in making the process work for you and themselves.

It can be highly effective to talk through the five steps of delegation (listed above) with your team. You can then agree how you will use this model. That way,  if something is not working, everyone can see the gap and take action to improve things. For example, they can:

• Tell you more about their capability and actively work to build a trusting relationship
• Ask questions if they need more context
• Clarify the goals and expectations, making sure you both agree
• Actively check in with you to review progress
• Seek and give feedback so you can both learn and improve

A learning opportunity

People want to learn at work. Development is a key part of job satisfaction and motivation. Consciously delegating enables you, the leader, to gradually step back and allow your team members to grow in skill, experience and confidence.

The first time you delegate a task or project to someone, you may wish to stay quite involved, ensuring they have the skills and support to deliver. By planning an incremental handover of responsibility, you can decrease your involvement without undermining the project. Over time, the team member can take full accountability and have the autonomy to shape what they are doing. This is when you will start to fully release the talent within your team.

What’s stopping you from delegating?

This all seems straightforward; so why aren’t we doing it already? Lots of leaders have a real fear of letting go, often underpinned by some unhelpful beliefs. Many leaders think they have the best approach – which makes it difficult to trust others. Or leaders may think they haven’t got time to properly explain a job to someone else.

To delegate well, you need to challenge such beliefs and embrace a positive attitude towards sharing responsibility. about the benefits. Here are some questions to ask yourself.

• What are my beliefs and feelings about delegation (giving or receiving)?
• How do these influence my behaviour?
• In what ways do these beliefs help or hinder me?
• Why do I hold these beliefs?
• If these beliefs are hindering me, how could I challenge my beliefs?

Great delegation: Next steps

So, if you want to better use your time and release the talent in your team, think again about delegation. What are you doing that you should be giving to your team? How can you develop them and help them to grow? The opportunity is there – now it’s over to you!