The Art of Delegation

The delicate dance of delegation  also known as the “dreaded decisions and discussions of delegation.  You are welcome my alliteration lovers.♥ 

In order for companies to grow they need to first become more productive and best utilize the resources they have before adding people.  This can be done though effective delegation.

As a new manager, delegation is one of the hardest skills to understand and master.

Most likely you were promoted because you were good at your previous job.  You figured out the most efficient ways to get things done and you were rockin’ it!  Now as a manager you have to adjust your focus and mindset needs to shift from personal performance to business and team performance.  You are now responsible for understanding and developing strategies to meet your department goals and expectations, while at the same time supporting and developing your employees in effort to strengthen your team so you can achieve these goals and expectations.

Step 1- Get Clear on Your Purpose and Expectations as a Manager

Your time is valuable, you are being paid a premium to manage your business.  In order to be successful you need to be crystal clear on your main purpose.  What are your most critical responsibilities, what is expected of you, what have you been hired to do?  Who do you deliver to and what are their expectations? All too often new managers step into their role without being given and/or fully understanding their role and expectations.  It is important to take time with your manager to discuss their expectations so you are on the same page.  You may think you know and understand what is expected and produce an outstanding result based on your own assumptions, but it they are not aligned with what your manager or end user is looking for, you will not be successful.

Repeat after me…

“I CAN NOT AND SHOULD NOT DO EVERYTHING MYSELF.

 I AM FOCUSED ON GROWING AND DEVELOPING MY TEAM.

DELEGATING AND SHARING KNOWLEDGE WILL BUILD TRUST AND KNOWLEDGE WITHIN MY TEAM.

THE STRONGER MY TEAM IS THE MORE SUCCESSFUL I BECOME.”

This shift of thinking needs to happen in order for you to rise to your potential.  I believe that it is a privilege to be in a position to manage/lead people.  Your role is to serve them and your company by providing guidance and support and helping each individual tap into and reach their potential.  It is truly a disservice to hold your cards close and not share your knowledge and grow your team.  One of the best ways to do this is through delegation.

When I say this is one of the hardest things you will have to master I am not kidding.  I have had my share of delegation disasters throughout my years as a manager and honestly still struggle a bit with this.  That is why I have developed clear steps to help you navigate through this process

Still with me?

Awesome!  Understanding why delegation is important is super critical to making this work.

Now, let’s dig a little deeper with our “why” in mind.

Delegation can be as simple as telling Johnny or Sarah to do this or that for you.  Yup that is technically delegating, but this style is more dictating than delegating.  Remember your goal with delegation is to empower your employees by providing them with a new responsibility or skill.  This in turn will strengthen your team and allow you to best utilize your valuable time.

One of the biggest mistakes a manager can make is to say to an employee “never mind, I’ll just do it myself”  Have you done this?  I am totally guilty of this… I don’t want to overload them, it’s easier for me to just go ahead and get it done…  Guilty— been there done that.

As much as I understand you mean well and are trying not to burden your employee or are panicking that the task will not get done on time you are unfortunately sending your employee the message that  you don’t have confidence in them and they are missing out on an opportunity to develop skills needed to strengthen your team and free your time to focus on working on the important things you were hired to do.

Lets look at some common misunderstandings about delegation

Step 2- Determine what to delegate

Now that you are clear on your own purpose and expectations and understand why delegation is important and how it contributes to your teams success, lets move on to step 2 and dive into how to determine what to delegate.

You have just been given a new responsibility from your manager.  You go back to your desk and look at the list of things you have to accomplish and realize you are “maxed out.”  You know you need to delegate in order to get everything done, but what should you give to someone else?

Grab the list of your responsibilities review and determine each of their importance and urgency and put them into the following categories

If a task is not urgent and  important and/or new to you it belongs in the prioritize box where you will keep the task, but evaluate it for priority to determine when it needs to be done.

If a task is not urgent and not important (and you have mastered this task) then you should take time to determine if this is a task that is still required.  Make sure you have a conversation with your manager to better understand the importance of the task if you are unclear.

A task that you have mastered, is urgent and on lower importance should be what you delegate to your team.

All important and urgent tasks as well as tasks that you are still learning and have not yet mastered should stay with you.

You should never immediately delegate a task to your employees that has been just given to you by your manager.

You need to fully understand the responsibility/ task before you delegate to others so you can fully support them.  The last thing you want is your employee coming to you with questions that you can’t answer and you having to explain to your manager that you immediately passed off the responsibility they just gave you.

Step 3- Decide who to delegate to

Congratulations! You have now determined what can be delegated now who should you give it to?

Top 3 things to consider are:

1. Skills – As a manager you need to be aware of each of your employees skills and the level that they are at for each. Developing something such as a skills matrix for your team will allow you to easily review current skill sets at a glance and help you match the task with the best person.
2. Current workload capacity for each employee– consider what work is coming and what will be completed soon.
3. Goals and objectives for each employee – what are you working towards with this employee? If they want to move into a Project Manager role you will want to give them responsibilities and tasks that will strengthen their skills in this area.

Step 4- Delegating

Before approaching your employee with this new task/responsibility, take a moment to formulate what you will say to them.

Your employee should see this as an opportunity or step up for them so the words you use and approach you take are very important.

Your introduction should have these key parts :

1. Start with asking your employee for their help
2. Why you have chosen them for this responsibility.
3. Ask for commitment for responsibility going forward (only what it is not any other details at this point)

Your conversation should go something like this

“Hi Susan, I would like your help.  I know you are very good at writing and have been a vital part of our social committee so are on top of all our company events.  Will you please take over the responsibility of the employee monthly newsletter going forward?

Now stop and wait for a response…..

It is entirely possible that they will say no or not fully commit.

If this happens find out why?

Listen to their concerns.  If their concerns can be fixed or managed then ask them if they would be OK with the responsibility if you addressed their concern(s).  Most likely the employee will be willing once concerns are addressed.

Once your employee has made a commitment they are now owning the responsibility and will be more engaged in active listening and note taking.    You can now give them the details needed to transfer the responsibility.

Be sure to be as clear as possible

What results are expected?

When are they due?

Who will be viewing this information?

Rules/ regulations required

Make sure that they have the appropriate tools (software, hardware) and permissions required

If you are asking them for something that requires them to approach others or engage in a task that requires additional authority make sure that they are set up and others are aware of this change.

Finally be sure to ask what help and/or support they need.

Explain that you understand there will be a learning curve since this is not something they have done before and that you will be there to support them.

5- Follow up and Support

Make sure you stay engaged once you hand off a new task/responsibility.

Check in with your employee to see how things are going

Observe behaviour- do they seem stressed, frustrated, unsure

Do not assume that no news is good news in this situation- talk to them, ask questions and show your support.  Remember the goal is to have them learn a new skill and succeed at this task.

6- Feedback

Feedback is so important especially during the learning process.   Make sure you provide constructive feedback explaining any misunderstandings and reasons for changes and allow them to make the changes.  This way each time they perform this task they will get better and require less assistance.

7- Monitor

It is important to monitor workload especially when adding new responsibilities.

This can be done by getting feedback during one to one meetings and monitoring quality of their overall work.  Sometimes when a new task is given it takes a lot of effort and as a result other things get missed or are not done to the level that they once were.  Watch for this and engage in conversation and offer support if you see this happening.

Once your employee has a good understanding of the new responsibility you haven given them, be sure to make any necessary updates to your skills matrix for this employee.

Take a moment to congratulate yourself!  You have successfully mastered the art of delegation.  You are utilizing your time more effectively, your team is empowered, you are building trust and adding new skills to your team!

Let’s inspire together,

Natasha