Delegation is a vital management talent. But for some, it’s the toughest to put into practice.
There are several factors why managers may shrink away from delegating task. They might:
Think it would take longer to explain the task than actually completing it themselves Want to feel indispensable to their team by being the guardian of specific knowledge Enjoy completing certain projects so prefer not to reassign them
Feel guilty about adding more work onto another employee’s to-do list
Lack confidence or trust in who they need to delegate the assignment to Believe that they’re the only ones who can do the job correctly
Whatever the cause, it’s essential to continue refining the skill, as refusing to delegate can have negative consequences. Not only will you overburden your schedule and prioritize the incorrect duties, but your employees will miss out on valuable learning and development opportunities.
What Is Delegation And Why Is It Important?
Delegation refers to the transmission of responsibility for specific duties from one individual to another.
From a management perspective, delegation occurs when a manager assigns specific responsibilities to their employees. By delegating those duties to team members, managers free up time to concentrate on higher-value activities while also keeping employees engaged with greater autonomy.
According to a Gallup study, CEOs who excel in delegating generate 33 percent higher revenue. These executives know they can’t accomplish everything alone and position their team to undertake tasks they’re confident they’ll achieve—in turn empowering employees, boosting morale, and increasing productivity. In the process, CEOs free up their time to concentrate on activities that will generate the highest returns and expand the company.
Here are nine ways you can start delegating more effectively to cultivate high-performing teams.
5 Delegation Tips For Managers
1. Know What to Delegate
Not every duty can be delegated. For example, performance evaluations or any personnel matters should be handled by you. After all, employing the right talent and knowing each employee’s assets and limitations will ultimately make you better at designating deliverables and delegating responsibility to the appropriate team members.
Several other day-to-day activities don’t require your oversight, though. Is there a task you routinely undertake despite knowing your co-worker is better equipped to complete it? Would assigning the assignment to other personnel help strengthen their careers? If there’s someone who could do the task better, or you believe this could be a teachable moment, delegate. It will demonstrate you trust and value your team, while also giving you time to focus on more strategic initiatives.
2. Play to Your Employees’ Strengths and Goals
Every employee should have goals they’re working toward, and within those objectives are opportunities to delegate. For example, maybe you have a direct report who desires to gain management experience. Is there an intern they could start supervising, or a well-defined assignment they can own the execution of? The type of work you delegate could factor into their professional development plan.
For other tasks, there’s likely someone on your team with the specific skill set required to attain the desired result. Leverage that and appeal to your employees’ strengths. When someone has a higher chance of excelling, they’re more motivated and engaged, which then benefits the entire business.
3. Define the Desired Outcome
Simply shifting labor onto someone else’s tray isn’t delegating. The initiatives you send off should come with appropriate context and a clear linkage into the organization’s objectives.
“You’ve got to have real clarity of objective,” says Harvard Business School Professor Kevin Sharer in the online Management Essentials course. That includes having alignment on “what does good look like” and by what timeline, and “the technique of measuring accomplishment.”
Before anyone begins working on a project, they should know what they need to complete and by when, including the metrics you’ll use to measure the success of their work.
4. Provide the Right Resources and Level of Authority
If the person you’re delegating work to needs specific training, resources, or authority to complete the allotted project, it’s your role as a manager to provide all three. Setting someone up for an impossible task will frustrate both parties; your colleague won’t be able to achieve the desired outcome, and then you’ll likely need to place that work back on your to-do list.
This is also where you need to fight the urge to micromanage. Telling your co-worker, step-by-step, how you would accomplish the task and then controlling each part of the process won’t enable them to learn or acquire new skills. Focus instead on what the desired end objective is, why the task is important, and help address any discrepancies between the outcome and their current skill set.
5. Establish a Clear Communication Channel
While you want to avoid micromanaging, you do want to establish a communication channel so that the person you’re delegating to feels secure asking questions and providing progress updates.
“You’ve got to have some way to communicate so that the person you delegated to can come back to you and report,” says Sharer in the Management Essentials course. “You’ve got to have some way along the way to see how things are going. It isn’t fire and forget. That is, ‘I just give you the task and I don’t stress about it anymore. We’ve got to have some means to monitor the progress along the way without me getting in your way.’”
Read Also : What strategies can be implemented to address conflicts and resolve disputes in the workplace?
Ola Hansen 
Delegation is a vital management talent. But for some, it’s the toughest to put into practice.
There are several factors why managers may shrink away from delegating task. They might:
Think it would take longer to explain the task than actually completing it themselves Want to feel indispensable to their team by being the guardian of specific knowledge Enjoy completing certain projects so prefer not to reassign them
Feel guilty about adding more work onto another employee’s to-do list
Lack confidence or trust in who they need to delegate the assignment to Believe that they’re the only ones who can do the job correctly
Whatever the cause, it’s essential to continue refining the skill, as refusing to delegate can have negative consequences. Not only will you overburden your schedule and prioritize the incorrect duties, but your employees will miss out on valuable learning and development opportunities.
What Is Delegation And Why Is It Important?
Delegation refers to the transmission of responsibility for specific duties from one individual to another.
From a management perspective, delegation occurs when a manager assigns specific responsibilities to their employees. By delegating those duties to team members, managers free up time to concentrate on higher-value activities while also keeping employees engaged with greater autonomy.
According to a Gallup study, CEOs who excel in delegating generate 33 percent higher revenue. These executives know they can’t accomplish everything alone and position their team to undertake tasks they’re confident they’ll achieve—in turn empowering employees, boosting morale, and increasing productivity. In the process, CEOs free up their time to concentrate on activities that will generate the highest returns and expand the company.
Here are nine ways you can start delegating more effectively to cultivate high-performing teams.
5 Delegation Tips For Managers
1. Know What to Delegate
Not every duty can be delegated. For example, performance evaluations or any personnel matters should be handled by you. After all, employing the right talent and knowing each employee’s assets and limitations will ultimately make you better at designating deliverables and delegating responsibility to the appropriate team members.
Several other day-to-day activities don’t require your oversight, though. Is there a task you routinely undertake despite knowing your co-worker is better equipped to complete it? Would assigning the assignment to other personnel help strengthen their careers? If there’s someone who could do the task better, or you believe this could be a teachable moment, delegate. It will demonstrate you trust and value your team, while also giving you time to focus on more strategic initiatives.
2. Play to Your Employees’ Strengths and Goals
Every employee should have goals they’re working toward, and within those objectives are opportunities to delegate. For example, maybe you have a direct report who desires to gain management experience. Is there an intern they could start supervising, or a well-defined assignment they can own the execution of? The type of work you delegate could factor into their professional development plan.
For other tasks, there’s likely someone on your team with the specific skill set required to attain the desired result. Leverage that and appeal to your employees’ strengths. When someone has a higher chance of excelling, they’re more motivated and engaged, which then benefits the entire business.
3. Define the Desired Outcome
Simply shifting labor onto someone else’s tray isn’t delegating. The initiatives you send off should come with appropriate context and a clear linkage into the organization’s objectives.
“You’ve got to have real clarity of objective,” says Harvard Business School Professor Kevin Sharer in the online Management Essentials course. That includes having alignment on “what does good look like” and by what timeline, and “the technique of measuring accomplishment.”
Before anyone begins working on a project, they should know what they need to complete and by when, including the metrics you’ll use to measure the success of their work.
4. Provide the Right Resources and Level of Authority
If the person you’re delegating work to needs specific training, resources, or authority to complete the allotted project, it’s your role as a manager to provide all three. Setting someone up for an impossible task will frustrate both parties; your colleague won’t be able to achieve the desired outcome, and then you’ll likely need to place that work back on your to-do list.
This is also where you need to fight the urge to micromanage. Telling your co-worker, step-by-step, how you would accomplish the task and then controlling each part of the process won’t enable them to learn or acquire new skills. Focus instead on what the desired end objective is, why the task is important, and help address any discrepancies between the outcome and their current skill set.
5. Establish a Clear Communication Channel
While you want to avoid micromanaging, you do want to establish a communication channel so that the person you’re delegating to feels secure asking questions and providing progress updates.
“You’ve got to have some way to communicate so that the person you delegated to can come back to you and report,” says Sharer in the Management Essentials course. “You’ve got to have some way along the way to see how things are going. It isn’t fire and forget. That is, ‘I just give you the task and I don’t stress about it anymore. We’ve got to have some means to monitor the progress along the way without me getting in your way.’”
Read Also : What strategies can be implemented to address conflicts and resolve disputes in the workplace?