Getting started with delegation
The Art of Delegation
I don't often blog about management tips, but when I talk to experienced managers and leaders about what challenges them in their working lives one of the consistent responses I get (and one that is often reinforced when speaking to their teams) is that they have trouble delegating work. This always surprises me. Not only that, but everyone involved seems to accept this weakness with a smile and a shrug of the shoulders as if to say, 'oh well, it is just the way they are'.
When I question them about this attitude. A common response by those self-confessed bad delegators is to justify the lack of concern by stating that they avoid delegation because they believe that passing the job to somebody else takes too long. How many times have you heard people around you say “It’s quicker to do it myself”? Often, this is offered as a justification for them choosing to perform a piece of work that they know could have been performed by someone else – i.e., it could have been DELEGATED. Using this excuse is a cop out and is a badge of poor management – so don’t think it, don’t say it and, more importantly, DON’T DO IT!
Control freaks take note: in modern organisations you cannot satisfy the needs of all of the people all of the time. In many cases attempting to do so generates stress not only for you, but also for those working around you. This is a bad thing.
Good delegators tend to make good managers. But delegation is a skill that many managers find hard to master. Learning to delegate effectively can not only help the overall effectiveness of your team and the people in it, but it can also help you to feel more in control and can allow you to instead focus your time on the things that you feel really make a difference. Actually, good delegation really does make a huge difference, but lots of managers say that it doesn't count and that they want to be focussing on the 'bigger issues' like strategy and SEO activities. Maybe good delegation is not sexy enough. When was the last time you heard anyone say, "Wow, I just love working with that dude, he's such a great delegator"?
See what I mean? It's just not funky.
It's true to say however that delegation plays an important part in the continuous enhancement of teams. If you delegate more effectively and get people involved in more meaningful work, then the chances are that they will ‘buy-in’ more readily to whatever it is that your team is trying to achieve. You might think that being a star and throwing yourself from project to project is dynamic leadership that allows people to get on with their jobs. But look at it from the perspective of your team. Few things can be more demoralising than working in a team led by a controlling leader who thinks he is doing all of his team a favour by stepping up and getting involved in every task that comes along; "we get left with all the dull jobs", people often say.
Delegation – The Acid Test
As a basic starter time stressed managers can improve their delegation skills by applying this very simple decision tree:
The “Yes-Yes” or “Yes-No” Route
When a new piece of work comes in, think about your sub-ordinates and other team members and ask yourself a very basic question: “Am I the only one with the skills to do this?” If the answer is ‘Yes’, then ask yourself a second question: “Does it need to be done now?”. If the answer to this is also ‘Yes’ then you may as well get on and do it. If you answer ‘Yes’ to the first question but ‘No’ to the second question then you should schedule it.
Neither of these answers are conducive to delegation, but all is not lost. By answering Yes-Yes or Yes-No you have identified an area of weakness for your team. Who would do the task if you were not here? This is where delegation can help you build resilience and enhance team capability.
Be smart. When you do the work consider bringing in another member of the team so that the next time this piece of work comes in, you have a delegation option. Doing this not only improves your own delegation skills and opportunities but it also gradually improves the skills of the people in your team.
The ‘No’ Route
The delegating manager of a high performing and appropriately skilled team will be able to answer ‘No’ to the first question on the Acid Test in most situations. Thus, when a piece of work comes in, the manager is able to delegate to an appropriately skilled and informed member of his or her team. He (or she) is letting the team step up and do its job. And that is good management.
Delegating work
Let’s be clear on one thing: Delegation is not opting out. As manager you retain responsibility for the completion of the task. It’s important to know what capacity exists in your team for the new work. There will be times when the person selected to complete the task has too much other work that will prevent them completing the new task on schedule. By maintaining good team communications the manager can know when these times are, allowing them to delegate work to other staff, manage stakeholder expectations and, if necessary and as a last resort, take the work on for themselves.
Keep in control
Managing expectations is a key skill when delegating. Make sure you take time to ensure that the person that you have delegated the work to has a very clear brief that they are working to. Explain the situation and why you selected them for the task. Be clear on what's expected and be as specific as you can about goals, resources, support and deadlines. Use SMART objectives where you can and agree a schedule for progress updates. If necessary, ensure that the person who instigated the task knows where it now sits. With the job delegated your primary role as manager becomes as a supporting resource to the team member doing the work – removing obstacles in their way, supporting them when they get stuck and securing required resources.
When the job is finished, check in with the individual to see how it went, what could be done to make it even easier next time, and if there is any learning that can be shared with the rest of the team. And don’t forget to show that you appreciate their efforts and to give credit where credit is due. What could be more funky than that?
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