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Four Ways to Delegate More
"Give up control even if it means the employees have to make some mistakes." Frank Flores
Why is it so hard for some leaders to delegate work to others? Doesn't it make sense that giving up work allows you as a manager to focus on more important tasks? While this may seem true in theory, in actual practice there are many reasons why we don't delegate our work to others. Here are a few reasons I have heard over my many years of consulting:
"If you want something done right, do it yourself."
"Every time I give a task to someone else, they drop the ball and I end up picking up the pieces."
"By the time I train someone on this I could have done it myself."
"No one can do it as well as I can."
"I enjoy doing this because I am good at it."
"What will I do if I give this up?"
"I gave birth to this idea/task & I am not ready to give it up yet."
"What if they do it better than I do?"
The root cause for many people unwilling to delegate work to others is the fear of letting go and change. As a manager or leader, you need to become aware or be reminded of the work that will have the greatest impact on your success. Areas like planning and developing your people will help you and your organization more than working on tactical issues that others could do just as successfully. If you are unsure of what to delegate, log your time and assess what small tasks could be delegated with the least amount of effort so you experience success.
So how do you begin the process of letting go of a task? Follow these four steps and you will be on your way:
- Assess the importance of the task that could be delegated. Does this task help you accomplish your goals faster or could someone else be working on it while you focus on more strategic issues that will have a greater impact on your success and the organization?
- Assess the commitment and competency of your direct reports or other managers to see if there might be someone who could quickly learn the task. This may be a great opportunity to develop and challenge a bored staff member who may leave your organization if not continually learning.
- In the early stages of handing the ask over be more directive in your expectations as opposed to supportive. The person new to the task wants you to tell them the outcomes expected but be prepared for a new and different path to get there. Be ready to demonstrate what the task looks like done well and poorly.
- Continue to monitor the commitment and competency of the new person until you get the results you want. If you are not getting the results you want, refrain from taking the task back, but rather continue to train or, if necessary, give the task to someone new.
The benefits of becoming a better delegator will be freeing up one to two hours per day so you can focus on those tasks or systems that offer the greatest rewards for you as a manager and your organization.
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