How do I get better at delegating effectively?

Delegation is about developing trust within an organization so that the responsibilities and commitments of the team are shared. Most people think of delegation as task dispatching, almost like a project manager might do with a list of activities on a project plan. While this is a form of delegation, it introduces overhead and as a result is incredibly slow. On the other side of the spectrum the ultimate delegation outcome is stewardship wherein complete trust is committed to an individual or team—responsibility, design, planning and decision-making power are driven as low in the organization as possible creating autonomy. In a stewardship, the up-line leader is at the service of the delegate. If you are familiar with Stephen Covey you will see his influence here.

Five ingredients to successfully delegate

 

1. Clarity of purpose

Knowing the objective or result creates clarity of purpose for someone taking on additional responsibility. Even if that clarity means there is no clarity, there should be no ambiguity for what the desired result should be. Get clear and then help someone else stay clear.

2. Collaborate as equals and let the delegate lead

Once there is clarity of purpose engage the delegate in designing the approach and establishing the plan. Sharing this responsibility builds confidence in the delegate and establishes ownership. Allowing the delegate to lead the collaboration results in an execution plan they are committing first to themselves and then to you.

3. Calibrate current level of trust

Just because the ideal is stewardship doesn’t mean the trust exists to comfortably begin there. As a leader, you need to assess how individuals work, establishing a baseline. Calibration creates comfort.

How to calibrate

Delegate a desired outcome and witness their response. If they are asking for very specific execution orders they are likely use to micromanagement. If they engage you with clarifying questions, can verbally structure next steps and checkpoint to ensure alignment, then you have someone that will quickly become a steward. 

Calibrating is important since people need the opportunity to grow without feeling inadequate. Once you have delegated the objective you must let it play out even if it results in missed expectations.

Managing expectations

To manage the impact of missing expectations, start off small and short. Try an create proof points that allow both you and the delegate to assess the efficacy. It is so much easier to explain the issues when the delegate sees them for themselves.

Remember, delegation is about creating trust within an organization, so assess your decisions based on that objective.

4. Create stewards

Your goal is to create as many steward relationships as possible. This takes time even with senior or high-performance teams. Part of what can make this slow is the speed at which new relationships develop. If you are new to the team then you may be introducing significant culture change if prior leadership operated differently. Allow for people to adjust to a different way of doing and demonstrate good will by not prejudging or hording work.

Often, leaders find themselves feeling possessive of specific work. Set the objective to be replaceable and nothing but good can come of it. If your only value was a specific piece of work then you have a different problem.

5. Coach for the highest quality communication

Delegation requires a variety of checkpoints from frequent (micromanaged) to regular and scheduled (stewardship). Many organizations are dysfunctional when it comes to communicating. This appears in part to be because people are simply repeating what has always been done instead of understanding what is most useful and tailoring to that objective. Yet other organizations are “wild wild west” allowing for anything and everything to pass for communication.

Your way does not need to be the only way. If your organization is not yet delivering a consistent quality of work product, take pride in and coach a better iteration. If anyone diminishes the work product as “busy work,” then they do not fully understand and respect the energy required to effectively communicate. Taking pride in the quality of work is contagious and creates unmatched loyalty, conviction and clarity. By coaching what great work looks like, everyone level-ups their communication.

Next steps: Actions that change everything

• Get hardcore on clarity. Leaders that are able to effectively capture clarity in purpose, strategy and plan are the only ones that get things that matter done. When faced with ambiguity, either push for clarity, or create it.

• Identify someone that could be your next steward and practice. Not sure who this might be? Begin by calibrating.
• Critically review what your current work products say about you, your team and the work you do. Ask a colleague for constructive feedback. Not sure who you ask? Pick the person most critical of the work, people or company. This is an uncomfortable activity, the last thing you want is to ask for feedback from fans that are eager to applaud.