Develop Successful Delegation Skills to Become a Better Manager

Delegation skills are crucial for all new managers, or anyone in a leadership position. Since leadership and management often goes hand-in-hand with a sense of responsibility, that responsibility manifests in a lot of different tasks and implementation methods, commonly known as delegation. In this article we break down what delegation is (and isn’t), and how to approach delegation in a way that makes your team feel developed and not dumped on.

In other words? Read this to forever ban the words “I’ll just do it myself” from your vocabulary!

What exactly is delegation?

Delegation is the process of dividing and conquering tasks, items of importance or duties in a way that motivates and provides reward for the individual or group working on a project. It’s also about giving those on your team an empowering dose of decision-making power and autonomy. 

When done correctly, delegation can free up the time, energy, and resources of managers to personally develop their team… so that they can be set up for success in their future careers. 

If you’re in a managerial position, the act of delegation allows your team to build up their experience while growing in new ways depending on the requirements of the tasks at hand.

Long story short, delegation is deciding when and how to provide your team with tasks– for the purpose of their own professional and personal growth. 

Because workplace communications are different depending on each person, delegation conversations can be complicated and tricky. Recognizing certain principles of delegation can help you be better informed moving forward with your own conversations in the future.

What are the most important principles of delegation?

When delegating, it’s important to recognize the different places that your team members are coming from. 

Delegation can be tricky when it comes to people that you don’t fully trust to complete a good job, and when it comes to teams that are just as overworked as you are feeling. In those situations, the complication of delegation isn’t from expectations, but from results. Would putting more work onto an overworked team build resentment? Would delegating tasks to an employee with below average performance damage the overall deliverables of the company?

Although these are just assumptions, the point is this: when delegating, it’s important to recognize that your intent is not the only factor in the process– you have to consider how your words and actions will affect the team that you work with as well.

Benefits of Delegation

Despite the intimidating nature of delegation and navigating intrapersonal relationships, delegation is a very valuable tool to have in your managerial arsenal. 

When delegation goes well, there is a clear set of expectations from you to your team, where deliverables are communicated and realistic, and your team members feel confident in their abilities to tackle a project and deliver to the best of their ability. 

When delegation goes poorly, it hinges back on communication. Whether it’s issues with deliverables or misaligned priorities, poor delegation leaves teams feeling overwhelmed with their work and helpless in their ability to complete it the right way. Instead of creating that kind of environment, focus on asking your team members personal questions about their work process and how they deal with tasks. 

This will show that you not only care about their professional careers, but their personal development as well. It’s much easier to figure out how to solve a problem when you have all the missing pieces right in front of you, and personal preferences are a big missing piece. 

Being self-aware enough to recognize how much we might benefit from delegation is step one. Step two is all about overcoming nagging doubts (“Will they get the job done as well as I do? What if they mess up and I get the blame? What if they do it better than me?”) in order to embrace the mindset that not only can delegation help free up space in our brains, it’s also a fantastic way to develop and demonstrate confidence and trust within our teams.

4 tips for becoming a successful delegator

So, with all of this in mind, what makes a successful delegator?

1. Communicate your why
   Like with most professional situations, communication is key. As a delegator, it’s your responsibility to inform your team members comprehensively about the task that they’re taking on, and provide them with the necessary context on the why and the who. Including explaining why the task is important and who is going to benefit from it getting completed.
     

2. Clarify the expectations
   What is the desired outcome? What are the details? Don’t assume that someone knows what you want. As managers, we might take details for granted because it’s so subconscious and part of our routine that we aren’t able to clearly communicate a painted picture of the final product. Ask yourself: What does the other person need to know to succeed here?
   
   

3. Check-in effectively
   After delegating a task, it’s important to keep in touch with your team about their progress. There’s a fine line between micromanaging and checking in– instead of hovering over each item your team is working on, ask them about how they feel about their progress and if they need any help or have any questions about what they’re doing. This creates a more relaxed environment for your team to present any questions they may have in a way that you can work on them together.
   
   

4. Debrief 
   This point comes with time, but can drastically affect working relationships with how efficiently jobs get completed as well as if delegation is truly developmental. Beyond asking the “what went well?” question: try asking something along the lines of “what was your favorite part of working on this?” By talking to your team members honestly and openly about their experience, you can more accurately gauge what they can handle on their own versus what might be better suited for someone else. You’ll also have the opportunity to match up team members with tasks they enjoy, setting yourself (and your team) up for success.

How to Activate Your Delegation Skills

Life is short. Don’t you want to spend more time exclusively doing the things you’re excellent at? If so, then you’ll love Activate, our new manager training program which includes live trainings, where Leadology will be personally coaching you on the tactics and scripts to help support you in developing your team both now and in the future.

If you’re ready to start delegating, developing, and activating the best of yourself and your team, I recommend you take five minutes to check out all we’ll be covering, or schedule a strategy call with one of Leadology’s directors to assess you and your team’s unique needs.

By Team Leadology