Great Leaders Delegate – In 5 Steps
Delegation is a necessary skill for anyone in a leadership
role at the Direct and Organizational leadership level within any business. Hand
in hand with this is the need to be effective and efficient, in other words
doing the right thing the right way at the right time with the right resources.
In affect exercising good judgment for the greater good of the organization.
Good leaders train and provide their team members with
opportunities to grow and to evolve wherever possible. By delegating you do
just that. At the direct leadership level enabling your junior team members to
under study you has many benefits; It builds confidence in individual ability, builds
trust between the leader and those being delegated to, gives the leader an
opportunity for insight into the capacity of team members, their knowledge and
skills, presents opportunities to evaluate and coach.
As a result your team
operates with far less supervision which frees the leader up to concentrate on higher priorities and from a risk management point of view
is essential when the is absent of the leader for any reason. Other benefits to delegating include inspiring peak performance, retaining your best employees, revenue and profit growth.
At an Organizational level it is necessary for leaders to
delegate because there is simply too much to do in too short a time in areas
where the leader may not necessarily have the subject expertise. As a project
manager it is a “do or die” skill.
Whether you delegate verbally or electronically there are
some simple steps to this process that when followed pay huge dividends now and
further down the timeline.
5 Step Process
1.
Plan
before you delegate
Using some simple headings will speed the process up and if
you’re delegating electronically you can, at the click of a button create a
template that can be filled in and emailed to the recipient. MS Outlook makes
delegating very easy and provides information like “task accepted”, electronic
updates as more information is added to the delegated task and “task completed”
when the recipient is finished.
A simple heading format example may include: Situation (the
why), Task (the what), Resources & Constraints (including clear deadlines,
dates and times).
2. Decide who will take the task on
It’s essential that you decide who the best person is to
complete the task. This is the right person for the task not the closest. Use
the 80% Test – ask yourself “who has 70-80% of my competency in my team” and
look to delegate to those people. Ensure you spread the extra workload evenly
to avoid burn out and imbalance in capability across your team.
3.
Communicate
the plan in writing
Putting your requirements in writing ensures that in your
absence the person can get on with achieving the task because they understand
your intent. With the key points visible the task can proceed ensuring success
whilst giving the delegated person an opportunity to study how the next level
up achieves success by following a formula that is effective.
In time as your
team members gain experience so too will the efficiency improve. If possible
inform the task recipient how you will use the results of their work when they
have completed the task or how it assists the organizations operational
effectiveness.
4.
Manage/Follow-up
It’s important to follow up for a number of reasons but just
as important is the way you follow up. Firstly, by following-up you demonstrate
to the individual (and the team) that you validate the priority, and secondly, you
demonstrate how serious you are about seeing the task completed.
Leaders who
don’t follow-up send a message that the priorities are not important and that
the leader’s requests are not binding.
The difference between being labelled a “micro manager” and
a leader who follows-up and the success that is gained by the latter if
executed properly is all in the way you front-load the understanding of your
team members when you delegate to them.
By being up front that you will be
checking-back with them periodically they know to expect you and it eliminated suspicion. Have the conversation about when you do check-in with them, you are there
briefly for a status update, the opportunity for your team member to ask any
questions that have arisen since the task began and to offer your support and guidance
if necessary.
…and finally,
5.
Reward
Giving praise in a respectful manner as a means of recognizing
successful performance is positive and motivating if managed well. Giving
status to your team members where it is deserved bolsters their self-esteem, it’s
a measure of personal achievement in comparison with others.
Thanking a team member
for a job well-done in front of his or her peers and leadership team is the simplest
intangible form of public praise and recognition. This eventually leads to more
tangible forms of recognition such as a pay rise or promotion.
Excessive praise if it is seen to be insincere or without
basis can be more harmful than good. Remember that rewards need to be
justifiable in the minds of the other members of the team. Donna Deeprose put together a book titled “How to Recognize and Reward Employees” if you’re looking for some
ideas on rewards and reward programs.
Caution
Good leadership means engaging with your team and having
your finger on the pulse. Push-back should be encouraged in your employees
especially if they feel they would be under too much pressure should they take on
a new task. Emphasis should be placed on training your team to work smarter not
harder by managing their time and workload using best practice methods and
desktop applications.
Remember that delegation is an art and like all arts it
takes practice to get better at it. The great leaders get their reputation in
part due to their ability to delegate. Empowerment is the end state.
By following the simple steps above coupled with the
understanding you leverage from the associated notes, you begin to employ the
“Nine Principals of Leadership”. I leave you with a couple of worthy quotes from
a very talented young entrepreneur and from a politician:
As all entrepreneurs know, you live and die by your
ability to prioritize. You must focus on the most important, mission-critical
tasks each day and night, and then delegate, share, delete or skip the rest. ~ Jessica Jackley
Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for
the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find
problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse.
Resist it.
~ Donald Rumsfeld
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