Effective Delegation
Last week I mentioned delegation as one of the four "ations" of being a good leader. I thought this week I might go into further detail.
To recap a bit about delegation in last week'e email, you have a LOT on your plate as a leader. There are a lot of things for which you are responsible for making sure get done. The demands on your time never seem to end while you only have 24 hours every day.
I would like to point out that just because you're "responsible for" making sure something gets done, that doesn't mean you necessarily HAVE to do it YOURSELF! As the leader, there are always going to be some things that you absolutely have to do yourself, you can't delegate them. But a LOT of what you're "responsible for" are things you CAN delegate to team members.
Have them repeat back, in their own words, what they think you're expecting of them.
Are there any policies or procedures that might affect how they get the task done?
Make sure they know what "done" looks like. How will they know when they've finished? How will they know whether or not they've done a good job? Do you expect them to notify you?
Following up is a way of establishing trust between you. As you see they're doing a good job, trust is built, and you don't need to follow up as closely.
Let them know that when you follow up it's more about seeing if they need anything from you and not that you're checking up on them.
To recap a bit about delegation in last week'e email, you have a LOT on your plate as a leader. There are a lot of things for which you are responsible for making sure get done. The demands on your time never seem to end while you only have 24 hours every day.
I would like to point out that just because you're "responsible for" making sure something gets done, that doesn't mean you necessarily HAVE to do it YOURSELF! As the leader, there are always going to be some things that you absolutely have to do yourself, you can't delegate them. But a LOT of what you're "responsible for" are things you CAN delegate to team members.
With that in mind, here are the 4 parts to effective delegation:
What gets delegated?
Anything you don't HAVE to do yourself should be delegated.
To whom does it get delegated?
Try to pick people whose skillsets match the requirements of the task you're delegating.
Do they have the knowledge, resources, skills, and time?
Ensure they know exactly what is required.
This is probably the area that causes the most problems when delegating tasks to others. Just because YOU think you explained it thoroughly doesn't mean THEY understood what was expected.
Have them repeat back, in their own words, what they think you're expecting of them.
Are there any policies or procedures that might affect how they get the task done?
Make sure they know what "done" looks like. How will they know when they've finished? How will they know whether or not they've done a good job? Do you expect them to notify you?
Follow up.
This is probably the second largest area of conflict when it comes to delegation. Some people believe that when you delegate a task to them, it's theirs to do however THEY see fit. They don't like it when you come along asking questions.
Following up is a way of establishing trust between you. As you see they're doing a good job, trust is built, and you don't need to follow up as closely.
Let them know that when you follow up it's more about seeing if they need anything from you and not that you're checking up on them.
Comments
Post a Comment