How to Delegate More Effectively

Many leaders simply do not know how to delegate. Effective delegation is a skill that requires L&D Opens in new window to reach desired performance outcomes.

It is about learning how to best approach an employee with a task, considering his or her ability levels and willingness to do the job. It is about a leader preparing for a conversation with the direct reports to present the task, after advanced consideration of these key areas:

Leaders should remember that these key areas should be the focus of their preparation work before meeting with the direct report to discuss the why and what of the actual delegation. Below are some principles of delegation leaders should find helpful in how to delegate more effectively.

1.     Decide what to delegate.

The first step leaders should take when deciding what to delegate is to identify all their present activities. This should include those functions regularly performed and decisions regularly made.

Next leaders should estimate the actual time spent on these activities. This can be done fairly easily by developing and maintaining a temporary log. After collecting this information, leaders need to assess whether each activity justifies the time they are spending on it.

In all likelihood, at least some of the most time-consuming recurring activities should be delegated to others. This process will probably also identify some activities that could be done more efficiently (by either the leader or someone else) and other activities that provide so little benefit they could be eliminated completely.

2.     Decide whom to delegate to (choose the right person for the job).

Part of being a good leader is understanding your direct reports’ strengths, weaknesses, and preferences.

If a leader needs to delegate a task that is going to require a lot of collaboration to complete, they should not delegate it to someone who very strongly prefers working alone. It would make the most sense to delegate it to someone who prefers collaborating. Good leaders often have a list of tasks that they are looking to delegate.

Leaders must be careful not to overburden a direct report merely because that individual always happens to be the best worker. Additionally, leaders have a responsibility to balance developmental opportunities among all of their direct reports.

Leaders should look for ways to optimize, over a series of assignments, the growth of all direct reports by matching particular opportunities to their respective individual needs, skills, and goals.

Leaders may want to consider sitting down with their work groupOpens in new window or teamOpens in new window, going through the list, and letting the direct reports self-select the tasks they are most interested in taking over. Letting direct reports choose the tasks they are delegated is another way for a leader to build trustOpens in new window with and inspire engagement among their work group or team.

3.     Make the assignment clear and specific.

As with setting goalsOpens in new window, leaders delegating an assignment must be sure the direct report understands what the task involves and what is expected of them—and this begins with an explanation of why the task is being delegated.

At times, leaders provide too brief an explanation of the task to be delegated. A common communication errorOpens in new window is overestimating our clarity, and in the case of delegation this can happen when the leader already knows the ins and outs of the particular task.

Some of the essential steps or potential pitfalls in an assignment that seem self-evident to the leader may not be as obvious to someone who has never done the assignment before. Leaders should welcome questions and provide a complete explanation of the task. The time leaders invest during this initial L&D effort will pay dividends later.

4.     Assign an objective, not a procedure.

Leaders should indicate what is to be accomplished, not how the task is to be accomplished. End results are usually more important than the methods. It is helpful for a leader to demonstrate procedures that have worked before, but not to specify rigid methods to follow in the future.

Leaders should not assume their ways always will be best. Leaders need to be clear about the criteria by which success will be measured, but allowing direct reports to achieve it in their own ways will increase their satisfaction and encourage fresh ideas.

5.     Allow autonomy, but monitor performance.

Effective delegation is neither micromanagement of everything the direct report does nor laissez-faire indifference toward the direct report’s performance.

Leaders need to give direct reports a degree of autonomy in carrying out their new responsibilities and make decisions, ask questions, take the necessary steps to complete the work, and this includes freedom to make certain kinds of mistakes. An organizational climate in which mistakes are punished suppresses initiative and innovation. Furthermore, mistakes are important sources of development.

Leaders should make sure that when they delegate a task, that along with the autonomy the direct report has the time, resources, and authority, as well as the tools and skills they need to complete the task—or provide a way for them to work on those skills.

For example, if a leader as a direct report a use a specific tool they have never used before to complete a task, the leader should make sure there is a plan for the direct report to become familiar with the tool first. This is where the leader providing resources and L&D comes into play.

6.     Check the work, provide feedback and give credit, not blame.

Leaders should check the work they delegated to their direct reports when it is complete, make sure they did it correctly, and give them any feedback needed to improve when handling the task going forward.

In checking the work or following up, the leader should provide coachingOpens in new window and guidance if needed. They should not abandon the direct report and remember that they are available for questions and to help resolve resistance that might come from others.

Leaders must remember not to look over the shoulders of those to whom they have delegated responsibility. Instead, they should provide feedback to reinforce what has been done well and to help them learn when they make mistakes or encounter problems that require learning. The leader should come to an agreement with the direct reports on checkpoint dates and updates on progress.

There is nothing worse than a leader who delegates something to a direct report and then blames the employee when something goes wrong. Whenever leaders delegate, they must give direct reports authority along with responsibility.

In the end, however, leaders always remain fully responsible and accountable for any delegated task. If things go wrong, the leaders should accept responsibility for failure fully and completely and never try to pass blame onto direct reports. By contrast, if things go well, as they usually will, leaders should give all the public credit to the direct reports.

Also, when providing performance feedback privately to a direct report, leaders should emphasize what went right rather than what went wrong. Leaders should not ignore errors in judgment or implementation, but they need not dwell on them, either.

When leaders gain confidence in their delegation skills, they begin to see better results from the employees with these effectively delegated tasks. The benefits go beyond the expected outcomes of the job, yielding powerful benefits for the leaders, the employees, the work group or team, and the organization.

Another maybe more powerful benefit for the leader to recognize is that if there are no employees in the work group or the team ready and able to take the leader’s job, what’s the likelihood that the leader will be promoted elsewhere? Developing one’s direct reports demonstrates the willingness and ability of the leader to prepare the organization for the future.