How
to delegate effectively
- Delegation
is not just telling someone what to do.
- The team
members you delegate to must be able to act fully in your absence.
- This means
letting them think and decide for themselves.
- Fully
empower people to act independently.
- Delegation
is not abdication if you get regular feedback on results.
- Managers
are slow to delegate because they fear no one will do the job
properly.
- What's
the difference between delegation and empowerment?
- Empowerment
relates to larger scale culture change - it involves instituting
a whole new way of working.
- Delegation
refers to specific, one-off, decisions.
- It means
letting someone else make decisions you normally make.
- Just giving
someone tasks to do is not really delegation.
- For a
specific project, decision or period, someone is your delegate.
- The challenge
is to give clear direction but not too much.
- Focus
on the outcome expected, the deliverable and time frame.
- Be clear
on the authority and limits you are delegating.
- Is your
delegate to decide only how to do a task or is there latitude
on what and when?
- What support
does your delegate require?
- What recourse
should be taken if there are problems and under what conditions?
- What feedback
do you require and how often?
- Ask open
questions to verify understanding - not closed questions like
'Do you understand?'
- How would
you define a satisfactory outcome?
- Are you
betraying your reluctance to let go by asking for too much re-assurance?
- Don't
delegate apologetically by saying '' I know you're busy, but would
you mind just doing.... This makes the task sound like a burden.
Try, instead to present the task as a learning opportunity for
the person.
Common Barriers
to Delegation
- Fear is
the main reason managers are poor delegators
- They are
afraid that they won't succeed unless they control everything
very closely.
- They are
afraid they won't be seen as contributing unless they do the most
important things themselves.
- They fear
the unknown, people being on top of things that they don't know
anything about.
- They are
afraid that others will let them down and that they will then
disappoint their boss.
- They fear
losing what made them successful, being great solution generators.
Just being a facilitator, catalyst, coordinator and coach doesn't
feel like real work to them.
- To conquer
the fear of delegation, managers need to reframe their role and
identity from one of solution generator to one of catalyst or
facilitator. They need to get their heads around what it means
to contribute in a different way.
|
