Do you know why most managers are unsuccessful at delegation? Many of them try hard but are not been able to optimally create an environment and structure where delegation is exercised.
Undoubtedly, delegation is a crucial skill for a leader. One of the most important tasks of a leader is to enable people for high-value assignments. For some reason, if you are unavailable, they should know how to complete important things in your absence without any compromise in quality. While delegation benefits managers, employees and the organization well, yet it is an underutilized concept in most enterprises.
Many leaders are heard saying ‘too busy to delegate.’ They feel that the time they will spend educating others is a waste as they may have to rework because the job would not be up to their liking. In this case, the manager is overworked and stressed out while the staff stays uninspired and disempowered. The other pitfall is: power is centralized and in case of the leader’s absence the workflow slows down and eventually it hinders the company’s growth and performance.
There are plenty of reasons why managers don’t delegate. A few are perfectionists who don’t trust their colleagues. Others believe that offering work to others will leave them undervalued. And for quite a few leaders it’s difficult to accept that they can’t do everything themselves.
So, the question is how to make delegation work for you. Unfortunately, a single response would not serve everyone. However, if you resist delegation, the following ideas could help you start positively:
If you have been highly self-dependent, take small steps to start with and as you develop comfort and confidence you can delegate more. While doing so, the clarity of both communication and process has to be shared.
If things are not happening your way and you get anxious, reflect to understand your pattern and identify the reason for it. With this awareness, things would become easy for you.
Before delegating, you must know the strength of your team members. Assigning work based on their competencies would not only keep them motivated but will also reduce the scope for errors and save time.
Assuring your support goes a long way. Once your people know they can reach out to you for guidance, it puts them at ease. However, a leader has to be mindful that support is provided only to the extent it empowers the delegatee. An empowering skill is to ask questions instead of offering direct solutions to the problems they come up with.
For the success of delegation, a structure to measure the effectiveness is paramount. Shared checklists and regular update sessions are some of the ways to that.
Once you delegate, offer space to your subordinates to use their creativity in the task given. Remember, there could be multiple ways to achieve the same results. Leaders must abstain from enforcing their way of working and expecting others to be their clones.
If you want them to grow while learning, give feedback in a way that boosts their morale. For delegation to succeed, it’s important that the leader is also open to feedback. Display compassion, be patient with yourself and learn from your experiences.
The last thing to keep in mind, the delegation has to work for both parties. Do not delegate just because you dislike doing something. People smell your intention eventually and that could be counterproductive to all. Plus do not forget that you delegate the task, not the responsibility.
#delegation #executivecoaching #executivecoach