A colleague of mine was always at loggerheads with her team members because they were not ready to take up any accountability for any task or they were not providing solutions to problems arising while performing the task. They would approach her always, even for the minutest of the problems. On close scrutiny, it was found that she used to distribute tasks, but not complete information for doing the task. She was a strong believer that if she shared all the information along with the task, she will get redundant, as her team will gain expertise and might even surpass her. She wanted them to take accountability and provide solutions but was not ready to share information required for doing the task. She was a bad delegator.
One of the most important skills from a pile of Leadership Skills is Delegation. Just distribution of task does not amount to delegation.
As leaders managing a team, we all want our team members to associate themselves longer with the organization (thus saving attrition and the cost incurred thereof), widen their horizons, develop new skills also become more accountable. Also, leaders want to take up new activities and increase their skills and horizons as well.
This is only possible if leaders delegate their tasks properly. We all know this, yet something stops us from delegating (like my colleague). Whenever we think of delegating our tasks, following thoughts come up which actually stops us from going forward with delegation:
“I think it’s easier if I do it”
“I don’t have time to train someone on this task”
“What if the person does not do it properly, I would have to again work on it”
etc… etc…. etc….
We think like this because we view delegation as an episode rather than a relationship, where there is distribution of tasks and sharing of ideas to achieve a common goal.
There are many benefits to delegation to different parties:
Your team- Your team skills enhances and they feel motivated when you give them new tasks to work upon. They are motivated as they see their growth and are ready to take on new job responsibilities.
Your Organization- It’s great for an organization as they have skilled people within and they need not hire people for specific tasks. Increased development due to delegation leads to increased productivity.
Customers- Yes delegation helps your customers too!! Since the team now knows the tasks the customers need not run form pillar to post if they want information. There is more than one point of contact, which helps them to get information easily.
Even though delegation is important, it is very important to know when you should delegate, and when you should not.
So when do you delegate? Delegate when:
- When the task and your abilities do not match, but it might match someone else’s abilities
- When the task is a repetitive task
- When expertise is more than what the task demands
- When there is a need to develop your team
There are also tasks that you should NOT delegate:
- Tasks involving confidential information
- Providing feedback in the form of praising or criticizing your team
Now, that you know when to delegate and when NOT to delegate, you should also know How to delegate a particular task. Here are the things that you should keep in mind when you choose the tasks that needs to be delegated:
- Match the task with the Employee – Make sure that you delegate the tasks based on the abilities and the skills of the person. Also, do not give all the tasks to one person. If you have time in your hands, train the other team members and involve them also by giving them opportunity to learn new tasks and gain skills. Before you choose the team member make sure that you understand the current workload that he/she has.
- Hold a proper delegation meeting – Proper delegation involves that you provide complete information of the task to the delegatee (the person whom you have chosen to delegate the task to). Clearly define the goals and the task deadlines. Brief them of any problems/constraints that they have with regards to resources, time, data etc. Also, lay down the timelines and create internal checkpoints to ensure that the task is on track. Don’t forget to delegate the level of authority also along with the responsibility of doing a task.
- Follow Up – Your task does not end with delegation. You need to constantly follow up with your delegatee to ensure that if there is any problem, it can be solved at the right time.
As leaders, one should understand that if we want to grow, then we have to let go off certain tasks. Also, if you want your team to grow then you should not only let go off tasks but also some amount of accountability so that the task can be performed better. If you delegate only tasks and not accountability, you will find yourself spending time dealing in solving the problems relating to the delegated task, that your team brings to you.
Delegation will always help you leverage your as well as your team’s productivity. As Steve Jobs had put it - “Great Jobs in a team is never done by one person, it’s done by a team”
