Guide To Delegation.
We all know the benefits of delegation.
So what stops us from doing it?
Sometimes we enjoy being on the tools. We feel in our comfort zone. We’ve done it for so long we can’t imagine what else we’d do. We mightn’t trust the person we delegate to has capacity or capability.
But the biggest reason we avoid delegating is because we aren’t sure how to add value at work without ‘doing the work’. It’s the fear of being redundant. Irrelevant.
It’s human nature to want to contribute in meaningful ways.
The tool we need to get out of our own way, is to consider a mindset shift: from doing the work to delivering results.
When we become a leader, we go through three mindset evolutions. These are:
From subject matter expert to manager. We’re managing the work. We’re on the tools, and we’re often teaching our team the tools, or rolling up our sleeves to get it all done together.
From managing the work to leading people. We’re shifting from the tools to giving our team feedback and giving them notes on their work.
From leading people to thinking strategically about reputation, risk and results. You’ve figured out how to deliver results and give feedback to your team and you’re being invited to stretch your mind to think bigger. You have exposure to context your team doesn’t and won’t be privy to.
The key is to reframe the value we can offer, before making a behavioural change.
As a leader, you have the opportunity to shift from seeing the value you add as ‘doing the work’ to:
Understanding that your job is to make sure the work gets done. You don’t need to be the person who does the work to be a good leader.
Knowing that if your team is successful when you’re not in the room you’re doing well. If you need to be ‘in the room’ for your team to do the work, that’s a sign it’s time to learn how to delegate more effectively.
Understanding that your value now as a leader is building relationships and managing the outgoing of work.
Once you start to see your new role as less ‘on the tools’, and more ‘making sure the work gets done’, delegation starts to become a bit more appealing.
The four steps to delegation.
COO of Acquisition Leila Hormozi talks about the four steps to delegation as being:
Getting information. Asking your team to do a small task, and then bringing that information back to you.
Informed progress. Asking your team member to take responsibility for an element of a task, then presenting it to you for feedback.
Informed results. Delegating full authority to a team member for a task and asking for a full update afterwards.
Full ownership. Asking a team member to take total responsibility, including making sure it gets done and not needing to tell you about it.
As a boss, your instinct is going to be to want to get people to number four. But as Leila sees it, the better way to show you evidence that your team is on the right track, and to practise your feedback skills, is to start at step one, and work your way up, depending on the expertise of your team member (e.g. some will already be at the step three stage if more senior).
What to expect when delegating?
There’s nothing more disappointing than delegating something for the first time and getting sub-par work back. The flip side though, is that it also gives you instant feedback on what you need to develop in your communication skills.
Think of it as the fastest and least painful 360 you’ll ever do, with only you seeing the data.
You can expect these things to happen when you first start delegating:
Your people will fail, or do it wrong, or wild, the first few times as they figure out what good looks like.
Expect to 3x the amount of time it’ll take for someone to take on a new task.
People will let you down and you’ll want to blame them for a bit.
You’ll let yourself down by breaking your own promises and diving into fix problems that are your team’s to figure out.
That’s the crappy bit. But here’s the pay off: you can do that value work you outlined earlier, and actually grow. So if you’re willing to experience this, you can start to use the G.I.V.E. Framework.
Seeing your first few delegation moments as ‘experiments’ is a helpful first step.
The G.I.V.E. Framework
G: Give clarity
The most important step is to outline what you’d like your role to be in this delegation, and what your team's role will be. This helps your team know the boundaries and you can protect yourself from diving in, by front loading expectations.
I: Identify outcomes
Being explicit about the ‘end’ result, and what done and good looks like will save you a tonne of time. Be sure to get examples together to show and reference.
V: Validate support
Outline what you’ll do to make sure this result is successful. Examples might include supplying templates, an introduction to someone else who has done this before to ask any questions, and super important: the promise to give feedback to let them know they’re on track.
F: Expect ‘flearning’
No one will produce exactly what you want the first few times. And, you never know where someone else's interpretation can take them. So, create a deadline before the deadline to create opportunities to give feedback. For example, you might ask to see a first draft, an outline, a roadmap, a wireframe, to give feedback on, before firing ahead.
When things go wrong.
They will. Here are a few ideas on how to handle that.
The deadline is missed. Permission to be disappointed. Resist the opportunity to take the task ‘back’. Then, figure out why it happened. Did they know how to do it? Did they miss a piece of info? Were you unclear with your expectations? Did you need to give feedback earlier? They can let you know.
Really, you want to avoid blame in this instance and just focus on how you can avoid this situation in future. Part of that will be sharing the flow on effect so you can both avoid it in future.
The delivery is way off. Again, it’s okay to feel disappointed. Remember, you’re doing a series of experiments to figure out how to communicate as clearly as possible.
In this instance, you’ll need to provide feedback. If you don’t, you can rely on getting the same result in future. You always want to be thinking as a leader, ‘What can I do today to make things better next time?’
If large changes are required, challenge yourself to find a way to summarise it into a coaching statement. For example, instead of “Here are 37 edits I need you to make”, pause to figure out a big picture question. You might ask, “Can you please revise this, asking how we can be more explicit and succinct about how the project is lowering risk? It’s not clear to me at the moment and our stakeholder needs this to be the headline.” You’re being explicit but also inviting the person to make their own ‘how’ with your ‘what’ and ‘why’.
If it’s totally off track, you might even get on the phone to have this convo. Even better, as it’s an opportunity to build more trust into that relationship.
The checklist.
There are really only two things to remember: prepare beforehand and provide feedback during. Here’s a handy checklist we teach in our workshops.
Before you meet:
Outline the end result.
Clarify non-negotiable steps.
Prepare examples of ‘done’.
Create a deadline before the deadline.
When you meet:
Share the end result and non-negotiable steps.
Outline your expectation of the time it will take.
Agree on milestones.
Check for understanding.
Delegating effectively is an essential leadership skill.
Bring this essential skill of delegation to your leaders. It’s one part of our essential leadership skills training that equips leaders with the foundation for positive leadership. Learn more.