In last week’s blog I talked about the benefits of delegation and how important it is for you, your team members and your business to grow.
So today I want to share the ‘how to’ and give you a free template which will help you .*
Before you delegate, ask yourself these five questions:
- Can someone in the team perform this task now or with training?
- Is it an opportunity to develop someone’s skills?
- Is it a recurring or routine task?
- Do I have time to delegate effectively? – time to train and give feedback
- Is it a task I should delegate? ie you wouldn’t want to delegate an interview or a team member’s performance review, but most other tasks will be delegatable, if that’s even a word.
Once you know you’re happy that delegation is the right way to go, then follow these 7 Steps to get it right:
Step 1 Choose the right person.
This comes back to knowing your team – their strengths and weaknesses – the tasks that put them in flow, and those that take them out of it.
Step 2 Explain why you’re delegating this task to them
What are your reasons for choosing them for the task, and why are you delegating in the first place.
Step 3 Explain the result that you want
If you’re delegating a routine task, then you will simply train your team member in the one right way to do the task. But if you’re delegating something where only the result is important – maybe you want them to organise a team building event, or create a report, or sort out your stock cupboard – tell them the result that you’re looking for and empower them to come up with the ‘how’ themselves.
Step 4 Make sure they have the resources they need
Do they need any special equipment or software or team support? Make sure that you set them up for success.
Step 5 Delegate responsibility and authority
Make sure they know the decisions they can make and those that you want them to run by you. You want them to feel supported in doing the task, but not micro-managed.
Step 6 Give them feedback
The biggest mistake that most managers make with delegation, is not to give any feedback. Always check the work you delegated when it’s complete (or at set milestones if that is what you agreed), make sure they did it to the standard you expected. Give them feedback – either to congratulate them on a job well done, or to help them to improve for next time.
Step 7 Say thank you
Publicly if it’s appropriate; recognising specific things that they did well; showcasing to the rest of the team what good performance looks like.
Do one thing: Download our Delegation Worksheet to support you. It’s a simple template that keeps you on top of who you’ve delegated work to, the results that have been achieved, and serves as a good reminder of agreed deadlines.
NB Team Development is step 4 of a 9 step roadmap that we lead our clients along, to build the business-critical systems that will make their business sale-ready, and free them from their day to day operation.
*download
