Righttrack Whispers:

How to Delegate Effectively

Righttrack's Steve McManus looks at the seven essentials for effective delegation

How many times do you hear people citing the old adage: "if you want something doing properly, do it yourself"? With today’s businesses being further pushed to achieve more with less, how well can that really hold true. Surely there is only so much one person can do.

Throughout my time as a trainer I have often heard people talking about how they have asked a team member to do something, only to feel let down and disappointed as these are not done to their requirement or standards. Consequently, they end up re-doing the task themselves and inevitably working late to complete everything that needs doing. Does this in anyway sound familiar?

I am left feeling that all of this anecdotal evidence surely cannot truly point at a massive lack of capability or desire to achieve from those team members. After all, they are managing to hold down a job, let alone the other countless roles they play within their lives. There must be something going wrong with the delegation process somewhere. I remember working for a manager, more years ago than I would like to admit, who would often ask me to do a certain piece of work. I would dutifully go about the task, hoping to get some praise and recognition for a job well done. Unfortunately, it would very rarely turn out this way. Often I would be met with a statement such as "Hmm, that is not quite what I had in mind, take it away and try this …" Tail between legs and a little down hearted I would walk away and try my best again to deliver what they were looking for.

I think the problem is that there is a world of difference between allocating routine work which needs little explanation and effectively delegating a specific and unique task to someone. The issue is the same approach is used in both circumstances i.e.: ‘you just tell’um to do it!’.

If we are to delegate for an effective outcome then there are a key number of issues that need to be considered, before we just ‘tell them’. Below are seven considerations that you should think about before actually delegating whether it is upwards, sideways or to one of the team.

Delegation – Seven Essentials

1. The Reasons for delegating
These could be for a number to different reasons, from helping to develop the skills and abilities of a team member to making use of their particular talents. These reasons for delegating the task should be clearly communicated to the individual. So, ‘because I hate doing it’ might not be considered motivational, let alone acceptable.
We also need think about:
Does the person have time to do it?
Do they have the required knowledge, skills and ability?
How will others respond to them taking on the task?
Would they welcome /accept the responsibility?

2. Expected Results
If you cannot clearly define what it is you are looking for, the chances of them achieving anything close to what you want are slim. This is where clear objective setting is essential. These objectives make it clearly describe the required outcomes. Remember to make sure the objectives are SMART:

Specific – and unambiguous
Measurable – achievement can be measured
Achievable – who wants to set off on an unachievable task?
Relevant – the deliverables are aimed at supporting the overall function of the team
Timed – you are clear of the deadline required

3. Resource Requirements
The required resources including people, information and equipment need to be made available. A discussion with the individuals as part of the delegation process should aim to check that you both agree on this issue.

4. Deadline for Completion
This should be solid and finite, avoid requests such as – by next week, as soon as possible or when you get time.

5. Communication Requirements
What are the requirements for both you and the individual in terms of communication while the task is being done?

6. Monitoring Process
How are you going to monitor progress? This should be agreed between both parties. Someone with less experience is probably going to want to have closer monitoring than a very experienced member of the team that may interpret this as micro-management.

7. Support Required A discussion as part of the delegation process should focus on any support the individual may feel they need.

This framework should provide you with enough prompts to think through your delegation properly. Like so many things, the key to success with delegation is in the preparation. Spend some time thinking about how you are going to delegate and use the framework to shape your thinking.

If you would like to check how good you really are when it comes to delegation, try completing the questionnaire below:

For each of the following statements choose whether you Never, Sometimes or Always do it when delegating.

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