Delegating is a skill that will serve you well as a manager and one that many struggle to master. Not only does successfully delegating tasks demonstrate confidence in your team, but it can help you achieve better results and avoid burnout from trying to complete everything yourself. These tips can help you sharpen your skills:
Shift your mindset
Focus on the success of your team as a whole rather than the success of individual members or deliverables. It’s valuable to have quick and accurate results but allowing your team time to learn is also valuable. Making time for learning/coaching will ultimately make the team more efficient, help them be more knowledgeable about projects from start to finish, and keep you from taking on more work than you can handle.
Assess the tasks that need to be completed
To assess which tasks can be delegated, ask these three questions:
- Which tasks are ones that only I can complete?
- Which tasks would offer a valuable learning/teaching opportunity if delegated to another team member?
- Which tasks are well-suited to another team member’s strengths?
Try to be honest with yourself about which tasks will keep you from addressing parts of the project only you can complete. Depending on the project, you may have to delegate something you excel at or enjoy in favor of the team’s progress. There may also be tasks that you want your team to be able to help with more in the future—take advantage of these learning opportunities to set everyone up for success.
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your team
Spending time face-to-face with your team can help you collaborate better and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Consider having your team rank their own abilities or do a skills assessment as a team-building opportunity. When you have a good understanding of their strengths, look ahead and think through which skills your team may need to sharpen in preparation for upcoming projects.
Establish clear expectations
Be specific with the scope of each task, when it should be completed, and what information might be needed to complete it. If it’s a task your employee has never done before, regular check-ins may be required to ensure they have the support they need. Make sure they know your door is open if they’re facing issues or have a question. You may also need to communicate with other stakeholders or teams, so they know you’ve designated your employee as the point person. Taking the extra time to keep everyone on the same page will help prevent future confusion.
Balance support and autonomy
The best managers have a sense of when to offer extra support and when to give their employees space to work and learn on their own. How do you find that balance? Take a moment to assess both the motivation of your employees for a specific task and their knowledge of that task. Employees with high motivation and high knowledge are likely to be more self-sufficient while those with low knowledge may need dedicated training and those with low motivation may need more coaching to encourage them.
Be realistic
Delegating is a difficult skill to learn, and it won’t always yield perfect results. When assigning work to your team, try to give them time to understand a new project and how they want to proceed. Be prepared to address issues as they arise and plan to have regular progress updates and a final debrief for big projects. Being honest with yourself and with your team on what worked well or needs improvement will go a long way.