Everybody in a leadership role knows the importance of delegation. If you’re doing everyone else’s work, you’re not doing your own. Plus, well thought out delegation is a surefire way to develop your people. You need to give them a chance to try new things and grow professionally.
From a purely self-interested perspective, effective delegation gives you a chance to recover, work reasonable hours and get to your kids’ sports games.
If the benefits of delegation are so well understood, why is this the topic of so much of my coaching? Why do leaders report that delegation is such a challenge for them?
Maybe you’ve heard these explanations (or given them yourself):
I just don’t have enough high performers on my team. I can’t count on them to deliver without a lot of hand-holding.
It’s more efficient to do it myself than it is to teach someone else.
I have high standards, maybe even a perfectionist. No one else will do it right.
I’m so busy, so overwhelmed, that I haven’t taken the time to figure out what to give to whom.
I don’t have anyone to delegate to.
Do any of those reasons not to delegate sound familiar?
A few years ago, one of my coaching clients was buried in projects. She’d get in to work before 7 am and often stay late into the evening. One day I walked into her office for our session. She looked up at me and promptly burst into tears. After we got past my immediate reaction that I’d caused her to cry, she shared her feelings of complete overwhelm, frustration and possible burn out.
Up till then, whenever we’d talk about the possibility of delegating some of her work, she’d offered one or more of the reasons not to delegate. I guess this time she’d hit bottom.
I asked, “Do you want to reschedule our meeting or do you want to figure this out?”
She decided to see if we could figure it out. Interestingly, the trick turned out to be identifying a set of clear criteria for the work she needed to personally manage and what she could delegate. She’d been so busy doing everything herself that she hadn’t stepped back and thought through her implicit rules for what to delegate.
While your criteria may be different than hers, these were the questions she came up with:
How time sensitive is the action? If it’s urgent, it really may be more efficient to do it yourself. This time.
What is the margin of acceptable error? Some things do need to be perfect. Knowing in advance what mistakes are tolerable will relieve your anxiety and help you decide if you can take the risk.
How visible and/or politically sensitive is this? Some actions require experience and good judgment that not everyone possesses.
Do you have someone with the necessary skills? If not, do it yourself but build capacity for next time.
Is the action specifically directed at you? Maybe your boss asked you personally to handle something. Go ahead and take the lead but find someone to partner with on this action.
What could be the consequences to your reputation? Are you willing to own the result even if it doesn’t meet your standard?
Using these questions as a guide, we identified what actions she needed to hold onto. The rest she was willing to delegate. We then did an inventory of each of her people for their suitability to accept delegated assignments partially, fully, or with support.
When I arrived for our next coaching session, she greeted me with a smile, looking relaxed and rested. I asked, “What happened?” She said she’d delegated everything she was able to and she was now getting home in time to have dinner with her kids. Obviously, this is not a magic solution. It was, however, very helpful for her to clarify what she was willing to delegate and then actually do it.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed like my client, take a walk to clear your mind. Then come back and make that list of delegation criteria. Even if you don’t have people reporting to you, there are plenty of ways to offload some of the things that aren’t high value for you.
What are your delegation tips and tricks? Please leave a comment.
Did you find this post useful? If so, you might be interested in attending my online leadership program, Grow to Lead, or sponsoring people on your team. It’s full of practical leadership guidance like this. Check out the Grow to Lead Application & Description or contact me for more information. The program launches on November 3, 2022.
Edited from original published on March 19, 2017