Delegate Effectively

Thursday, September 28 2023

“Leadership,” says Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Facebook, “is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” Learning to delegate effectively is one of the best ways to accomplish Sandberg’s leadership objective.  Delegation is not only a process of doling out tasks and projects to others. Delegating also is an ideal tool for developing individuals as well as improving the capacity and productivity of the organization.

Effective delegation changes our leadership perspective from monitoring tasks to coaching employees to succeed in their roles. It engages them as responsible partners in tasks, projects and objectives rather than simply as pieces of human machinery in the business. Delegating effectively opens communication flow, supporting creativity and problem solving throughout the organization.

Ways to Delegate Effectively

An effectively delegated assignment creates a “contract” between the leader and the individual or team with clear agreement on the following:

  1. Specific and measurable results.
  2. How the individual or team is responsible and accountable for producing the required results.
  3. Deadlines.
  4. Delegation of authority.  This can range from “check before acting” to “full authority to act”.
  5. Performance and feedback check-ins and reporting protocols.
  6. A description of each role, including the delegator’s.
  7. Access to additional guidance and/or resources that may be needed.
  8. What should the individual or team stop doing or delegate to others in order to free up the time to take on the new priority?

In the beginning, the delegation contract will feel awkward and occupy a lot of time. because the rush and pressure of time commitments will tempt leaders to cut corners through some of these steps or to assume that the instructions are implied and understood.  This is a false perception that leads to failure and when that happens it is human nature to blame the one who received the assignment rather than to examine the quality of the initial instructions.  Failures in delegation are usually the result of lack of understanding about one or more of the contact terms.

Investing the time to delegate effectively increases personal and team performance because delegating effectively improves communications, builds skills and competency, and increases employee engagement and commitment. Effective delegation makes others better and ensures that even when you are absent your leadership impact is still present.

For ideas on how to delegate effectively, contact TAC. Follow TAC on any of these platforms:

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