Delegate: Help People Grow

Q. I’m getting buried in my work. My boss says I should delegate more but I have only a few people reporting to me —and they’re overloaded, too. Any tips to for delegating? —Simon F.

A. Delegation is critical to getting things done—and helping everyone be more productive. If you can’t delegate some of your work, plan on staying in your job for a long time, because you’ve made yourself “indispensable.” You can’t move up, because there’s no one trained to do your job. It’s also likely that many people around you also feel a little stagnant, because there’s little variety or challenge in their work. Good delegation from you can be a fresh experience for people who want more variety in their work, or want to feel more empowered.

First: Let Go

To delegate well, and help people empower themselves, you have to let go. Develop an inner conviction that other people can often help you—and many are willing—you just have to ask. But delegation isn’t dumping. You can’t save all the interesting jobs for yourself and expect people to be enthusiastic when you ask them to do only what you don’t like to do. Try using some of these delegation techniques—and watch your success improve:

Get tasks started ahead of deadlines. Don’t wait until the week beforesomething is due and expect someone to take it off your hands—especially when they know it’s been sitting on your desk for three weeks. That’s like waiting until the week before a term paper is due, and working long into the night to get it done. That may work in college, but it’s a poor way to work in business. Stephen Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) says a better work model is the farm: The farmer has to feed and care for the animals every day—not work for a few days and then skip a few. Cows have to be milked and fed every day. Delegating has to be a way of business life—a little every day. That way your people expect you to rely on them and to share your workload.

Consider the person’s background and skills. Take time to pick the right person for the right task. Focus on each person’s strengths. And don’t rely just on a person’s job description. It’s important to fit the job to the person—not the person to the job.

Check their readiness for, and attitude towards, the tasks you want to delegate. If they can’t handle it, or feel negative toward it, you’ve got an uphill battle. Try this:

“Betty, I need your help with a project and it’s a little different from what you’ve been doing. I’m confident you can handle it, and it’ll expand your experience and skills. Is that something you’d like to consider?”

Set realistic time schedules. If the deadline isn’t practical, with time built in for unexpected delays, the person will fail, and further delegation won’t work well, because the employee will worry that you’re again setting him or her up for failure.

Make the assignment specific and clear, and confirm their understanding of it: “Just to be sure I’ve been clear, Bob, would you mind telling me how you see this project being done?”

Assign tasks that are challenging—that let people use their skills freely—but where success is still likely.

Encourage their participation in the delegation. Ask people how they think the job should be done.

Explain why the project is necessary— to help them take ownership of it: “Joan, we need this job finished by Friday to stop the production errors that are eating up our profits.”

Give positive feedback on the job’s progress and how well the job was done.

Clarify ahead of time:

• What do you want the person to do? (Give clear RESPONSIBILITY.)

• What AUTHORITY does the person need to do the task?

• How can you keep track of the job? (ACCOUNTABILITY)

Keep a delegation log for tracking. You need only four headings:

• Task Delegated

• Results Expected

• Who’s Doing It

• Deadline

As you use these techniques, use a positive, participative approach; treat the other person as your partner.