Best leaders are known to be masters at delegation. They share authority and responsibility with their team members and they also know how to empower their team to get work done.
Delegation is assigning tasks or authority to others within a team or organization. It involves entrusting someone else with specific responsibilities or decision-making power, empowering them to contribute to the overall goals and objectives.
In short, delegation helps members of the team grow, develop their abilities, and acquire new skills that make them more valuable to an organization. Aside from these reasons, when a leader knows how to delegate, it also increases the organization’s efficiency. As delegation is one of the keys to leadership success and to cultivating high-performing teams, let us give you tips on how to delegate work as a leader.Â
How to delegate work as a leader the right way
Leaders themselves provide these tips on how to delegate effectively. Let’s get to know these tips one by one.Â
Figure out what you’d rather not do
One tip on how to delegate work as a leader is to identify what task (s) to delegate. Everyone doesn’t enjoy every task equally, so if there are any you consistently avoid because you don’t enjoy them or you’re not an expert on doing them, you might want to assign them to someone who does.
Knowing when to delegate work is crucial for effective leadership and team management. It’s appropriate when you’re overloaded, need specialized skills, want to provide development opportunities, face time-sensitive deadlines, aim to focus on core responsibilities, seek to build trust, or maintain a work-life balance. Delegating strategically optimizes productivity and fosters growth within the team.
As a business owner, there are some things you could discover that others are better at and enjoy doing. Make those chores your top priorities for delegation if you don’t like keeping track of inventory or updating social media but have been doing so since no one else was accessible.
Alex Spinoso, CEO at Genesis Lifestyle Medicine
Choose the right person for the job
One of the best ways on how to delegate work as a leader is by choosing the right person for the job. Effective delegation requires that a leader pass the reins to the appropriate team member. because a leader’s objective is to establish an environment that benefits the team, the business, and the employee.
Several factors hinder effective task delegation, including perfectionism, lack of trust, micromanagement tendencies, time constraints, fear of losing control, insecurity, past negative experiences, communication challenges, desire for sole recognition, and workload mismanagement. Overcoming these barriers involves improving communication, building trust, developing delegation skills, and fostering a collaborative mindset focused on shared success.
Consider the abilities, openness to learning, working preferences, and interests of the team members. If the individual you assigned the task to is competent, coachable, and motivated, they will be able to do it more successfully.
Jonathan Merry, Director at Bankless Times
Provide adequate instructions and guidance
When you delegate work, it’s important to provide clear instructions and guidance. Managers ensure the success of delegated work through clear communication, task-skill matching, resource provision, goal-setting, progress monitoring, autonomy encouragement, accountability establishment, recognition, feedback, and continuous process evaluation.
When delegating work, focus on clear communication, task-skill alignment, resource provision, autonomy encouragement, accountability, feedback, and recognition. These aspects ensure clarity, skill utilization, empowerment, and successful completion, fostering team effectiveness. These strategies empower teams to complete tasks successfully.
Don’t just dump a project on someone’s plate and expect them to figure it out on their own. Take the time to provide adequate guidance so that they know exactly what needs to be done and how you expect it to be done.
Sam Shepler of Testimonial Hero
Have a strong communication
The success of the projects you assign depends entirely on open, straightforward communication from the first. Managers prioritize communication and feedback by setting clear expectations, encouraging two-way communication, providing timely feedback, and fostering openness. These strategies ensure effective task completion and support team members within concise communication channels.
Writing everything down or giving individuals a template or set of instructions for the project can be useful; the more direction you give them, the more likely it is that they will deliver what you need. Indeed, this is one way on how to delegate work as a leader.
Amar Vig, Managing Director at London-fs
Invest in training
There may be tasks that no one else on your team can perform. Some managers believe that this implies they cannot delegate work. However, depending on your goals, it is often preferable to teach team members how to perform the tasks to handle them in the future. Training requires time, so it is tempting to do it independently. However, consider training investment in your team members and in yourself. You will eventually recover the time invested in training because the individual will be able to work.
As part of teaching someone how to perform a task, it is necessary to give them space to solve challenges rather than offer an instant solution. If the team member performing the work encounters a roadblock, ask them how they believe it can be overcome. Instead of offering solutions, consider asking the other person for suggestions to assist them in developing their own decision-making abilities and guide them to the correct response.
Scott O’Brien, Head Of Sales at PPC Ad Lab
Set deadlines and benchmarks for follow-up
I believe that simply assigning work and expecting no further participation is not an effective way on how to delegate work as a leader. Always plan to review interim milestones and pay close attention to any indicators of progress or difficulties. In this region, multitasking and management by wandering about are highly profitable.
Kenny Kline, President & Financial Lead of BarBend
Trust your team
If you don’t trust the person you are delegating to, to deliver the work, then you won’t give them a chance to show what they are capable of. This can then lead some leaders to micro-manage projects, which only serves to slow your team down, as they are having to distract their focus in order to answer your questions. People can also sense when they aren’t trusted, and it will lower their confidence, and their morale and they won’t end up working to the best of their abilities. Trusting your team and letting them know that you trust them can make a huge difference.
Max Coupland, Director of CoinJournal
Articulate the desired outcome
Make certain the employee knows exactly what you want them to do. Make sure that your directions are followed by asking questions, checking on the work that is being done, or having the employee provide you feedback. Nobody wants to act improperly or see their efforts and contributions go in vain. Therefore, make sure that you and the employee understand the goals and expected results for each assignment that you assign.
Jake Cowans, Founder & Chief Customer Officer CompanyScouts
Hold the person accountable for the job
Holding your employees accountable from the beginning of their job is important if you’re looking to delegate important tasks to relatively newer employees, make sure they have previously assumed full responsibility and accountability in the opportunities given to them. An employee who’s unresponsive and doesn’t answer your emails on time can’t be trusted with delegating any important task. This process should be initiated from the time of onboarding employees. If you start giving them responsibilities to fulfill, they’ll instantly turn out to be your trusted lieutenant.
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Mike Walsh, CEO of Cloud My Biz
Provide feedback
One way on how to delegate work as a leader is to provide feedback. Be very specific about your goals, timeline, risks, rewards, and consequences. Every single thing needs to be laid out and don’t let the details drop at any step. Provide instant feedback on every phase. This makes everyone’s job easier and easier and leaves very little space for mistakes.
Andreas Grant, Network Security Engineer and Founder of Networks Hardware
Provide adequate resources
Although you will eventually have less to do because of delegation, you should be ready to take more time out of your schedule in the beginning and respond to numerous inquiries. Be patient; things will get simpler as you figure out how your team functions best and as they understand your expectations.
Additionally, keep in mind that errors will occur. Be understanding, but also, deal with issues as they arise so that your team members may take what they learned and move on.
Steve Pogson, Founder & E-commerce Strategy Lead at First Pier
State the reason for your delegation
One of the best ways on how to delegate work as a leader is to provide the context for why you are giving them the responsibility. It will help them understand the delegated tasks’ importance and urgency. They will perform it with more seriousness and get the job done in a timely manner.
It’s also crucial to give credit where it’s due and acknowledge their hard work once the task is completed. This not only helps maintain a positive workspace but also fosters collaboration and boosts motivation for continued performance. Plus, it helps build trust among team members and promotes professional development.
So, don’t forget to credit your team members and watch as it strengthens overall team dynamics, driving productivity and mutual respect!
Joshua Rich, CEO and Founder of Bullseyelocations
Observe the outcomes
Instead of focusing on the specifics of how the task should be performed, focus on the results: Your method is not necessarily unique or even the best! Allow the individual to manage their own procedures and approaches. This promotes achievement and confidence.
Syed Umair, Marketing Team Lead at Inyouths
Have regular check-ins for ongoing tasks
This is to help with accountability, but also to assist them along the way with any changes that may occur, or questions that could arise. Generally, I suggest doing check-ins or meetings for key stages of a project or task from draft/demos, progress stages, and completion. Final reviews and feedback can sometimes be useful as well if it is a task that will be performed on a regular basis – such as working with multiple clients.
Kelly Ashlen, Founder/CEO at Sexsi Toys
Start a meaningful conversation
You need to invite questions and be open to suggestions while delegating work. The conversations with the employees should be focused on making them feel like a stakeholder. Your team should take complete ownership of the work that has been delegated to them.
Chris Nddie, Co-Owner & Marketing Director at ClothingRIC
Tips for Delegating Tasks
Here are ten tips for delegating work effectively:
- Understand strengths and weaknesses: Know your team members’ ability to delegate tasks appropriately.
- Set clear expectations: Communicate the delegated tasks’ objectives, deadlines, and desired outcomes.
- Provide necessary resources: Make sure that the essential tools, information, and assistance are available to team members to accomplish their tasks.
- Delegate tasks, not just work: Break down projects into smaller tasks and assign them based on individuals’ strengths and workload capacity.
- Communicate openly: Ensure that there are clear channels of communication to address any inquiries or worries that team members might have about the tasks assigned to them.
- Establish accountability: Set milestones or checkpoints to track progress and ensure accountability for delegated tasks.
- Encourage autonomy: Trust your team members to take ownership of their delegated tasks and encourage them to find their solutions to challenges.
- Provide feedback: Offer constructive feedback and guidance throughout the task to help team members improve and grow.
- Recognize achievements: Acknowledge and celebrate the completion of delegated tasks to motivate and inspire your team.
- Evaluate and adjust: Make it a habit to regularly assess the efficacy of your delegation procedure and make necessary revisions to enhance your team’s performance and efficiency.
Takeaways
Leaders’ time is freed up when they learn to delegate effectively— they can work on priorities that are crucial to moving their business forward. Ultimately, it also empowers employees and improves their morale. Although delegation is not easy, the better you become at assigning the right team member with the right tasks, the more effective you become as a leader.
We hope that the tips we provided on how to delegate work as a leader will help you cultivate a high-performing team and improves your organization’s efficiency.
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