How do you get your team to accept delegated tasks?

1 Know your team

Before you delegate, you need to know your team's strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and motivations. This will help you assign tasks that match their skills, interests, and goals, and avoid overloading or underutilizing them. You can use various tools and methods to assess your team's capabilities and personalities, such as feedback surveys, performance reviews, psychometric tests, or simply having regular conversations with them.

2 Communicate clearly

When you delegate, you need to communicate clearly what you expect from your team, why you are delegating, and how you will support them. You should also explain the benefits and value of the task, both for the project and for their personal development. You should avoid micromanaging or dictating how they should do the task, but instead give them the autonomy and flexibility to use their own methods and creativity. You should also establish clear deadlines, milestones, and deliverables, and agree on how you will monitor and evaluate their progress.

3 Provide resources and guidance

Delegating does not mean dumping or abandoning your team. You still have the responsibility to provide them with the necessary resources and guidance to complete the task. This may include tools, materials, information, training, coaching, feedback, or mentoring. You should also be available and accessible for any questions, issues, or support they may need along the way. You should also encourage and acknowledge their efforts and achievements, and celebrate their successes.

4 Delegate with trust and respect

One of the main reasons why team members may resist or resent delegation is because they feel that you do not trust or respect them. To avoid this, you need to delegate with trust and respect, and show that you value their contribution and potential. You should avoid delegating only the boring, tedious, or low-priority tasks, but instead delegate meaningful, challenging, and rewarding tasks that can help them grow and learn. You should also avoid interfering, criticizing, or taking over their work, but instead respect their decisions and opinions, and give them constructive feedback.

5 Learn from feedback and experience

Delegation is not a one-time event, but a continuous process that requires constant learning and improvement. You should always seek feedback from your team and yourself on how the delegation went, what worked well, what did not, and what can be done better next time. You should also reflect on your own experience and skills as a delegator, and identify your strengths and areas for development. You should also apply the lessons learned from each delegation to improve your future delegations and enhance your team's performance and satisfaction.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?