How can you clearly communicate expectations and goals when delegating?

The best way to delegate clearly is to clearly assess the skill set of the person you delegate to. Take the time to be clear in your communication and outcome need. Do it wherever possible face to face so that you can assess all communication cues. Create the work with them- give them a need for the goal and context. If they need training to achieve then provide that. Remember that in order to learn we need at least three goes round of a new skill. Assume you may not communicate well. Assume they may need upskilling with how to listen. Check their workload - is it reasonable to ask? If not what do they need support with to get the job done. Build independent working practice not pragmatic dependence.

A leader named Maya embarked on a heroic journey to master the art of communication. First trial: Maya encountered a treacherous maze, representing the confusion caused by unclear instructions. Determined, she learned the importance of concise communication. Next trial: Maya dove into the depths of a raging river, symbolizing the potential damage to relationships caused by micromanagement. She navigated the currents, realizing that trust and respect were nurtured through open dialogue. Final test: She ventured to the summit of a tall mountain. There, she discovered the power of aligning tasks with goals to harness the full potential of the team. Maya's journey reminded all that communication is the true foundation of successful delegation.

In my experience, I've seen that if everyone understand the goal and what impact it will have makes for better collaboration and delegation of tasks. If necessary, keep the goal written out front and center so it's fresh on people's minds. Equally important for everyone working together is trust and open communication with delegator.

Based off my experience, I agree that clear and well thought out communication is crucial when completing a task that requires multiple team members to complete a task. While everything stated above in "Why Communication Matters" is absolutely relevant to me as a leader you can't have that conversation with your team and start assigning tasks, etc. if you can't clearly define what success is. For me, defining what success is may be the single most important step. How can you delegate your resources properly or expect the team to understand your expectations if nobody can clearly say this is success or this is winning. Once you know that, delegating tasks to teammates strengths becomes much easier and removes ambiguity in your message

It's not all about tasks: you can delegate at a higher level and manage by objectives. In this case, be prepared to adopt more of a coaching role and support your colleague to realise their own project.

In my experience, I must remember a key difference between assignment (close supervision) and delegation (monitoring) is the ownership of the responsible action, so we need to establish a way to assist without doing the action, coaching for growth, and empowering for success. Simply put, adding all the context that you personally use when you are deciding how to handle the said task that you are now not doing, but someone else on your behalf. Finally, and most importantly, the person you delegate to has to be given similar authority to you, just as if you were doing it yourself.

The PAT method makes delegation simple: Purpose: the purpose of the task is... Action: what done looks like... Timeline: this needs to be completed by...

Agree with all of the above: it is key to get buy-in. You can make a SMART objective, but if the recipient doesn't buy into it, it won't end well.

Once you have defined success, a good leader understands their teams strengths and weakness. I like to have discussions with individual team members in private allowing teammates to feel more comfortable to speak and communicate what they like, don't like or don't understand. For me, I need everyone to be on the same page of this fails. By defining success I can now tie that into how their task contributes to that success, the need to emphasize the goal and how their task contributes to the bigger big picture is already answered when assigning the task as I have already defined success and why each teammates task is critical to the overall success. This makes the team feel like a team, driving to a common goal.

It is important to convey your confidence in the team member when going over the expectations of the task. Making them feel empowered and capable of completing the task goes a long way.

Ask for feedback but be sure you listen carefully to the responses. Written communication is equally if not more important than verbal communication. If you aren’t confident in your writing skills, practice and find someone you trust to be honest and edit your work. The ability to follow up verbal delegations with written clarification is critical. You can’t have one without the other.

When it comes to delegating, it’s important to be crystal clear with expectations and goals. Keep it simple and straightforward. encourage your team to ask questions and share their thoughts. Delegation isn’t just about talking, it’s about listening too. That way, everyone’s on the same page

It is always useful to give some examples from one's past where delegation worked and where it did not and what the learning was from it. That usually strikes a chord versus just talking theory. Also making sure they understand that it is OK to come and ask for clarifications as doubts or challenges will arise as they start on the project. And not feel intimidated by the pressure to get it all done without check-ins.

Make sure your team can repeat back to you what has been delegated to them. It may sound silly but I’ve always found it to be effective. Ask them - “are we clear?” If it is not clear, you’ve failed in communicating the task.