Before you delegate, do this first ...

"I'm too busy".

"I just don't have the time."

"I've so much work on."

"I'm swamped!"

If you're in a leadership position and these phrases sound a little too familiar, you need to delegate. I know you might say, It's quicker if I do it myself, or, It needs to be done to a particular standard of quality, and all of this might be true; however, if you can't delegate your work effectively you will be the person who ends up working 80 hour weeks and with no life outside of work.? You will also create a ceiling for yourself in terms of how much work your team can get through simply because you're the bottleneck. Now, that might be fine for you, if that's what you choose. BUT! If you're looking a way of increasing your collective team's output, consciously contributing to their professional growth, developing your skills as a leader, and building a high-performing team, then you must delegate. But do this first ...

Step 1

Get a blank piece of paper (or a dedicated page in a notebook) and keep it with you every minute of every working day. Then simply write down everything that takes up your time. It's best to do this in 15 minute incrementals for smaller tasks and 1 hour blocks for larger tasks or meetings. Write down a clear description of the task. Be disciplined with this because it will give you a fact based view of how busy you actually are and where your time goes.

Step 2

At the end of the week, take another piece of paper and draw a line down the middle of it. On the top left-hand side of the page, write, "Only the things I can do ...". On the top right of the page, write, "Everything else ...".

Step 3

Transfer everything from your weekly recording sheet to either the left or right-hand side of the page. Now, be brutally honest with yourself. The items on the left-hand side have to be strictly only the things you can do; for example, there might be a delegated financial authority associated with the task, or it might be specific sign-offs like timesheet approval, or perhaps there's a meeting that you chair that can't be delegated. Everything else goes on the right-hand side. If you're thinking, Well, I should be able to delegate this task but my team doesn't have the capability to do it yet. That's okay, over it goes. What about if your team is already at peak capacity? It doesn't matter, over it goes. Just because we put it on the right-hand side doesn't mean that we have to delegate it but that we could.

There are always going to be constraints but don't worry. Let's move onto Steps 4 and 5 to see how we can overcome these.

Step 4

Apply the XDS strategy. Here's how it works ...

Go through each item on the right-hand side and put either a D, an X, or an S next to the entry.

D - Delegate! Not that you will delegate it, but that you could.

X - Cut! You might realise that this task or meeting is no longer adding the value that it used to, or it's obsolete. Cut it. Remove it from your week.

S - Systematise! Ask yourself how you can systematise this task so it gets done in the background. Is there a process you can set up so the task looks after itself? For example, I've systematised my calendar scheduling and rescheduling through an automation tool and my clients love it! No longer do I have to spend time trying to set appointments or reschedule meetings, it all happens in the background and saves me sooooo much time. In fact, if you'd like to meet for a coffee to talk about your coaching needs or team training needs, why not give it a go ?

Step 5

Take action on the XDS strategy. Inform the relevant people of your decisions and put your systems or processes in place.

If you find that your team isn't yet ready to take on some delegated tasks then it is useful to put a plan in place to help grow their capability in this area. If they can do a task but it takes longer, give them plenty of time to complete it. Your job might just be to peer review what they've done, helping them grow and saving you time!

Step 6

Practice the essential leadership skills that compliment delegation:

• Self-awareness (what's preventing you from delegating?)
• Coaching (growing your team's capability)
• Feedback (course correcting as required)

You can access this strategy for delegating more effectively in more detail and many more tools for building a high performing team in my new book 'Now, Lead Others' .

If you're interested in hearing more tips about how you can Unleash Your Potential or that of your team, please feel free to subscribe below or drop me a note . I'm always happy to share ideas and help where I can.