Delegation for people leaders

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"Master the art of delegation and you'll foster a team full of leaders."

Picture this: you're a manager with a talented team and the potential to make a huge impact on the organization. You've tried delegating tasks to help with the workload and empower your team, but it's just turned into more work for you and less growth for your team.

That might be because you're delegating tasks with a one size fits all approach--not strategically delegating responsibility.

Effective delegation can empower team members, develop their skills, increase productivity, and increase team sentiment. However, delegation can be a challenging task for many managers. So, if you're struggling with this, you're not alone. This article will share strategies to effectively delegate responsibility to your team members.

Six pillars of delegating responsibility:

1?? Identify the tasks to delegate: Use your favorite goal-setting framework for this task. The responsibilities you delegate should be appropriate for the individual's skills, abilities, and experience. Delegating too much too soon can overwhelm team members while delegating too little can lead to underutilization of talent. More on this in pillar two.

2?? Select the right team members: This involves considering their experience, expertise, and strengths. Delegating tasks to the wrong team member can lead to poor results, low morale, and a loss of trust between you and your team. ?? Leveraging a situational delegation matrix can provide you with clarity. ?? Note - Where your team members fall within this matrix can change over time--it's important to revisit this regularly and update it for yourself.

3?? Communicate clearly: Communicate your expectations clearly to your team when delegating. This involves setting goals, defining the scope of the task, and specifying deadlines. Clear communication can help team members understand what is expected of them and reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings. Consider creating a standard process of documentation around delegation for your team. Then, talk with each individual to understand what additional communication expectations they may have or need to succeed. Get comfortable flexing to the needs of your team.

4?? Provide support: This can include providing resources, answering questions, and offering guidance when needed.

Support can help team members feel valued and empowered. ?? Leverage the collaborative delegation model to categorize what level of support you provide per individual, per responsibility.

5?? Monitor progress: Monitor the progress of your team members as they work on delegated tasks. This involves checking in regularly, providing feedback, and making adjustments as needed. Monitoring progress can help you ensure that tasks are completed on time and to the desired standard. ?? Note - Discuss with each individual what you each want this to look like. For example, some folks will need more frequent check-ins or prefer written feedback ahead of live one-on-one discussions.

6?? Recognize and reward success: Recognize and reward team members for the successful completion of delegated tasks and responsibilities. This can include offering public praise, bonuses, or career advancement opportunities. Recognizing and rewarding success can motivate team members and reinforce positive behavior. ?? Note - Not everyone is motivated by the same types of praise. Ask your team members how they like to be recognized and what their goals are.

Five common biases that affect delegation:

None of us are immune to biases--everyone experiences them. Great leaders work to recognize biases and actively work to avoid them. Do this and your initiatives will be more equitable and innovative than ever before.

There are several biases that can influence the decision-making process. These biases can affect how you assign tasks, select team members, and evaluate performance.

?? Confirmation bias: You may have preconceived ideas about who your team members are--this might be based on past mistakes or behaviors. Rather than develop a new understanding of team members, you may be susceptible to confirmation bias. This suggests the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of your existing beliefs or theories. Thus, only delegating to the same people using outdated evidence. To avoid this bias, dig deeper for facts, use neutral language, and discuss new opportunities with team members based on their goals.

?? Halo effect: The halo effect occurs when managers overemphasize the positive qualities of team members and overlook their weaknesses. This can lead to the over-delegation of tasks to a few star performers, while others may be underutilized. To avoid this bias, evaluate team members based on their performance in specific tasks rather than general impressions.

???? Self-serving bias: You may be less likely to delegate tasks that you find enjoyable or challenging, while avoiding tasks you find tedious or uninteresting. This can lead to a self-serving bias, where you delegate tasks that benefit your career goals rather than the team's goals. To avoid this bias, prioritize responsibilities based on their importance to the team and the organization.

?? Similar-to-me bias: You may be more likely to delegate tasks to team members who are similar to you in terms of gender, race, age, experience, personality, or other demographic factors. This can lead to a lack of diversity in task assignments, which can limit the team's potential for innovation and growth. To avoid this bias, delegate tasks based on the team member's skills and abilities, rather than demographic factors. Be sure to always consider the individual's career goals as well.

? Availability bias: You may be more likely to delegate tasks to team members who are readily available, rather than considering the best fit for the task. This can lead to overloading team members who are always available while underutilizing those who are less available. To avoid this bias, consider the workload and availability of all team members before delegating tasks. And most importantly, avoid assumptions! Maintain open dialogue with all team members to get a better idea of what they can take on and/or trade off.

Create a checklist with these common biases as reminders and review it often. The goal is to delegate objectively, fairly, and effectively. The result is a strong, productive, high-achieving team.

How do you approach delegating responsibility? Why??I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Stay tuned for next week’s article. In the meantime, find more quick tips and inspiration from me on social:

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