How to Delegate Effectively

Have you ever felt frustrated with an employee who didn’t do exactly what you asked? Have you ever thought that maybe it was your delegation that was the problem, not the employee? No? Think about that for a moment. What if it’s you, not them!??

As you can imagine, there are some negative things that can happen in your business if you do not learn to delegate effectively. Most obviously the tasks might not get completed at all or if it does get done it may not be done the way you would have liked. The most severe consequence of ineffective delegation is the risk of low employee engagement which leads to low staff retention.?

So how do we delegate effectively??

DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY WITH CLEAR EXPECTATIONS

You MUST give the employee VERY clear expectations. They are responsible for the task and so they need to be very clear on the expectations, not just you. The task is in your head and the instructions or request is coming from you. You obviously understand what you want to be done! One of the markers of effective delegation is that the receiving person is clear on the expectations. I always say clarity is kindness. Have them tell you in their own words what you have asked of them. If they’ve nailed it when they parrot back to you, great job! You communicated your expectations clearly.?

If your employee is still unclear about the expectations, there may be a communication issue. You have to remember, not everyone learns in the same way you do! To delegate effectively, share, teach, and instruct in THEIR preferred learning style! They might learn best through reading, writing, watching, doing, listening, or something else. Just ask! Remember, questions are your superpower!

DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY WITH CLEAR ROLES AND GOALS

Effective delegation is key when looking at and developing your teams’ job descriptions and discussing their KPIs (key performance indicators). Their roles and goals come from their job description and KPIs. So, these need to be very clearly taught and instructed in their learning style and parroted back to you to make sure they get it. These are ongoing conversations that involve delegation, so there is lots of opportunity for you to learn how to delegate effectively! As an extra tip, you need to follow up with tasks you’ve been responsible for delegating to ensure the end product is what you expected.

AN EMPLOYEES PERSPECTIVE

If nothing before this was powerful, this is because it’s from one of my amazing team members! When asked, “what did you like about the way your leader delegated to you?”, this was their response: “I love that she makes sure I have time in my calendar to DO the task, as well as get it done on TIME.” So, we need to make sure that we’re taking a look at those amazing tools we call calendars! Make them a part of your process of delegating. Importantly, ensure you book a follow-up and make sure you’ve shared that you would like to follow up with them and the task once it is complete!

This wonderful employee of mine, also shared that she “appreciates how her leader makes sure she LIKES the tasks that are being delegated to her.” Now, you might be thinking, “whoa who’s in charge here?” Tell that stupid voice to shut up, because obviously, you’re in charge!! However, one of your most important jobs as a leader is to keep your people happy and take care of them!!! If you don’t take care of your team, who will take care of your customers? NO ONE. Make sure your team likes their job, or at least the large majority of it! You should be able to move tasks to the best person, and have everything you need to be done, because you used your incredibly effective job descriptions and calendars to hire and create this new job description, right? Good.?

HOW TO USE YOUR CALENDAR TO DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY?

Execution is EVERYTHING so you must be using your calendar!! And your team must as well! Check out our productivity guide here, for free!

• Make sure the delegated task is in every calendar necessary for it to get done. The person doing it, the person helping them, plus the person following up on it all need calendar events to ensure the effectiveness of the entire delegation process!?
• Make sure the due date and follow-up date are on the calendar. If a longer time is needed these dates can sometimes move, but a due date is important to keep people motivated and focused!?
• Most importantly, when delegating (even to yourself)? make sure you book a little more time than you think it will take in that calendar, especially if it’s something new. Remember, we want to be doing things well, not just getting them done.

So, there you have it. All of my secrets of delegating effectively! To be honest, I’m very glad I delegated a lot of my delegating responsibility to a leader that is much better at it than I am!

However, I am committed to becoming more effective at delegating. Would you like to join me in that commitment? I promise it will increase productivity, morale, engagement, effectiveness, efficiency, and overall life satisfaction for all involved! How could you not?!

BUSINESS CAN BE BETTER? AND IT SHOULD BE!

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