The key to delegation is clarity

Summary

Delegation is one of the biggest struggles for many founders and leaders. However, delegation is necessary, if you want to grow and expand. The key to expansion and growth lies in building teams and partnerships, not working ever harder yourself. Delegating feels complicated due to lack of clarity of purpose and clarity of communication. Once you learn to create clarity, you will see your task lists shorten and your success expand.

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Every founder, business owner, manager and specialist has been to a situation, where the to-dos has grown so long, that you admit needing help. You maybe have moved on and successfully hired a team to get everything done, but things are not going the way you wanted, as now you also need to instruct your team while your own share of tasks has not significantly shrinked. You are having a hard time trusting others, and your team feels frustrated, as they came in to thrive, but are instead being pushed to the backseat. Your business languishes, your people complain and maybe even leave, and you feel defeated. Does this sound familiar? If yes, read on, as I’m about to provide you a solution.

Delegation is one of the biggest struggles for many managers and leaders. Especially if they are the founder of the business. However, delegation is necessary, if you want to grow and expand. The key to expansion and growth lies in building teams and partnerships, not working ever harder yourself. You will need to work hard, although not on your business, but on yourself, your mindset, your communication and leadership skills. You have to grow in order for your business to expand.

Two ways to delegate

Stephen Covey introduced two types of delegations. The first is gofer delegation. This means delegating specific tasks that need to be done in a specific manner. “Do this, do that”. This kind of delegation will not reduce your workload, but increase it, as even though the task is done by someone else, you will need to take time to explain the task, and check upon the results later.

The second type he called stewardship delegation and this means delegating responsibility for certain outcomes. This requires absolute clarity about the outcomes and communicating these, but leaves the delegate with a freedom of choice on methods. This is the kind of delegation that will allow synergistic cooperation that will ultimately not only reduce your own workload and achieve desired results, but also adds a ton of satisfaction to yourself and your team. Well delegated responsibility is one of the greatest recognitions a founder or leader can provide for their team.

Delegating, especially delegating responsibility feels complicated due to lack of clarity. Clarity of purpose and clarity of communication. Developing clarity will allow you to delegate successfully and achieve what you set out to achieve in the first place. Let’s have a look at both.

Clarity of purpose

In most cases founders have a rather specific driver that sets them on the path of entrepreneurship. In some cases, it is a desire to solve a problem or a set of problems for others – world hunger, in some cases a problem they are experiencing themselves – lack of time for loved ones. You see the problem and decide to solve it. This initial decision holds a lot of power, however, only runs a certain time. You may go through several pivots, grow, expand, diversify and your purpose may get blurry. It can become infused with the desires of your investors, partners, team members. If you are a seasoned entrepreneur, you know how to restore clarity around your purpose, and may run relevant discussions with your team members, consultants and leaders. If you are a new founder, you can and must learn how to re-define your purpose. There are many methods to do that from the five whys to vision creation exercises. The key is to take time to think about your purpose yourself, and to talk about it with your stakeholders. You can do it on your own, or hire a consultant to facilitate the process. In the first case it may take a bit more time or even a few reruns, but the experience is invaluable. In the second case you may save time and get to working towards your goals faster.

In either case you will need to have absolute clarity of

• why you are doing, what you are doing,
• where you want to get to,
• what are the guiding principles,
• and how you create the intended value.

The idea of an elevator pitch comes handy here. You will need to be able to state your purpose in 10-30 seconds and in 3-4 simple sentences. If it takes you longer than that you need to keep working on it. The simpler it is to communicate your purpose the easier it is to delegate.

Clarity of communication

It feels almost weird to write about clear communication, as the importance of it is obvious. However, overt things are not always self-explanatory. When it comes to delegation, there are five things that need to be communicated clearly, and I refer to Stephen Covey again.

1. First you need to get crystal clear on the purpose and desired outcome. What is it that we are trying to achieve and why? How does success look like? How is this contributing to our other pursuits?
2. Secondly you need to state the boundaries like standards, legislation, priorities that apply. For example, in finance services you may need to consider AML requirements (among many other things), in production ISO standards and work safety, in people matters employment law etc. Make the boundaries as loose as possible and as strict as necessary.
3. Third you need to clarify resources available to fulfil the responsibility. What and who can I use to get things done? This includes people, data, money, time, knowledge.
4. A clear rhythm and format of reporting on progress will help you feel much less anxious about delegating. The key metrics are defined together with the desired outcome. Since you know exactly what success looks like, it will be easy for you to check upon progress. When you are just learning to delegate you may want to check in every day, but this will not allow the delegate much freedom of action. You may want to use the first week to verify clarity of the task, but when it comes to checking actual progress, opt for weekly check-ins. Work on your mindset and anxiety if needed, talk to a mentor or a coach, but do not interfere during the check-ins. Interrupting the rhythm will rob your delegate from responsibility and you will end up with a gofer instead of a steward.
5. Talk about consequences. What happens if the outcome is missed? How will this influence the business, the outcomes, the purpose? How will hitting the goal or target benefit the business and the person? Do you want to attach certain rewards to it in addition to joy of accomplishment and increased trust?

Too often we limit ourselves to only clarifying point one – the desired outcome. We leave too much ambiguity about the boundaries. Hardly ever do we talk about resources, especially the leader’s time and know-how as a resource. We forget to set a rhythm of check-ins and don’t even think about natural consequences of success or miss.

All too often we only explain the task once and hope for full understanding. I came across an advice that you first have to inform people of what you are about to tell them. Then you deliver your message. And then recap what you told them. Take time to repeat, clarify and allow questions. Ask your delegate to explain in their own words what responsibility they are taking on to make sure you are on the same page. “Got it” will not suffice.

All this will require you to grow. Exercise clarity of purpose, improve communication skills, develop your patience, extend your faith. Once you learn to create clarity and delegate this way, you will see your task lists shorten and your success expand.?

#delegation #founders #leadership #communication #clarity #stephencovey