“Thank you, but you need to leave.”

The power and necessity of delegation

When I was general manager at Walt Disney World, there was a large company that rented out half of Epcot’s “Future World” to have their big convention. We closed early the day of to prepare for the event. I went to one of the areas where the banquet team was setting up and I walked the floor, pulling people aside to ask questions about how things were being done: “Why are you doing this?” and “Where is this going?”

The banquet leader came over to me and, to my surprise, said, “You’re making things worse. Not better. Just trust me. Come by later to check in, but trust that you’ve got the right team. Thank you, but you need to leave.”

That message has stayed with me, and I think it’s made all the difference in how I managed from that day forward.

Proper delegation can empower your team, allow them to grow and provide you with the time and headspace to tackle harder problems.

Naturally, my delegating to senior executives looks different than it does for a mid-level manager delegating to entry-level staff, but the general rules of delegation remain the same:

• Be clear on what you’re looking for. Make sure that your team understands what they are working toward. Delegate desired outcomes in addition to tasks or projects.
• Don’t set anyone up for failure. While you want to push people to do hard things, as a manager it’s your job to know what’s a stretch and what may be unattainable.??
• Offer a lifeline and encourage them to use it. As your team starts down a path on an initiative, they may come up against a roadblock. They need to know they can come to you to address the roadblock and determine if a pivot is in order.
• Be realistic on deadlines. It’s better to give someone the time required than to create fake deadlines. There’s a limit to this: if someone says a project without much complexity will take them a year, I ask them to rein it in. But for the most part, if I want something in two weeks and a manager says it will take a month, I trust them to know that a month is what it will really take while keeping other priorities on track.
• Help prioritize. After I’ve delegated an item, I often ask what other priorities will get in the way. There are usually one or two items that I can encourage a team to put on the backburner. Move quickly to reprioritize.
• Avoid micromanaging. Plan to check in but allow for autonomy, and trust that you have the right folks in place to get the job done.
• Set your ego aside. There are probably items you should delegate that you already do well – that’s probably why you got promoted. But if you keep doing those tasks, you’re robbing your team the opportunity to grow and robbing yourself the opportunity to elevate your work and take on harder tasks.

Of course, there are also best practices for the person being delegated to:

• Build credibility. If you want to be given (and paid for) more responsibility, ensure that you are being effective and trustworthy with your current workload.
• No surprises. Don’t wait until the end of a project or the day of a deadline to let your leader know something isn’t working.
• Check in often and provide updates. Your project isn’t the only thing your manager is tracking but it’s on their mind. Proactive progress updates, even informal, are always a great way to build trust with you leader that you’ve got everything in hand.

These best practices boil down to a simple success formula: build a good environment with the right people, push those people to continuously improve and give them the space to do so.

I encourage you to challenge yourself on how you’re currently delegating. Is there something on your to-do list that would be a good opportunity for someone on your team to manage? Is there a team you’re managing that could be given greater autonomy? Are there meetings that you join that you don’t need to be in? Take stock of your current delegation skill level and challenge yourself to improve. Your team, your company and your future self will all benefit.