ARE YOU A WORK HOARDER? - THE SUBTLE ART OF DELEGATION
For some people the concept of delegating tasks to others is daunting. For many senior-level business professionals, the preference is to overwhelm themselves, rather than admit to needing support; wearing ‘all-nighters’ and heavy workloads as a badge of honour, and a sign of their value to the company. This was evidenced by Stanford University in a report that found 35% of CEO’s wanted and needed to improve their skills at delegating [1].
By not identifying opportunities to delegate, these Managers, Directors, Founders etc. risk severe tolls both on their physical and mental health, alongside stresses that can leak into relationships outside of work. This is not the formula for a happy work/life balance, nor is it conducive to efficiently producing quality work and fresh innovative thinking.
The overarching theme surrounding why Managers don’t share the load relates to trust. Not just trusting another individual to do a job, but trusting them to complete it with the same respect and quality expectations you set for yourself. As whilst tasks can be shared, accountability will always remain with the original owner.
The following aims to outline the steps to successful delegation, addressing key concerns and considerations, with actionable suggestions for achieving long-term delegation success.
“It’s not the tools you have faith in - tools are just tools - they work or they don’t work. It’s the people you have faith in or not.” - Steve Jobs
Identify and establish relationships
Like any good group support session, the first stage of recovery is admittance - and this needn't be a bad thing. No one person can carry the entire workload of an enterprise business on their shoulders without buckling and being able to identify and suitably distribute work can actually demonstrate more management skills than trying to tackle everything alone.
To start, lay out your entire workload and rank each task in order of urgency, importance, and skills needed. Next, decide which of those jobs must remain with you because of your skills and experience, and which could be rolled out to subordinates, interns, partners or external contacts. Then revisit the ‘must remain’ list one more time and ask yourself again, “could someone else do this or does it have to be me?”
Once this task list has been established, it’s time to take a close look at your co-workers;
Who is available in your department to delegate work to?
What are their strengths and skillsets?
What are their weaknesses?
Do they have any unique specialisms you can utilise to improve task efficiency?
What are their quality standards like?
By answering questions like these you’ll be able to develop employee personas which you can then start assigning to different tasks, depending on suitability. Always try to match co-workers and strengths whenever possible, e.g. if a section of code needs regularly testing and modifying, delegate this to a developer with the correct skills, not an intern.
Relationship building at this stage is hugely important for both parties. Whilst you need to establish authority and respect given your senior role, you always want to ensure the person you’ve selected to work with is equally committed to the success of the task. Which lead’s nicely onto;
Communicate the task clearly
The key to successful delegation is clear, evidential, ongoing communication throughout. This doesn’t mean employees need to be micromanaged, as quite honestly if you’re going to get involved in each task to that level you may as well just do it yourself. However, even when staff are given authority over a job, expectations, standards, and timelines still need to be managed.
Before sharing out tasks take the time to speak face-to-face with the individual(s) involved and explain what the job requires, in context to the business. For example, asking someone to simply gather a selection of data may not inspire much interest, but outlining how that data could impact the development of future technologies enables that person to feel like they’re part of something more substantial.
To round-off communication, have that person summarise your expectations and clarify what’s required of them. This return of communication ensures that A. there's reference-able notes on requirements from day 1, and B. you know the employee has bought into the task and understands your needs.
For ongoing support again, establish expectations early on. This may be as simple as a daily update or could require a full performance report - either way, don’t try determining what information you need after you’ve already delegated the task. Keeping take objections clear, visible and trackable throughout will minimise risks and support a ‘hands-off’ management approach.
Evaluate and reward
Delegating work to subordinates is not just a way to lighten your own load. If they can deliver quality work to a high standard, or even better, improve processes, that person has an opportunity to demonstrate their value to the company. An employee that succeeds in one task may then be considered for another project, which could lead to a higher position within the business, pay rises and overall career development.
Demonstrating this value to co-workers and showing your respect for their abilities helps develop their commitment to the job; yet another way to increase the likelihood of activities being actioned efficiently and to a high standard, reducing your stress levels and building your trust in that individual.
What if it all goes wrong?
On the other hand, setting tightly controlled expectations and evaluating progress regularly also provides you with the tools to quickly fix issues when they occur. Whilst you’ll no longer be involved in the task itself, performance reports or agreed updates will keep you informed of progress, making it easy to spot problems before they develop. By also having the original notes from the employee involved to hand, you can refer back to their commitments when managing the situation.
Remember, you selected this person to delegate to because you saw their potential to do this task successfully. Therefore, when reviewing issues that may arise, consider not just if that individual has made an error, but also if the processes outlined are failing or if there’s an issue with miscommunication.
In most scenarios issues with delegation can be quickly rectified, either through re-communicating expectations or by actioning further training required. Should that still not be effective, return to the start, determine if this should still be delegated out and try again with an alternative co-worker.
Summary
In summary, not delegating work can lead to poor health, high-stress levels, feelings of being overwhelmed, reductions in work quality and strains on business and personal relationships. These negatives can be overcome by sharing the load with suitable business professionals, although a balance needs to be maintained between your management requirements and the employee’s task authority.
Individuals who feel they are involved in important tasks which could benefit them long term are more inclined to produce work to a high standard, and clearly defined expectations also help keep tasks on track.
Identifying employees to work with can be a difficult task. If you feel you don’t have the skills in-house but need the additional support, it may be time to look at growing your team. Caspian One can help at this point, sourcing for you quality candidates that match your skillset requirements whilst also fitting within your company's culture.
Reference
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/gsb/files/publication-pdf/cgri-survey-2013-executive-coaching.pdf
