Why mastering the art of delegation is good for your business

If you were to gather 100 business leaders in a room and ask them to name the 5 key people management skills that drive success, it’s unlikely that delegation would feature on many of those lists.

Most managers and leaders spend their time juggling a constant stream of tasks and to-do lists, so it’s not surprising that delegation tends to be seen primarily as a way of clearing some things off that radar.

Yet delegation is so much more than that. Using delegation effectively can add real value to your business, helping it to evolve and develop not just in terms of its profitability and productivity, but also in building a better employee brand and helping your organisation to grow culturally

Done well, delegation is enormously empowering. It drives employee engagement, supports staff development, boosts productivity and aids talent retention.

Done badly, it can be divisive, eroding goodwill and employee satisfaction, and risking a rise in experienced and talented people leaving the organisation.

What does good delegation look like?

In order to have a positive impact, business leaders need to understand the difference between delegation that is empowering and delegation that is effectively the simple dumping a chore on someone with little or no wider purpose.

There has to be a benefit to both the business and the employee for delegation to work – and that means a lot of coordination, communication, and trust between the person doing the delegating and the person receiving the task.

In the end, good delegation is a transaction. The manager is rewarded with time that he or she can spend adding value to another area of the business. The employee is rewarded with some responsibility, the opportunity to learn new skills from a new experience, and in turn improve their skillset and prospects.

How does good delegation work?

The first rule of delegation is to decide whether delegation of the task in question is appropriate and, if so, what skills and qualities are needed for it to be completed successfully.

Or it may be that you’ve identified a member of your team who would benefit from some career development and you’re actively looking to create an opportunity for them. In that case, you’ll need to identify a task that meets the individual’s skillset but which will also stretch them further without a high risk of failure.

Great leaders know their people' shortcomings, strengths, and interests.

You can also take a more collaborative approach – maybe audit your own list of tasks and responsibilities, identify those that you think appropriate to be done by someone more junior and then share that list with your team.

Having some investment in how the tasks are delegated and allowing them to bid for them also gives your staff ownership of the responsibility that comes with them and motivates them to succeed – and probably over-deliver in the process.

Communicate clearly

There’s a thin line between micro-management and delegation.

In giving a task to someone, there needs to be a clear explanation and understanding of what is expected on both sides. Set clear targets or objectives. For long-term tasks, set dates for regular reviews (which may or may not also be frequent). And finally, agree a deadline for delivery.

Effective delegation means giving the individual a project or duty everything they need. Successful delegation requires training, provision, and – importantly – release. Let your colleague watch you first. Then let them take over.

Throwing a team member into a task without developing their abilities and providing equipment is cruel and sets them up for failure – which has the opposite effect of what you’re trying to achieve.

When delegating, give the person the authority to lead and drive the project forward.

Make sure the individual you’re delegating to knows that you are available to support them (and, if appropriate, on what terms), and then leave them to get on with it.

The point at which a manager is constantly badgering someone for updates or evidence of progress is the point at which that manager is micromanaging – and that will ultimately compromise all the positive impact that delegating the task might have had.

Task review

Use your regular reviews to check progress against agreed and expected milestones. This is also an opportunity to modify the task objectives and outcomes as new information comes to light.

Modifying a plan in a timely way allows the individual to learn new skills around time and task management, experiencing best practice at first hand.

Good delegation is about sharing equal responsibilities but leaving employee actions to them.

Review, guide, give honest, constructive feedback, and encourage your employees to succeed. Allow them to utilise their discretion to attain goals.

Hopefully what you’ll get in return is optimum business efficiency, new skills, innovation and the creation of unique solutions.

If you’d like to know more about how Constantia Consulting can help you to grow your business and your culture through delegation best practice, please get in touch – we’d love to talk to you.