How do you feel about delegation?
A lot of mangers struggle with it, but the great ones know how to use it to their advantage.
A Gallup study found that CEOs who excel in delegating generate 33% higher revenue than those with lower or limited delegator talents.
Richard Branson says “we could never have evolved from a mail-order record retailer to a global brand if I hadn’t learnt how to delegate early on.”
So, if delegation is so vital to performance, why do we struggle with it so much?
Like many of the other skills of a manager, we’re never actually taught how to do it.
There’s no one right way to delegate but there are a few things to take into consideration that can make it easier for you:
- What to delegate – not everything can or should be delegated. Delegate things that others could be doing to free up time for things only you can be doing
- How to delegate – adapt to the different personalities of the people you manage and tailor your delegation to suit them not you
- Who to delegate to – play to the strengths of your team where possible; consider the skills, knowledge, experience, and willingness of the person you’re delegating to
- When to delegate – ensure you have the time to appropriately hand over the tasks. Don’t delegate a big new task to someone when you only have 30-seconds to do it; it won’t end well for anyone
- Be clear on what you’re asking for to ensure you’re setting them up for success. As Brené brown says, “clear is kind”
Delegation is one of the most common struggles listed by attendees of our Effective Manager Program (that and holding people accountable).
Do you struggle with it too?
Join our Effective Manager Program to learn how to delegate (as well as loads of other useful things!).
Join the 140+ other managers who have been through the program to become more capable delegators and more effective managers.
