Seven steps for effective delegation

“How come when I delegate a task, it never quite turns out the way I want?” That’s one of the questions I frequently get asked when I run a leadership communication skills workshop. My answer is, if you’re not getting the result you want, chances are you’re not following the Heartwired 7-step framework of effective delegation.  

Step 1: Establish the delegatee’s behavioural needs for clarity, autonomy, structure, and detail

We all have different needs when it comes to being delegated to. Some people need more detail and structure, while others prefer to figure things out for themselves. Some people will actively stick to deadline, while others need a gentle (and sometimes stronger) push.

Use the delegatee’s behavioural profile to tailor your delegation so you meet their needs.

Step 2: Explain the what, the why, the when, the who and the where of delegation  

Example – “Please get me this month’s top 5 product sales figures by noon on Friday so that I can present the results at the management meeting on Monday morning.”

The what: top 5 product sales figures

The why: so I can present results at a management meeting

The when: by noon Friday

The who: to me

The where: the management meeting

Step 3: Set and communicate the expected standard 

The person you are delegating to must clearly understand their expected standard. If you don’t supply the standard, they will apply their own standard, which may, or more likely, may not, live up to your expectations.

Example – “You need to transcribe these documents with an accuracy rate of 98%.”

Step 4: Perform a mutual understanding check 

We need to check that the person we are delegating to understands exactly what they’re supposed to do. To do that, we NEVER ask, “So do you understand what to do?”  No one wants to look like a fool, so they’ll always say “yes” to that question, even if they haven’t got a clue!

Step 5: Outline a reporting schedule

This is where delegation often goes off the rails. We delegate a task and then forget about it, only to find that it’s not what we want at all at the deadline. You need to set up a schedule to monitor progress, to provide opportunities for each side to check-in. Work out when you’re going to come back together to review the task.

Step 6: Decide whether explaining the “how” is necessary  

Depending on how experienced the person you are delegating to is, or how strong their need for autonomy is, you want to assess whether they need to be told how to do the task by you, OR whether you should ask THEM how they might undertake the task.  

As a rule of thumb, if they are very new to the role, you will probably need to tell them how to do it. If you don’t, you’ll be robbing them of developing their initiative, and worse, you’ll be making a rod for your own back – because they’ll keep coming back! But in ALL other instances you should default to ASKING THEM how they would approach the task.

Step 7: Coach for growth  

Suppose you want to delegate effectively, free yourself up to concentrate on the important, strategic things AND help people develop initiative and think for themselves. In that case, you must resist telling them what to do!

Instead, ask them questions that make them think for themselves.  

When you tell people how to do things all the time, when you solve their problems for them, you make them lazy. You inhibit them from having to think for themselves.  

The result is that they keep coming back to you over and over, bogging you down in the nitty-gritty day-to-day stuff, because it’s easier and faster than them expending the energy to think for themselves. And while that might make you feel important, you’ll never get to the essential aspects of your role…during working hours.

Example – “What might the consequences be if you tackle it like that?”

Keep in mind that some people’s drives mean they need more structure, that they like you to remove the risk of error, but that’s not to say you need to spoon-feed them. 

The more you “push back” on people, the more you’ll build their confidence.

Let’s finish with a quick summary.

When/if someone fails to deliver work that matches your expectations, it will be because of one of four things: 

1. You didn’t spend time identifying their needs around detail, structure, and autonomy

2. You didn’t give them a clear enough “what, why, when, who and where”

3. You didn’t set and communicate an expected standard

4. You didn’t perform a mutual understanding check

5. You didn’t put a reporting schedule in place.

If you found this helpful and would like a way to make sure you follow these steps when delegating, download our free Delegation Checklist. Follow it every single time you delegate, and you’ll see a tremendous change in confidence, productivity and engagement!