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Delegating

General Delegation Planner - Downloadable Template

Use this planner to list the tasks you believe can be delegated, and then assign them to particular people. Include the information you'll need to convey to ensure success.

Six tips for better delegating

Allow enough time

Despite your busy schedule, you must allow enough time for delegating the task.

  • Give the process of delegating your full attention and make sure the other person does the same.
  • Organize your schedule to allow for an unhurried and thorough meeting, where you explain the task, convey the essential information, discuss it, respond to questions, and check to make sure the person fully comprehends.
  • Allow plenty of time for questions and discussion.

Communicate all necessary details

Approach this aspect of delegating by asking yourself, "What would someone who has never done this job before need to know?"

  • Explain both what needs to be done and why the task is important.
  • Err on the side of providing too much information rather than too little.
  • Note that in some situations, you may only need a brief overview while in others you might want to provide a detailed written description.
  • Recognize that the level of detail to provide depends greatly on the person, their skills, and the complexity of the task.
  • Provide all necessary background information the person requires to do a good job.
  • Explain the results you expect and the standards that must be met.
  • Explain the deadlines involved and any constraints that apply as well as how flexible or firm they are.
  • Provide the rationale behind any requirements and how the task fits in to the bigger picture.
  • Explain how progress monitoring will take place.
  • Don't assume other people have the same understanding of a task.
  • Let the person know about any limits on authority and resources as well as the milestones and deadlines for completion.

Focus on outcomes

Avoid imposing your methods on the person you've delegated to. Give them freedom to act.

  • Let the person decide how to achieve the results you need.
  • Only discuss methods if some things are currently working well and others aren't, if certain procedures are required, or if the person you are delegating to is inexperienced.

Check understanding

You can only determine understanding if you get comprehensive answers to your questions.

  • Ask open-ended questions to ensure understanding.
  • Ask for a summary as another way of getting a comprehensive answer.
  • Encourage questions from the person you're delegating to.

Provide encouragement

People need to feel you trust them and that they are likely to succeed.

  • Close your initial meeting on a positive note.
  • Let the person know you trust them and you're confident.
  • Thank them for taking on the task.
  • Offer to be available for further help if needed.
  • Show appreciation as the task is being completed. Thank the person, reward progress at follow-up meetings, and give public praise.

Review and monitor progress

Passing responsibility for a task to someone is no guarantee of results. You must keep some control to ensure success while allowing the person the opportunity to deliver on their own.

  • Check in only at regularly scheduled intervals. Sticking to the schedule helps avoid the impression of lack of trust.
  • Provide ongoing support and guidance. When you say you are available, be available.
  • Use open-ended questions to learn how the work is going and head off potential problems.
  • When problems arise, help the person recognize them and implement solutions rather than stepping in and taking over.
  • Show your appreciation.
Planning to Delegate as a Manager

Most managerial tasks can be delegated but some cannot. When deciding which can be delegated, consider how factors such as time and quality come into play.

Tasks that cannot be delegated fall into three categories:

  • critical tasks – tasks that you and your superiors consider vital should not be delegated
  • management-specific tasks – these include personnel and pay matters such as hiring, disciplining, evaluating, promoting, and terminating employees
  • tasks involving confidential information – many managerial tasks involve sensitive or confidential information, so it would be inappropriate to delegate them to non-managers

Choosing the person to delegate to

After deciding on the task to be delegated, you must select the right person to delegate a task to. This is primarily a matter of analyzing three factors: skills, motivation, and workload:

  • skills – Choose someone who either has the necessary skills and experience to get the job done or who is capable of learning the necessary skills in time to complete the task.
  • motivation – Delegate to someone who is motivated to complete the task, either out of a desire to help or because of interest in the job itself.
  • workload – Delegate to someone who has the time. Delegating can be counterproductive when a person's current workload won't allow success.

Deciding on the information needed

The appropriate amount of information is easily defined. Provide enough information for the individual to successfully complete the job to your satisfaction. As a rule you should always include information on:

  • nature of the task – provide a brief overview of what needs to be done and why
  • standards – be clear about the results you expect and standards the work must meet
  • constraints – let the person know about any limits on authority and resources, as well as the milestones and deadlines for completion
Delegating Tasks and Monitoring Progress as a Manager

Delegation requires you to communicate well with the people to whom you want to delegate. Incorporating six tips into your approach will help you delegate tasks more effectively:

  1. allow enough time for delegating the task
  2. communicate all necessary details and background information
  3. check understanding thoroughly
  4. focus on outcomes, not methods
  5. provide encouragement by expressing confidence and rewarding success, and
  6. review and monitor progress as planned

Getting the information across

If getting the task done right is important at all, you need to give the process of delegating your full attention and make sure the other person does the same. To avoid problems, you need to allow enough time to explain the delegated task, including the details related to what, how, and when.

During your meeting with the person, it's important to communicate all necessary details about the task if you want to get the right results. This includes explaining both what needs to be done and why the task is important. In some situations, a brief overview may be enough. In others, a detailed written description may be needed. Naturally, the level of detail to provide depends greatly on the person, the person's skills, and the complexity of the task. A good rule of thumb is to err on the side of providing too much information rather than too little. The goal is to provide all necessary background information the person requires to do a good job. This information should have been determined as part of your planning. You need to explain the results you expect, the standards that must be met, the deadlines involved, and any constraints that apply. You should also provide the rationale behind any requirements and explain how progress monitoring will take place.

Once you've explained all the necessary information about the task, you must thoroughly check the person's understanding. But, if you think a simple "Is that clear?" is enough, then you might want to think again. Most people quickly respond with "yes" regardless of whether they are really sure of themselves. And even those who are confident that they understand may have missed something. A yes-or-no answer to this question won't confirm the person's understanding about how to do the job.

When delegating, another important tip is to focus on the outcome, not the method. Give your employees as much freedom as possible to decide how to execute the task you're giving them. Provide suggestions and advice as appropriate, but let the person decide how to achieve the results you need. People work in different ways. Ignoring this may cause you to miss out on one of the potential benefits of delegating – finding new and better ways of doing things. Forcing someone to use your methods, no matter how tried and true, may get in the way of success. Don't limit the options. Of course, letting go of your preconceptions about how a job should be done can be difficult, especially one you've been doing for a long time. But what's important is helping the person succeed to your satisfaction.

Another tip is to provide encouragement. Close your initial meeting on a positive note by conveying your trust and confidence in the person. You might say "It seems like you have a good understanding of what to do and why. I know you'll do a great job. I'll check in at the scheduled time, but if you need anything before then, don't hesitate to call. Thanks for taking this on."

After delegating a task, you must review and monitor progress to ensure successful completion by checking in regularly, providing ongoing support and guidance and showing your appreciation. You should check in regularly to make sure that the other person has everything needed to do the work. At the same time, you can learn how the work is going and identify and head off potential problems. To monitor progress, you need to stick to the regular check-in points you originally set up in your monitoring plan. By checking in only at these established points, you don't imply any lack of trust in the other person and you avoid hovering. Using open-ended questions will get you the detailed information you need. For example, instead of asking "Is everything going OK?" ask "What has been going well so far?" or "What problems have you run into?" Instead of asking "Do you need anything?" ask "What additional resources would help you?" Providing support and guidance means being available without jumping in and micromanaging at every opportunity. And when you say "I'm available for help if you need it" you've got to mean it. When the person comes to you for help, be patient and take the time to find out what the person really needs. Supporting the person you delegated to is similar to mentoring and coaching. When problems arise, you want to give the person the time and opportunity to deal with them rather than instantly stepping in. You should also show appreciation as the task is being completed. Something as simple as saying "Thank you for doing such a good job" can help motivate people to be more helpful, and make them more effective in the future. You may also want to consider rewarding progress at each follow-up meeting. And when you do so, do it in public, if possible.

Delegating effectively is largely a matter of communicating the information you've developed during planning. To do this, allow enough time for delegating the task, communicate all necessary details, and check to be sure you've been understood. After delegating, the person to whom you've delegated owns the responsibility for successful completion. As much as possible, you must focus on outcomes rather than methods and allow the other person to decide the best way to carry out the task. After delegating a task, you want to ensure the person succeeds. You can monitor progress by checking in regularly, providing ongoing support and guidance, and showing your appreciation.

Planning to Delegate as a Manager

Delegating tasks isn't just a matter of going down a list and distributing jobs to your employees as they come through your door. Successfully getting someone else to perform tasks for you requires a degree of planning. Before you can begin to delegate, you have to consider

  • which tasks can be delegated – When deciding which tasks can be delegated, consider how factors such as time and quality come into play. If you delegate a particular task, ensure the other person can complete the job on time. Also ask yourself if a high-quality result is important.
  • who you should delegate each task to – Start by figuring out which of your employees is capable of the task. Choose someone who has the necessary skills or who is capable of learning them quickly. You also want someone who is interested in the task, or at least willing to take it on. And here again, time is a major factor. The person you choose must be able to free up enough time to do the job.
  • what information you need to provide – The amount of information you need to provide when delegating the task will vary based on the nature of the task and the individual to whom you are delegating. Three important types of information must be included: what needs to be done and why, the results you expect, and the deadline for completion.

The majority of tasks that managers perform can be delegated, so it's often easier to consider the three types of tasks you shouldn't delegate:

  • critical tasks, which are tasks that you and your superiors consider vital
  • management-specific tasks such as personnel and pay matters, including hiring, disciplining, evaluating, promoting, and terminating employees, and
  • tasks involving sensitive or confidential information

Choosing the person to delegate to

There are some factors to consider for choosing the right person:

  • skills – To get the best results, you must choose someone who either has the necessary skills and experience to get the job done or who is capable of learning the necessary skills in time to complete the task.
  • motivation – You'll get better results if you delegate to someone who is motivated to complete the task, either because the person wants to help or because of an interest in the job itself.
  • workload – To achieve the best results, choose someone whose workload is easily managed – perhaps someone who has just wrapped up a project and has time available. Even the most skilled and motivated people will be unable to complete delegated tasks if their workloads won't allow it. And, in addition to failure to complete the task, it can lead to loss of morale.

Ideally you should find someone who measures up well against each factor. But it can be difficult to find a person like that in real life situations, and so your choice will also depend on the context. If you have a non-critical task that doesn't require a high degree of quality, you may decide to take a chance on whoever has time available, regardless of that person's motivation, experience, or ability to learn. A person's current workload is usually the dealbreaker. No matter how interested and motivated people are, if they have no time available, there is little point in delegating to them.

Once you've decided what the job is and who can do it, you can go on to consider which of the candidates you'd prefer to delegate the task to. You want someone you can rely on, particularly for important tasks. You also want to consider who would benefit the most from being chosen. Perhaps the task can present useful development opportunities for someone.

Deciding on the information needed

You always need to provide enough information for the individual to successfully complete the job to your satisfaction. Although different tasks require different information, there's certain information you should always include as a rule:

  • the nature of the tasks, in the form of a brief overview of what needs to be done and why
  • the results you expect and standards the work must meet, and
  • any constraints such as limits on authority and resources, as well as the milestones and deadlines by which tasks must be completed

While there are many other kinds of information you may include, keep it specific to the task at hand. To ensure you've identified all the relevant information, ask yourself if the person has everything needed to get the job done on time and to your satisfaction.

Planning is a vital step in ensuring your delegation goes smoothly and you achieve the desired results in terms of both the successful completion of the work and the development opportunities the delegation offers for your staff. Planning to delegate involves considering which tasks are appropriate to delegate and which must remain your own. You must also determine the right person to delegate to. Once you know the task and the person to delegate it to, you can consider the third factor, which is how much information you need to provide to get positive results for you and your staff.

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