Delegation – A Skill To Learn And Be Comfortable With
- Jul 2, 2024
- 4 min read
Written by David Bingley, Leadership, Mindset & Empowerment Coaching
David Bingley is Certified Professional Co-Active Coach and a Professional Certified Coach with over 2,000 hours of 1:1 Coaching experience. He is an expert in Leadership, Mindset and Empowerment Coaching, working on the mindful practice of mental and emotional fitness and self-awareness.
Delegation is a skill many managers have yet to learn and are uncomfortable with.
There could be any number of reasons for this, the top few being
Does not know how to delegate
Does not trust their team to do the job to their satisfaction
Does not want to let go of their perception of power
It could be a combination of the above or something else entirely, depending on the manager's insecurity, lack of confidence, and lack of trust in the team.
You will better understand what is at the core after a candid discussion with the manager.
In order to change their perspective, we need to explore the why and how of delegation. The need for delegation and how to delegate.
Why do we need to delegate?
To free up time for deep thinking and focus, whether strategic or tactical.
To empower our team to embrace responsibility, accountability, and commitment.
To embody your leadership, self-confidence, and trust in others.
Part of the why is to ensure your manager fully understands the scope of their work and what it means to be a leader/manager of people.
Typically, they fear the work or outcome will be poor and not up to standard. Therefore, we need to understand that other people are not like us in the way they think or do things. They may have different work ethics and assign a different level of importance to the work than you.
Often, it is because they feel time pressures and believe it is quicker and easier to do it themselves. Or they do not trust in the quality of work their team can produce and feel they can do the job to a higher standard. Also, there is an assumption with the expectations, and they have difficulty clearly expressing the desired outcome.
How do you encourage and teach your manager to delegate?
Firstly, understand that this is a learning process for all parties involved. The key elements or qualities to consider are your intentions, actions, and behavior. Are you walking your talk?
So, how do you delegate?
Identify the tasks, jobs, and projects that you do not need to manage at your level of responsibility and identify who you can outsource them to.
Understand what outcomes and quality you want and expect and funnel that into clear expectations with timelines. Explain the importance of delegation and train them for future promotion and responsibility. Be patient. Take time to understand who you are delegating to. Clearly explain the level of importance and quality you expect. Ensure that they understand the level of importance you have assigned to it. They may feel differently. Ask them to summarize what they are going to do with their milestone commitments.
The first few times we delegate, we may not get the quality of work we want. Understand the reasons and motivations behind that. Learn from that. What went well? What went badly? What can we do differently? What can we do more of? Then rinse and repeat.
Resilience and diligence are fundamental qualities we need to embrace, particularly on timelines. We must remember to follow up and check in. If it is in progress and all is good, then ask to see what has been done. After all, you embody the spirit of delegation and demonstrate the importance you have given the work.
Not everyone is on the ball, so you have to be yourself. It is a learning curve and process.
The skills you cultivate and employ in delegating clearly and effectively come across as follows:
Communication: Clarity in Messaging and Expectations, influencing others, Trusting others, Collaborating, Building Community, showing Support, and giving Empowerment.
Ask yourself, where else can I utilize these qualities?
In-Vision It!
Take small steps to live large!
David Bingley, Leadership, Mindset & Empowerment Coaching
David Bingley is Certified Professional Co-Active Coach and a Professional Certified Coach with over 2,000 hours of 1:1 Coaching experience. He is an expert in Leadership, Mindset and Empowerment Coaching, working on the mindful practice of mental and emotional fitness and self-awareness. By exploring perspectives to define purpose and direction (our vision, mission and ambition for ourself and the world) to how we frame ourself and embrace our values so our intentions and actions are aligned. David founded In-Vision Coaching as a platform to assist people to empower themselves, take control of their life using the strategies, frameworks and structures he developed to fine tune for peak performance. You may work with David in 1:1 coaching, team coaching or specialist workshops, taking small steps to… Live Large!
