effective delegation skills, delegating techniques, process, tips
for effective delegation and delegation training
delegation
delegating authority skills, tasks and the process of
effective delegation
Delegation is one of the most important management skills. These logical
rules and techniques will help you to delegate well (and will help you to help
your manager when you are being delegated a task or new responsibility -
delegation is a two-way process!). Good delegation saves you time, develops you
people, grooms a successor, and motivates. Poor delegation will cause you
frustration, demotivates and confuses the other person, and fails to achieve
the task or purpose itself. So it's a management skill that's worth improving.
Here are the simple steps to follow if you want to get delegation right, with
different levels of delegation freedom that you can offer.
This delegation skills guide deals with general delegation principles
and process, which is applicable to individuals and teams, or to
specially formed groups of people for individual projects (including
'virtual teams').
Delegation is a very helpful aid for succession planning, personal
development - and seeking and encouraging promotion. It's how we grow in the
job - delegation enables us to gain experience to take on higher
responsibilities.
Effective delegation is actually crucial for effective succession. For
the successor, and for the manager too: the main task of a manager in a growing
thriving organization is ultimately to develop a successor. When this happens
everyone can move on to higher things. When it fails to happen the succession
and progression becomes dependent on bringing in new people from outside.
Delegation can be used to develop your people people and yourself -
delegation is not just a management technique for freeing up the boss's time.
Of course there is a right way to do it. These delegation tips and techniques
are useful for bosses - and for anyone seeking or being given delegated
responsibilities.
As a giver of delegated tasks you must ensure delegation happens
properly. Just as significantly, as the recipient of delegated tasks you
have the opportunity to 'manage upwards' and suggest improvements to the
delegation process and understanding - especially if your boss could use the
help.
Managing the way you receive and agree to do delegated tasks is
one of the central skills of 'managing upwards'. Therefore while this page is
essentially written from the manager's standpoint, the principles are just as
useful for people being managed.
delegation and SMART, or SMARTER
A simple delegation rule is the
SMART
acronym, or better still, SMARTER. It's a quick checklist for proper
delegation. Delegated tasks must be:
Specific
Measurable
Agreed
Realistic
Timebound
Ethical
Recorded
Traditional interpretations of the SMARTER acronym use 'Exciting' or
'Enjoyable', however, although a high level of motivation often results when a
person achieves and is given recognition for a particular delegated task, which
in itself can be exciting and enjoyable, in truth, let's be honest, it is not
always possible to ensure that all delegated work is truly 'exciting' or
'enjoyable' for the recipient. More importantly, the 'Ethical' aspect is
fundamental to everything that we do, assuming you subscribe to such
philosophy.
The delegation and review form
is a useful tool for the delegation process.
Also helpful tools for delegation, see the goal planning tips and template, and the
activity management
template.
The Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum model
proviodes extra guidance on delegating freedom to, and developing, a team.
The Tuckman
'Forming, Storming, Norming Performing' model is particularly helpful when
delegating to teams and individuals within teams.
Below are:
The steps of successful delegation - step-by-step guide.
The levels of delegation freedom - choose which is most appropriate for any given
situation.
the steps of successful delegation
1 Define the task
Confirm in your own mind that the task is suitable to be delegated. Does
it meet the criteria for delegating?
2 Select the individual or team
What are your reasons for delegating to this person or team? What are
they going to get out of it? What are you going to get out of it?
3 Assess ability and training needs
Is the other person or team of people capable of doing the task? Do they
understand what needs to be done. If not, you can't delegate.
4 Explain the reasons
You must explain why the job or responsibility is being delegated. And
why to that person or people? What is its importance and relevance? Where does
it fit in the overall scheme of things?
5 State required results
What must be achieved? Clarify understanding by getting feedback from
the other person. How will the task be measured? Make sure they know how you
intend to decide that the job is being successfully done.
6 Consider resources required
Discuss and agree what is required to get the job done. Consider people,
location, premises, equipment, money, materials, other related activities and
services.
7 Agree deadlines
When must the job be finished? Or if an ongoing duty, when are the
review dates? When are the reports due? And if the task is complex and has
parts or stages, what are the priorities?
At this point you may need to confirm understanding with the other
person of the previous points, getting ideas and interpretation. As well as
showing you that the job can be done, this helps to reinforce commitment.
Methods of checking and controlling must be agreed with the other
person. Failing to agree this in advance will cause this monitoring to seem
like interference or lack of trust.
8 Support and communicate
Think about who else needs to know what's going on, and inform them.
Involve the other person in considering this so they can see beyond the issue
at hand. Do not leave the person to inform your own peers of their new
responsibility. Warn the person about any awkward matters of politics or
protocol. Inform your own boss if the task is important, and of sufficient
profile.
9 Feedback on results
It is essential to let the person know how they are doing, and whether
they have achieved their aims. If not, you must review with them why things did
not go to plan, and deal with the problems. You must absorb the consequences of
failure, and pass on the credit for success.
levels of delegation
Delegation isn't just a matter of telling someone else what to do. There
is a wide range of varying freedom that you can confer on the other person. The
more experienced and reliable the other person is, then the more freedom you
can give. The more critical the task then the more cautious you need to be
about extending a lot of freedom, especially if your job or reputation depends
on getting a good result. Take care to choose the most appropriate style for
each situation. For each example the statements are simplified for clarity; in
reality you would choose a less abrupt style of language, depending on the
person and the relationship. At the very least, a "Please" and "Thank-you"
would be included in the requests.
It's important also to ask the other person what level of authority they
feel comfortable being given. Why guess? When you ask, you can find out for
sure and agree this with the other person. Some people are confident; others
less so. It's your responsibility to agree with them what level is most
appropriate, so that the job is done effectively and with minimal unnecessary
involvement from you. Involving the other person in agreeing the level of
delegated freedom for any particular responsibility is an essential part of the
'contract' that you make with them.
These levels of delegation are not an exhaustive list. There are many
more shades of grey between these black-and-white examples. Take time to
discuss and adapt the agreements and 'contracts' that you make with people
regarding delegated tasks, responsibility and freedom according to the
situation.
Be creative in choosing levels of delegated responsibility, and always
check with the other person that they are comfortable with your chosen level.
People are generally capable of doing far more than you imagine.
The rate and extent of responsibility and freedom delegated to people is
a fundamental driver of organisational growth and effectiveness, the growth and
well-being of your people, and of your own development and advancement.
levels of delegation - examples
These examples of different delegation levels progressively offer,
encourage and enable more delegated freedom. Level 1 is the lowest level of
delegated freedom (basically none). Level 10 is the highest level typically
(and rarely) found in organisations.
1 "Wait to be told." or "Do exactly what I say." or "Follow these
instructions precisely."
This is instruction. There is no delegated freedom at all.
2 "Look into this and tell me the situation. I'll decide."
This is asking for investigation and analysis but no recommendation. The
person delegating retains responsibility for assessing options prior to making
the decision.
3 "Look into this and tell me the situation. We'll decide together."
This is has a subtle important difference to the above. This level of
delegation encourages and enables the analysis and decision to be a shared
process, which can be very helpful in coaching and development.
4 "Tell me the situation and what help you need from me in assessing
and handling it. Then we'll decide."
This is opens the possibility of greater freedom for analysis and
decision-making, subject to both people agreeing this is appropriate. Again,
this level is helpful in growing and defining coaching and development
relationships.
5 "Give me your analysis of the situation (reasons, options, pros and
cons) and recommendation. I'll let you know whether you can go ahead."
Asks for analysis and recommendation, but you will check the thinking
before deciding.
6 "Decide and let me know your decision, and wait for my go-ahead
before proceeding."
The other person is trusted to assess the situation and options and is
probably competent enough to decide and implement too, but for reasons of task
importance, or competence, or perhaps externally changing factors, the boss
prefers to keep control of timing. This level of delegation can be frustrating
for people if used too often or for too long, and in any event the reason for
keeping people waiting, after they've inevitably invested time and effort,
needs to be explained.
7 "Decide and let me know your decision, then go ahead unless I say not
to."
Now the other person begins to control the action. The subtle increase
in responsibility saves time. The default is now positive rather than negative.
This is a very liberating change in delegated freedom, and incidentally one
that can also be used very effectively when seeking responsibility from above
or elsewhere in an organisation, especially one which is strangled by
indecision and bureaucracy. For example, "Here is my analysis and
recommendation; I will proceed unless you tell me otherwise by (date)."
8 "Decide and take action - let me know what you did (and what
happened)."
This delegation level, as with each increase up the scale, saves even
more time. This level of delegation also enables a degree of follow-up by the
manager as to the effectiveness of the delegated responsibility, which is
necessary when people are being managed from a greater distance, or more
'hands-off'. The level also allows and invites positive feedback by the
manager, which is helpful in coaching and development of course.
9 "Decide and take action. You need not check back with me."
The most freedom that you can give to another person when you still need
to retain responsibility for the activity. A high level of confidence is
necessary, and you would normally assess the quality of the activity after the
event according to overall results, potentially weeks or months later. Feedback
and review remain helpful and important, although the relationship is more
likely one of mentoring, rather than coaching per se.
10 "Decide where action needs to be taken and manage the situation
accordingly. It's your area of responsibility now."
The most freedom that you can give to the other person, and not
generally used without formal change of a person's job role. It's the
delegation of a strategic responsibility. This gives the other person
responsibility for defining what changes projects, tasks, analysis and
decisions are necessary for the management of a particular area of
responsibility, as well as the task or project or change itself, and how the
initiative or change is to be implemented and measured, etc. This amounts to
delegating part of your job - not just a task or project. You'd use this utmost
level of delegation (for example) when developing a successor, or as part of an
intentional and agreed plan to devolve some of your job accountability in a
formal sense.
contracts -
'psychological contracts', 'emotional contracts'
Variously called 'contracts' or 'psychological contracts' or 'emotional
contracts', these expressions describe the process of agreeing with the other
person what they should do and the expectations linked to the responsibility.
It all basically means the same, whatever you call it. The point is that people
cannot actually be held responsible for something to which they've not agreed.
The point is also that everyone is more committed to delivering a
responsibility if they've been through the process of agreeing to do it. This
implies that they might have some feelings about the expectations attached,
such as time-scale, resources, budget, etc., even purpose and method. You must
give the other person the opportunity to discuss, question and suggest issues
concerning expectations attached to a delegated task. This is essential to the
contracting process.
Certain general responsibilities of course are effectively agreed
implicitly within people's job roles or job descriptions or employment
contracts, but commonly particular tasks, projects, etc., that you need to
delegate are not, in which case specific discussion must take place to
establish proper agreement or 'contract' between you and the other person.
See the main
Businessballs website for more tips and materials relating to effective
management, working, career and self-development. Many, including those below,
are very relevant to delegation.
For example processes and tools:
Goal planning
Project Management
And help with managing people in the theories, meaning and application
of:
Erikson's life stages
- very powerful for self-awareness - and helps explain why have different
responses to delegation
Tuckman's 'forming
storming' team model - brilliant for understanding teams and group
development
Kolb's learning cycle and learning
styles - helps explain why we respond differently to different tasks and
communications
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - just as relevant
today as ever
Kirkpatrick's learning
and training evaluation model - simple, quick great for designing and
measuring development effectiveness
And finally see the new
Businessballs Space,
where you will find increasing numbers of interesting people and providers and
their content, from all over the world. If you like what you see - join and
create presence for yourself.
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