How to: Delegate

What does this look like?

Managers who delegate effectively:

• comfortably delegate both routine and important tasks
• allow others to make decisions
• clearly communicate what they expect
• trust people to perform, knowing they’ll sometimes make mistakes
• let people finish their own work
• share responsibility and accountability for delegated work and decisions.

How can I do this?

1.    Decide what to delegate

• You should delegate any tactical work you’re doing that others could do, picking a few things to start with. Also delegate the authority to do it (refer to Metro North Health delegations manuals).
• If possible, delegate entire jobs. It’s more motivating for people to do a whole job rather than part of a job.
• Delegate things you know you don’t do well.
• Delegate short term tasks and do the long term ones yourself.
• Ask your staff:
  1. What do I do that you could help me with?
  2. What do I do that you could do, with a little help from me?
  3. What do I do that you could do by yourself?
  4. What do you do that I could do faster and more effectively (re-delegation)?

2.    Know who to delegate to

• Delegate to those who have the authority to perform the task. You may need to discuss this with your manager and/or refer to the Metro North Health delegations manuals.
• Match the requirements of the job to the abilities of the person. Be sure they’re capable of doing the job.
• Keep developing the competency of your staff by delegating tasks that will stretch them and grow their skills. Over time, you’ll be able to give them more responsibility. Keep in mind the development goals in their performance development plans.
• Make sure you delegate tasks fairly and don’t play favourites.

3.    Make your expectations clear

• When delegating, be clear upfront about what you want. Give complete instructions, with goals, standards and deadlines. Be sure to communicate:
  1. why the job is important and how it fits with broader goals and objectives
  2. when you need it done by
  3. what a successful outcome looks like
  4. what resources are available to help them
  5. what decisions they can and can’t make
  6. if and when they should check in with you along the way
  7. how you will know and measure whether the task has been done well.
• Give people some leeway. Specify what you want done and why but leave the how up to them.
• Set up some delegation practices that can be used if you’re not there. Let people know:
  1. what they should inform you about
  2. what feedback loops they can use to check they’re on the right track
  3. what questions to ask as the work proceeds
  4. what steps should be followed
  5. what criteria need to be met
  6. when you’re available to help.
• Learn from past projects you delegated. Think about:
  1. how you delegated
  2. whether you delegated too much or not enough
  3. whether the workload was distributed properly
  4. whether or not you set measures and/or whether they were the right measures
  5. how you managed the delegation and whether you overmanaged or abdicated too much.
• Invite questions and be open to suggestions. The more a person understands the job, the more they’ll commit to it.

4.    Set realistic timeframes

• When you delegate, give people realistic time frames. They’ll usually need more time than you would take to do the job. This can be frustrating, but remember that having someone else do a job, allows you to spend time on other things.
• Ask the person doing the job to help you set a realistic time schedule.
• Be patient with people who are still learning and remember that they’ll get faster with time.
• Remind yourself of what it was like when you were learning to do the delegated task. How long did it take? How did you feel about someone looking over your shoulder?
• Delegate early in a project, to allow enough time for it to be done.

5.    Match the task to the performer

• Everyone has different skills and capabilities. Good delegators match the size and complexity of the task with the capacity of the person doing it.
• Consider giving people tasks that are slightly beyond their current capabilities. Most people prefer stretching tasks to those they can do easily. They’ll also develop skills and competence by doing things they haven’t done before.
• Ask people how they feel about their ability to deliver on a task you plan to delegate to them.

6.    Try not to micromanage

• Don’t obsess over delegated tasks. If you’ve properly delegated a task, it shouldn’t need to be monitored.
• If you do need to monitor, set definite checkpoints, such as:
  1. every Monday
  2. after a percentage of the job is done—for example, after each 10% is complete
  3. after an outcome—for example, a first draft.
• Allow for errors. People are more comfortable and confident when they know they won’t be penalised for their mistakes. In fact, mistakes and failures can encourage growth if you manage them with compassion.
• Be approachable for help, but not intrusive.
• Intervene only when agreed criteria or expectations aren’t being met.
• Take the role of coach instead of manager. A coach teaches someone to think and act as they do. You can do this by:
  1. Explaining your thinking
  2. Not giving solutions
  3. Working out loud with someone on a task
  4. Asking questions like:
     1. What do you see as important?
     2. How do you know?

• What mental questions are you asking?

1. What steps are you following?
2. Why is this solution better than others?

• Let people finish their work.

7.    Address your barriers to delegating

• Analyse what may be holding you back from delegating.
  1. Are you a perfectionist, wanting everything to be just right?
  2. Do you have unrealistic expectations of others, who may very well have less experience and lower skill levels than you?
  3. Do you feel guilty about giving others work that’s hard to do?
  4. Are you worried you’ll give others too much work? (If so, you can always ask if their workload is manageable).
  5. Do you like to keep control of everything yourself?
  6. Do you find it hard to trust your staff?
• Remember that delegating won’t always deliver the outcome you want, when you want it. You might have to be patient at first. Over time though, your staff will be able to do more, freeing you up to lead and manage more strategically.

You may find this challenging if you…

• delegate but don’t follow up
• delegate without giving enough information, detail or guidance
• delegate bits and pieces instead of whole jobs
• don’t invest in peoples’ development
• tend to over manage people
• don’t want or know how to empower others
• don’t plan work and what can be delegated to others
• hoard most things for yourself.

Delegating is ineffective when you…

• delegate lots of tasks but they aren’t being done properly because you don’t give enough direction or help
• delegate more than your staff are able to do
• over-structure tasks and decisions before delegating them, leaving no room for individual initiative
• delegate to the point where you aren’t doing enough of the work yourself.