As high potential individuals move into their first leadership roles, one of the most challenging transitions they face is moving from being a hands-on doer to an effective delegator.
Striking the right balance between giving your team enough autonomy to succeed, while providing enough oversight to ensure progress can be tricky. That’s why week, I’m diving into how to find that delegation sweet spot.
Avoiding Delegation Extremes
Delegation isn't about offloading tasks and forgetting about them. It's about transferring responsibility in a way that empowers team members while ensuring accountability and progress.
Below I list common pitfalls I see with my coaching clients’ initial habits and discuss how to replace them with more effective delegation practices.
Micromanagement Red Flags:
Constant Check-Ins. If you're checking in multiple times a day without any significant updates, you may be micromanaging.
Providing too much instruction. Excessively detailed instructions can stifle creativity and ownership.
If you often redo your team's work instead of providing constructive feedback, it's also a sign of micromanagement.
Red Flags of Too Little Oversight:
If you rarely receive updates on delegated tasks, it’s a sign of insufficient oversight.
Regularly missing deadlines without prior communication indicates a lack of follow-up.
Discovering significant problems at the last minute is also a clear sign of inadequate oversight.
Striking the Right Delegation Balance
Proper delegation involves clear communication, regular check-ins, and a supportive environment.
Here’s what it takes to achieve a delegation balance:
1. Clear expectations and objectives - be clear about what needs to be achieved, why it’s important, and the desired outcome. Set milestones by breaking down the task into manageable steps within the timeline.
2. Empower your team by allowing team members to decide how to approach tasks within the given framework. You can also ensure the proper resources are provided by consistently ensuring they have the tools, information, and support they need.
3. Schedule regular check-ins. This helps you check progress and address any immediate concerns.
Systematic Actions for Effective Delegation
To embed the above practices into your leadership routine, consider the following delegation action cadence you can time block into your schedule to help you stay on top of things without micro-managing:
Daily Delegation Actions
Conduct brief meetings to align on daily priorities. (No more than 15-20 minutes)
Have open office hours or scheduled times for team members to seek guidance. These time blocks are reserved for work you can easily do despite several interuptions, versus focus time blocks that are booked in for when you need to focus without interruption.
Weekly Delegation Actions
Hold structured meetings to review and discuss weekly progress and address any roadblocks or challenges and collaborate to come up with next steps for the team member or team.
Provide constructive feedback and recognize achievements.
Monthly Delegation Actions
Assess individual and team performance against monthly goals.
Identify development opportunities and offer coaching.
These monthly reviews allow you to check in on overall progress against goals, provide feedback, and adjust plans, as necessary.
Quarterly Delegation Actions
Review long-term goals and adjust strategies.
Organize activities that strengthen team cohesion and morale.
Quarterly meetings are more strategic in nature, and let you evaluate performance, set new objectives, and identify areas for improvement.
The Effective Delegator’s Checklist
To ensure your delegation approach is effective, use this checklist. (In fact, you should be asking each of your team members to rate each of the following statements as we sometimes over-inflate our delegation skills):
Have I clearly defined the task and its goals?
Does the team have the necessary tools and information?
Have I allowed sufficient freedom for the team to approach the task creatively?
Are there structured check-ins to monitor progress without micromanaging?
Is there a system for providing and receiving feedback?
Have I established clear accountability for outcomes?
Am I regularly accessible to provide support and guidance when needed?
By keeping this balance, you empower your team to take ownership of their tasks while ensuring that you’re kept in the loop and can provide guidance when necessary. This balance not only helps in achieving project goals but also fosters a positive and productive work environment.
If you are looking for a more customized leadership development experience, leadership coaching may be the better option to get you to your professional development goals faster. Book a complimentary “Discovery Call” to discuss your goals and see if working with a leadership coach might be the way to go.