At first, delegation can feel like much more of a hassle than it’s worth to you. But that’s short-term thinking. Getting work done through others is what successful leaders do.

Jack Welsh, the well-known former CEO, asked himself which of the top 2-3 tasks on his priority list he could accomplish especially well. He focused on those and delegated the others.

Delegation is a skill to be developed for leaders at all levels.

Working in an organization with a culture that frowned on delegating things that could be done by others was a challenge. I instinctively knew I should delegate more but the culture didn’t support it. I received mixed messages from my own leader, she would tell me to go ahead and delegate and then follow up with ‘not that task’.

It came to a point where I just could not do everything. So, on my own, I began to delegate more and more despite the culture. That decision helped me to focus on what only I could do which then allowed me more margin to grow the business. Eventually the culture shifted enough that more delegation was encouraged.

Your high value activities

If you refuse to delegate, it can rob you of time needed to attend to your higher value activities. Loosen your grip on the things that are not important for you to do.

First, you must know what your high value activities are before you can effectively delegate. What are the things that only you can do, and what are the things that would best be done by others?

Keep strategic business objectives in mind. When leading a team, it’s important to keep those activities that are highly strategic for your business. For example:

  • Carve out enough margin in your day allowing you time to think about organizational or marketplace strategy.
  • Build relationships with your team and peers. Work gets done through people and it is good relationships that help move big projects forward.
  • Grow and develop your team so they feel valued and appreciated.
  • Point people forward. Your team is focused on the details of running the business and as can occur, team members lose sight of the larger vision. Therefore, it’s your responsibility to be communicating the bigger picture. If you’re bogged down with the details and small tasks, who will be leading with vision and encouraging the team toward success?

After you’ve determined your high value activities, you’re ready to delegate the rest.

Who to delegate to?

Delegate to the person you trust with the project or task. This is someone with experience, skills and knowledge related to the task. It’s someone who takes initiative to get the job done and someone you trust to make decisions regarding the project.

Keep in mind that you may have to provide some assistance or training. To give someone a task that stretches them to grow is good, it grows the individual and the team as a whole.

Some employees need to know exactly what to do with every step, others are more proactive in finding solutions to issues that come up along the way. That’s why it’s important to know the skill or knowledge level of the employee as well as their comfort level of working independently.

How to delegate?

After you decided which task you’re delegating and the person to delegate to, it’s time to actually delegate.

Talk with the person you’ve chosen. Let them know what the task is, explain what is expected in terms of work and final result. And clarify timeframe for when you expect it to be complete.

Give guidance on how the task should be completed. As an example, you may have a report you want someone to complete. You might develop a checklist for what should be included in the report and you might give the person a structure to follow. Or, depending on the person, more general guidance may be enough.

Since we’re all hardwired differently, it may require you to release the need to have the project done exactly as you’d do it and acknowledge that there are other ways to get the task done with excellence.

Certainly, if there are rigid standards to the task, you’ll want to train the person completing the task. But often, it’s just a preference on how it’s done and doesn’t affect the final product. In fact, the person you’re delegating to could bring a much-needed perspective to the project.

Come to an agreement on the level of support or the number of touchpoints the person will need during their work on the project.

When the task or project is complete, always provide feedback.

Take it forward

Delegating empowers your people and gets the work done. Remember you can’t do it all. You need your team.

If you haven’t already done so, decide what are the high value activities that you need to accomplish. If you struggle with delegation, make sure you keep that list visible so it can be a reminder each day. Then decide which tasks you’ve been holding on to that you can release and start delegating.