Struggling with Delegation? Tips to Get Started.
Delegation empowers employees, develops leaders, and drives innovation. Even with these significant benefits, leaders often name delegation as an area for improvement. Why? It takes intention, time, and a willingness to transfer responsibilities to direct reports. If you want to improve leadership delegation, consider these actionable steps as starting points.
Organizing and facilitating team meetings.
Your regular team gathering is a great way to begin delegating. Ask a member of the team to prepare the agenda, to take the meeting notes, and to distribute the notes following the meeting. Consider having a direct report run the team meeting and facilitate discussions. Encourage creativity in style while achieving the outcomes for your meetings.
Attending meetings in your place.
Look at next week’s calendar. Chances are, you have several meetings scheduled. Could a direct report attend one in your stead? Clearing it with meeting attendees is a way to ensure the direct report’s successful participation. Ask the direct report to debrief you after the meeting and discuss what they learned.
Covering specific tasks when you are out of the office.
Heading out of town for vacation or business meetings? When you are out of the office, your team is there to support you before, during, and after the event. Spread tasks among direct reports. A carefully crafted out of office directs correspondence to someone on your team who is trusted to handle requests or issues in your absence. Create a team culture that encourages everyone on the team to do the same, especially when on vacation.
Getting curious in 1:1 meetings to understand delegation opportunities.
You meet with direct reports individually. To learn more about delegation opportunities, ask the following questions:
How can I help you grow?
What aspects of my role/our department are interesting to you?
Is there something you would like to learn to enhance your skill set?
Take note of opportunities to delegate in the future. When leaders devote time and energy to employee growth, they enhance the trust in the relationship.
Delegation is an important way to show direct reports you are confident in their abilities and invested in their growth. Get curious about the actions you can take to delegate to direct reports, invest the time to train them, and seek out the same growth with your own leader.
Dr. Katie Stone is the founder of Together Evolving. Email Katie at katie.stone@togetherevolving.com to learn more about the transformational impact coaching has on you and your leadership.