Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.
Delegation is one of the core tasks of leadership. And it is also one of the hardest. Done right, delegation can improve employee engagement, contribute to individual growth, and free up time & resources to focus on more strategic tasks. Done wrong and it can lead to bruised egos, lack of confidence & trust among team members and costly mistakes. How do we strike a balance between delegation and control? How do we, as leaders, resist the temptation to micromanage everything? Here are some thoughts:
No One Is Indispensable
We all like to think that we are essential. The work that we do is crucial to the success of our team, our community, our organization. And while that may be true, it is also true that work doesn’t stop for any one individual. Tasks may get delayed or may not be executed to your personal level of perfection, but work doesn’t stop. If it does, then there are other serious problems within the organization.
You’re Only as Strong as Your Weakest Link
The strength of a team lies in the ability of its team members to work together AND individually. There is an inherent trust that your team has your back; a belief that you can rely on them in crunch time. Simply put, a team is a group of individuals working together with an intent to achieve a common goal. Delegation is a crucial part of this process. It allows individual members of the team to contribute to the success of the whole group. It enables each member to learn and grow.
If You Don’t Delegate, You Can’t Grow
If you are the only person who can do your job, you are highly likely to stay stagnant in your current position. And that’s ok, if you are satisfied with your job. But if you are not, then look at delegation from a strategic point of view. One of the hidden benefits of delegation and teamwork is that you are inadvertently succession-planning for your position. Delegation allows you to successfully demonstrate that you know your job well enough to be able to teach it to someone else. And that means you are ready to move on to your next challenge. If you are working towards your next promotion, or even planning a lateral move, identify & train your successor. Delegation can help with that.
So Where Does This Leave Us?
There are many benefits of delegation. It allows you to build a strong team in which everyone is capable of performing each other’s task. It boosts employee morale because it enables team members to display their skill and competence. Most importantly, delegation allows you to identify a successor to your current position, which in turn can lead to your own growth.
But delegation is not an easy task. It requires time and patience – time to assess and understand the skill level of the employee, and patience to share the information and the know-how required to perform the desired task. In other words, it requires a coaching frame of mind that focuses on the long-term growth of the employee and empowers them to gain more independence by demonstrating competency.
There are many tools that can help you strike the right balance between exerting just enough control and taking a step back. One such tool is the two-step “Delegation Dial”, developed by Sabina Nawaz, to help you evaluate and then delegate. And of course, we at Bento Coach can help you develop a bespoke plan that takes into account your team requirements and long-term organization plans, including succession planning.
How do you delegate? What are some of the challenges you face when faced with delegation? Do let us know in your comments.