7 Tips for Better Delegation
GOALS: Efficiency, Effectiveness and Improved Productivity for you and your team
Image via Pixabay
by Patty DeDominic, Coach to Million Dollar Business Owners
Sometimes, your workload is simply too much for one sane person to bear, and you need tools AND helpers, combined with clear priorities to finish projects on time. A valuable long-term strategy to deal with the increased workload is to become a better, more strategic deleter or delegator.
Identify and utilize the strength of your team’s own resources - such as partners, subordinates, subcontractors, or interns - to, more strategically distribute the workflow and get the best results
Try implementing these 7 principles as guides to maximizing the efficiency in your work environment:
1. Identify key opportunities for delegation. Your time and focus go to the most impactful items that must be handled by you. You have earned your position in the company because you have the experience to execute the work successfully.
Identify your A and B level activities, those create the most value for your company and customers. Determine busy work and plan to delete, defer, or delegate those tasks that don’t require your skills and delegate to others.
2. Do a skills inventory. Identify your needs and ways to keep people engaged in their highest and best uses of time. Use SMART goals.
3. Establish a clear set of objectives for each task. Discuss what success looks like on the project. It is key that communication is clear to ensure specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time dated. When delegating, ensure the colleague or contractor understands the goal and deadline.
4. Play to strengths. Like you, your coworkers also have unique skill sets, preferences, and talents. Recognizing what those are and delegating tasks that play to their strengths often produce the greatest efficiency.
Outsource to experts or automate the tasks if you can. Think creatively and once assigned, ask the doer to document the How-To’s of the process.
5. Agree on Due Dates! Timelines keep people focused and hold us accountable. This is especially useful for tasks not having a strict deadline, or complicated tasks that will encounter several milestones before being completed. Work together to establish a mutually agreed-upon timeline, from the beginning of the task's delegation to its final execution. Inspect what you Expect. Guide or coach or appreciate the efforts along the way.
Be sure to select realistic dates and timelines so they are achievable, but progressive enough that they inspire your workers to keep the task top-of-mind.
6. Delegate don’t ABDICATE! Micromanagement is not appreciated and will hinder productivity. Strive to be insightful and sensitive keeping in mind the desired end-result when choosing who to delegate a specific task to.
Never “DUMP-and-RUN” – Rather, delegate, discuss, and let them do. Follow up occasionally, especially for long-term tasks. Give your employee the opportunity to bring up any questions or obstacles that have arisen. Set reminders for yourself to follow up occasionally and ensure the task's timely, effective completion. Agree on points for progress checks and what the END Result Looks Like.
7. Thank and appreciate results as well as efforts. Use a feedback loop to make future delegation easier. Successful delegation is a result of successful relationship management, and relationships take the commitment of multiple people. After delegating your tasks, follow up, express your thanks and appreciation in a sincere compliment or shout out.
Some professionals fear delegation because it means relying on an outside party to execute quality work. If you surround yourself with capable and reliable people and systems, work gets done faster and better. Delegating effectively is an important skill to develop, especially as your business grows.
You may want to read a few great books on leading teams. One of my favorites is 4 Disciplines of Execution by Sean Covey.
Patty DeDominic is a business coach to businesses exceeding $10 million in annual sales. Named CEO of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal, she also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from two United States Presidents and built, grew, then sold a 600-employee firm that is now part of a billion-dollar staffing leader.
dedominic.com or text me at 805 453 7490 to see if we can help you find more than a few hundred thousand hidden in your business. We did with 4 new clients this quarter. My goal is to help clients net one million more before year-end!