Learning How to Delegate Effectively Is Essential for New Executives

Delegating is a vital executive skill, and if you haven’t mastered it, you need to do so fast. As you rise in an organization, you’ll find that your workload grows significantly, and your managers are less concerned with how you’ll get everything done. It’s up to you to manage it and get it done with your team’s help.As a new executive, you must establish some free time in your day to learn about your industry, think strategically about the future and carefully consider big decisions. You’ll need help to take care of day-to-day tasks while you look at possibilities for the organization that extend into the future — and that’s why you have a team.But no matter what your level is in an organization, it can be difficult to let go of tasks you feel you can do better or more quickly than others. You may find it difficult to trust others to make the decisions you think are correct, and you may feel like you need to hold onto tasks out of conscientiousness. These feelings are common, but will affect your team’s productivity and your effectiveness as a leader. You must learn how to delegate effectively to succeed.

3 Traits of Leaders Who Delegate Effectively

There are several traits that make delegation easier, and cultivating them can help you learn how to delegate effectively. As you become comfortable with your new role, look for ways to practice these traits.

• Patience. Exercising patience can be a painful process, especially for hard-charging up-and-comers who have been steadily climbing the career ladder. Remember you need to step back from some tasks and dedicate the time you save to strategic thinking. It may help to view passing on time-consuming and complex chores to other employees as an investment in their development, too.

• Discipline. While delegating means other people are doing the work, you still need to have the discipline to follow up and ensure the work was completed correctly. As your team’s leader, the ultimate responsibility for the work remains with you.

• Desire for growth, in yourself and in others. Because delegating can be painful or difficult, you need to be able to see the value in it. When people are given tasks to complete, they can use the experience to rise to the occasion and boost their careers, or learn something from failure. Delegating can help you learn new skills as you encourage learning in others.

Each of these traits ties in with the others — patience comes from discipline, a desire for growth can help bolster patience, and so on. As you practice these, they will become easier and more natural for you.

5 Steps to Delegate Effectively

Following a formal delegation model can help you learn to delegate more easily and effectively. Go through these steps as you delegate to ensure you don’t overlook something important.

• Describe what you want done. Have a clear task and outcome in mind when you talk with a team member about a task you’re delegating. Provide background and context for the task.

• Make sure the person understands the task. Ask open-ended questions to ensure your employee has all the necessary information. Instead of saying, “Do you understand how to finish this?” ask “How are you going to approach this?”

• Follow up. Remember, even though someone else is doing the work, you’re still responsible for the outcome. Check in when you say you’re going to and review the work to see where it stands.

• Provide support. It’s a recipe for disaster to give someone a task if they don’t have the resources to complete it. Ensure they have the equipment, time and support to do the work you ask them to do.

• Give feedback. Don’t forget this is a growth opportunity for your employee. Talk about the outcome and the process, and identify areas to improve next time around.

Need help teaching your organization’s leaders how to delegate effectively? Contact us.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.