Every leader knows they cannot do everything on their own. Part of their role is to analyze the company’s goals and decide which tasks to delegate out, and to whom.
To delegate successfully, a leader must possess good understanding of their team’s collective capabilities and capabilities of individual members within the team. Next, a leader needs to ensure availability of necessary resources to deliver on delegated tasks. Finally, and most importantly, a leader must offer guidance through regular feedback and coaching to ensure delegated tasks are on track.
Leaders know they are accountable for tasks delegated to their teams irrespective of their direct involvement in executing the work. They understand their team’s performance is a reflection of their own performance as leaders, which makes supporting their teams a crucial part of their leadership agenda.
There are generally eight (8) components for a successful work delegation:
1. Tasks: clarity on what exactly needs to be done; tasks must be as specific as possible (reference SMART Goals blog)
2. Priorities: the sequence in which tasks must be done
3. Timelines: when tasks need to be completed by
4. Skills: knowledge, capabilities and experience needed to complete tasks
5. Skill Mapping: aligning tasks to those with best-fit skills to complete assigned tasks (aka who can do what)
6. Trust: faith that the people with assigned tasks will successfully complete them
7. Communication Schedule: regular check-ins to report progress
8. Autonomy: freedom to do the assigned work in a style best-fit to the individuals/teams assigned to the task
Aided by the eight components above, leaders can delegate tasks with ease and track progress throughout the year. This process facilitates a smooth and fair performance management cycle with no hidden surprises, which, in turn, feed into equity in the work environment.
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