Trusting your team with parts of your workload can be a difficult and stressful task, particularly for entrepreneurs who are used to doing everything themselves. The old adage that says, if want something done right, do it yourself, simply isn’t valid, or correct.
Delegating work is an essential skill for business owners, team managers and HOD’s, and it’s surprisingly difficult to master. To help, we’ve gathered some great advice from professionals who’s job depends on the efficient and effective delegation of work.
Julie Cooper, Founder of Spring Development
Our first contributor is Julie Cooper, an innovative trainer and author in the fields of soft skills and management development. She has a special interest in helping others develop one to one skills.
Julie says that, “I believe delegation skills can define a manager’s career. If your team are motivated and willing to go the extra mile, the manager’s job is easy. How you delegate plays a key role in getting your people to perform at the top of their game.”
“Good delegation gets results, but it also increases the skills of the team. As experience and confidence grows, you can delegate more, freeing up your time for other things.”
Top Tips:
- Be willing to let go of some of your favourite tasks. If you just delegate the dull or difficult tasks that you don’t want to do, what impact do you think that will have on the other person’s motivation, or opinion of you? Take an objective view of what needs doing. Try dividing all your tasks into must/should/could/must not delegate, according to the bigger picture, not your own whims.
- Check that your instructions are understood. Do this by asking your team member to explain them back to you. Also make sure they understand why they are doing the task. Seeing how the pieces fit together to make the big picture is critical to getting them on your side and feeling part of the team.
- Monitor to meet their needs – not yours. Find out what type of supervision will suit their workstyle best, and try to do that. Sit on your desire to micromanage or abdicate responsibility. You have requirements, such as a need for information on progress, how you want the task done and how much freedom you are prepared to give. The staff member requires instructions that they can understand, a level of support, the authority to proceed, and the confidence to get the job done. Explore both sides well, reach agreement, and you won’t go far wrong.
- Be committed to their success. If you’re not committed to them, they won’t be to you. At best, you’ll get compliance, which is often the minimum amount of effort. Commitment largely comes from the quality of the relationship, so work at it and let them know you’ve got their back. Putting people first will, in the long run, will get you the best results.
“Remember, it isn’t just about the task – it is an opportunity to develop an individual or team, giving them the chance to achieve and shine.
Marc Defosse, Managing Director of Ribbonfish
Our next contributor is Marc Defosse, Managing Director of Ribbonfish, a London-based team that develop Salesforce solutions and ingenious enterprise applications for clients all over the world. Follow Ribbonfish at twitter.com/RibbonFishTeam.
“Admittedly, I have a turbulent relationship with the delegation of tasks at Ribbonfish, but I understand it’s necessary to drive the business forward as we grow!”
1. I generally feel good about delegation, although I do expect my employees to achieve the same high standards that I set myself. Ensuring this quality is difficult, and relinquishing control of tasks and projects has been a very gradual process. There are some parts of our business that I rarely get stuck into anymore, with support being one area. I know the team have got it covered, so I only dip in for occasional meetings and progress updates.
2. However, people still need to be guided, reminded of their responsibilities, and encouraged to continuously improve. Being somewhat hands-on does help in this regard.
3. Despite an unavoidable increase in the delegation of work, I never want to put myself in an ivory tower, and always want to remain in touch with the team’s activities and the projects we’re running. Stepping out of reality is dangerous for a business owner, as you lose perspective on your team’s capabilities, but also your team’s morale and productivity.
Vicky Matthews, Founder of Pink Spaghetti PA Services
Vicky Matthews’ background includes work with a wide range of companies, from national charities to PR agencies. She brought all of her diverse skills and experience to bear in founding Pink Spaghetti. Here are her top tips when it comes to delegating work:
1. Define project tasks and communicate them clearly to avoid any confusion and to ensure the task is done how you want it
2. Set up a way to monitor progress of any tasks delegated (dropbox is a great sharing tool and allows everyone to stay upto speed) and give feedback on tasks completed.
3. Allow for creativity and variations in work style. Everyone works in a different way but as long as the ask is completed let them manage how they do it. They might have a better way!
We hope this edition of Tips From the Experts has provided you with some valuable advice on delegating work. Find more articles like this in the business tips section.