How to improve delegation skills

Most people have been guilty of missing good opportunities to delegate tasks to others. Some might believe they’re the best person to complete a task, or that it will take longer to hand it over to someone else than complete it themselves. Alternatively, they might not feel they can trust the quality of others’ work.

Whatever the reason, we do both ourselves, and our colleagues a disservice when we fail to delegate, as well as cause potential impacts on wider workflow, professional development, team management and capacity planning.

The best leaders know how to delegate work, when to delegate it, and who to delegate it to.

What are delegation skills?

Any individual whose responsibilities include managing and supervising either team members or group projects must become adept at delegation. A key skill for managers and team leaders alike, effective delegation not only supports the smooth management of both people and tasks but can contribute to broader, positive impacts across the workplace.

Delegation is the transfer of responsibility for specific tasks from one person to another. Delegation skills, therefore, are those which support this transfer and lead to its overall success. They can include resource selection, understanding employees’ strengths, effective feedback and problem-solving, among many others. While there are plenty to choose from, Indeed lists three of the most essential delegation skills as: communication, time management, and trust.

Strong communication skills are the cornerstone of successful delegation. It’s important to provide clear instructions if a task is to be completed correctly. This requires good written and verbal skills, active listening, and an ability to establish open, two-way dialogue and assess understanding. Time management is required to convey deadlines and key task milestones to team members, but also manage individual delegated tasks alongside others in line with wider team projects and responsibilities. Trust is key; employees need to feel empowered, autonomous and respected if they are to thrive and complete tasks to the best of their ability. Individuals have been delegated work for a reason – trust them to make their own decisions and complete it.

What are the benefits of delegating?

There are many reasons why a manager or team leader may need to delegate. It may be a daily requirement in certain workplaces, or an occasional event in others, but will always depend largely on the nature of individual teams, projects and working styles.

Whatever the scale or frequency of delegation, for well-practised managers there is a host of business benefits to be had.

• Specific tasks and responsibilities end up with the individuals best placed to complete them, playing to employees’ strengths and producing optimum results.
• Team members are empowered to manage their own workloads and progress tasks independently and using their own initiative, with the potential to increase their autonomy if they are allowed some choice over the tasks and projects in which they are involved.
• Workload is shared more equally across available staff members, minimising bottlenecks and allowing managers to closely match work allocation with capacity. This has the added benefit of helping teams to avoid burnout, manage stress levels and increase overall wellbeing.
• Team members are provided with opportunities to develop professionally, taking on tasks requiring skills or experience they would like to acquire and that serve to extend their capabilities.
• Project management is more easily facilitated and teams become more productive in terms of both output and quality of delivery.
• A greater sense of cohesion and community is fostered among teams as they pursue wider team objectives and support one another.
• Managers and other members of the team are freed up to work on more strategic tasks or focus on other projects that demand specific attention or skills.

How to improve delegation skills

While, initially, delegating work to others may not feel entirely comfortable – particularly for someone used to completing tasks single-handedly – the good news is there is plenty of scope to improve. After some practice and getting into the habit of delegating, it soon begins to feel more natural. Here are a handful of tips to help get started:

Consider the skill set of who you are delegating work to – ensure the right tasks are given to the right people. Training underpins whether or not a team member is adequately prepared to pick up a delegated task. Utilise peer-to-peer training and templates, identify any skills gaps, and ensure teams are prepared and empowered with the competencies and knowledge to deliver good work.

Avoid micromanaging. Once you’ve entrusted co-workers with certain tasks, actively trust them. While the two words are often used interchangeably, delegation goes further than the straightforward assignment of work: It involves a degree of freedom and autonomy where the individual is responsible for their own work. Instead of constantly monitoring their progress and making suggestions on how to address each stage, let them design their own approaches and make their own decisions where possible.

Use appropriate tools to good effect where useful. Managers and team members can work as part of a wider whole via popular platforms such as Trello, Wrike, Microsoft Planner and Asana. As well as helping to anticipate upcoming tasks and delegate them to co-workers, individuals can filter boards to easily see what is allocated to them and when specific tasks are due.

The delegation process

While the delegation process does not need to be formalised, it is useful for leaders and managers to ensure a number of important steps are present.

1. Plan and prepare. Identify the task that can be delegated, what it involves, who it should be delegated to and the outcome required.
2. Outline and discuss the task. Sit down with the individual – or individuals – and engage them in a clear discussion regarding the task and the desired outcome. It’s useful to set expectations and also highlight why they have been chosen to complete the task; this can be empowering, motivating and can support their professional growth.
3. Set the deadline. Ensure deadlines are achievable and realistic, building in ‘buffer periods’ if possible – particularly if a team member is undertaking a new task for the first time. It’s also important to ensure the task is balanced alongside existing workload and responsibilities.
4. Clarify the level of authority. Is final sign-off required? Is there sufficient experience to act independently? What decision-making is required and who is responsible? These elements are variable and will depend on the overall risk status of the task.
5. Establish checkpoints. Check in at key milestones throughout the task to review progress and ensure any support or training is being provided. Checkpoints offer useful opportunities to provide guidance, encouragement and coaching.
6. Conduct a debriefing. Also known as ‘wash-up’, debriefings are valuable, two-way discussions that reflect on how the delegated task was carried out and completed. As well as what went well about the task and praise, they are vehicles to offer constructive criticism and also to ask if they required more from someone as delegator.

Learn how to delegate tasks with confidence and clarity

Grow into your role as an effective, inspirational leader with the University of Lincoln’s online MBA Leadership programme.

Alongside successful delegation, you’ll gain expertise across a broad range of leadership fundamentals – and develop a suite of key leadership skills – to help you succeed in senior positions throughout your career. Through flexible study to suit you, you’ll explore areas such as workforce planning, change management, strategic decision-making, financial management, entrepreneurship, marketing and more.