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The Importance of Delegation in Business

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By Kayla Matthews

 

Delegation happens when you give at least one task to other people to handle. Many business professionals are reluctant to delegate because they want to remain in total control of their responsibilities. It’s natural to feel that way at first, but once you learn about the importance of delegation and the benefits it can bring to yourself and others, you should be more likely to engage in it.

1. Delegate in Ways That Maximize Your Value

When thinking about things you could do that could help you earn more, the things that come to mind are likely self-development or making sure your superiors know you’d be an excellent candidate for an upcoming promotion. Those things could help, but a 2016 HBR study that quantified the returns of delegation found that earnings capabilities go up when people delegate.

The research examined the payoffs from delegation occuring at law offices with partners and associates. It showed that, on average, a partner could earn 20 percent more by delegating, and top lawyers increased their earnings by as much as 50 percent through delegation.

Delegating enabled lawyers to spend more time with clients and handle complex tasks instead of routine ones. Then, the clients were willing to pay higher rates for the services.

You could apply this tip to whatever you do by thinking about which tasks you handle are most valuable to the company and the people you serve. Then, ponder which responsibilities prevent you from doing those things. By taking this approach, you should be able to see which duties are best left up to you, and how you could free up your time and excel by delegating.

Bill Gates is a well-known person who knows how to delegate. He did so by tasking his staff with going through his emails and determining which ones were most important. Gates recognized that reading emails wasn’t a valuable way to use his time, and you could do something similar.

2. Always Give Feedback

Distributing responsibilities to others can be a way to empower your employees. Delegation is an art, and you can do it better by offering both positive and negative feedback. Delegation itself can be a morale booster because it shows people that you trust them. Plus, positive feedback lets individuals know they’re doing well.

Negative feedback is just as essential, as long as it’s constructive criticism. Instead of merely telling a person what they’re doing wrong, be specific about how they could do better. Then, the worker can take action with your feedback, growing as a person and helping the company via improved performance.

Also, don’t wait to provide feedback until the person does something outstanding or makes a huge error. Continually providing feedback removes doubt that people will likely feel if they fear not living up to your expectations.

3. Take Time for Person-Task Matching

Delegation doesn’t mean assigning any task you’d rather not do to the closest person within earshot. You’ll be able to recognize the importance of delegation by carefully choosing tasks to delegate that align with the skills or goals of those who ultimately perform them. It’s also crucial to be aware of things like a person’s workload, how they handle pressure and if they work well on teams.

When people do handle responsibilities that fit them well, they’ll feel motivated and well-equipped. On the other hand, being asked to do an ill-suited task could make the person feel like you’re dumping things on them. Be aware of how certain tasks may cause a person to realize their potential and step outside of their comfort zone, too.

4. Provide Employees With the Resources They Need to Succeed

Handing a duty over to someone else requires you to give them all the authority and other resources necessary for doing the job to the best of their ability. As such, you may need to let relevant workers in other departments know that someone other than you is handling a particular responsibility.

Delegating correctly by providing resources as well as responsibility could make your company more productive overall. That’s because people spend less time waiting for you to make decisions and devote larger portions of their workdays to tackling the tasks you’ve given.

5. Give Guidelines and Ask for Input

Demonstrating effective delegation skills means setting a framework. People who delegate should be clear about what they want and need, as well as any associated timeframes. Also, if there are things a person taking care of a task absolutely must or must not do, those things should be spelled out at the start.

Additionally, it’s a good idea to ask the person receiving the task if they have ideas to improve what you outlined to them about the responsibility. The information they chime in with could make you realize that process improvements exist that could make the job less expensive or time-consuming. Seeking feedback also reminds the person that you care about what they think.

Delegation Can Provide Mutual Benefits

Psychological barriers often cause people to resist delegation and not recognize its importance. For example, you may assume you can do a task faster and better than anyone else without being open to letting someone else do it. But the information above highlights why delegation could help you and your employees alike — and in turn the whole company.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

 

Featured image credit: Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

Online work is never “done”

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This morning I woke up to the latest Google+ change to the cover photo and did a classic face-palm. I thought that was done. Handled. Taken care of.

Except, when your business is online, there is no “done.”

There’s a classic myth about King Sisyphus who was cursed to roll a huge boulder uphill only to watch the boulder roll back down and repeat the process. For eternity.

Perhaps that’s an extreme reference, but sometimes dealing with the shifting sands of online business feels that way, doesn’t it?

Don’t worry, we’re all in this together.

You can maintain your sanity with these handy tips:

Don’t get caught by surprise

Stay on top of breaking news in your niche and for online business in general. Sites like Mashable, ReadWrite, TechCrunch, and TheNextWeb all offer quick punches of information, and you can often get a heads-up on trends before they catch you flat-footed. Consider subscribing to the technical blogs of the big social networks, to get advance notice of design or other changes (like this post where Twitter warned of upcoming API changes).

Do your chores consistently

Set aside time each week for housekeeping, tweaking graphics, updating links, and fixing your site. If you schedule specific time to do this, you won’t end up shoehorning it in between client calls. Use a block of time consistently to line up chunks of content, or batch change graphics, or do other maintenance tasks.

Delegate if you can

Some repetitive tasks can be outsourced or delegated, so you can invest your own valuable time doing the things that only you can do. Find a virtual assistant, get a freelancer to write some content for you, or judiciously use automation tools to gain efficiency. One of Tim Ferriss’ key suggestions in The Four Hour Work Week is to use outsourcing as a time saver.

Finally, recognize that everyone else is scrambling to keep up too. We all have our boulders to roll.

(If you’d like to update your Google+ cover photo, you’ll need an eye-catching 2120 pixel by 1192 pixel picture that conveys your brand message.)

Do you have any tricks for keeping pace with constant online developments?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Twitter as @rhogroupee

 

Image: pasukaru76 via Flickr CC license.

Five Delegation Thinking Traps that Trip Almost Everyone Who Wants to Scale Up

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Scaling Up Requires Pushing Down Lower-Level Tasks

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In the companies I worked with and for, product development schedules were cyclical, with seriously tight deadlines at certain times of the year and a more relaxing pace when those deadline had been achieved. To even out this ebb and flow of deliverables, we would hire freelancers, off-sire staff, and development groups. Even the most entry-level full-time people were managing and influencing the performance of someone else.

The ability to influence another person’s performance in positive ways affected how quickly employees could grow in their individual roles. The ones who scaled up most quickly were the ones who understood that to take on higher-level tasks, they would have to delegate effectively the lower level tasks that they’d already mastered. They delegated well.

Those who couldn’t scale were often tripped up by five thinking traps.

  • We wait too long to get help. The thinking trap is I have to keep my eye on the ball, bite the bullet and get this done. When finally we look up, we still have three weeks worth of work to do and only 1 week to get it done. That thinking risks your reputation and the quality of the work. Solution: Track the time it takes to do one unit of work. Do the math to see how many units you can in a normal day and lower your that projection by 20% — to allow for the unforeseen problem or new project that comes your way. Asking someone to help when you start gives that person time to have a learning curve on the project.
  • We think can’t afford the training time. The thinking trap is It will take too much time to teach someone else. That thinking is a great way to stay stuck. Think you’ll have more time 3 days, 3 months, or 3 years from now? Solution: Take a look at what’s currently on your desk. What the work any intelligent person can do? Do it now and in three weeks the person you delegate to will be taking things off your desk.
  • We hand over the work too fast — without clearly communicating the scope of the task, expectations, or its importance. The thinking trap is A qualified person will know how to do this. A qualified person can’t know what we don’t tell. Solution: Carve out more time than you need to explain how the piece you’re delegating fits within the bigger project and to let the person know that you’re counting on him or her to do it well. Have the person do a small chunk and review it early to catch any miscommunication.
  • We keep doing the work even after we’ve assigned it someone else. The thinking trap is It’s faster if I correct this myself. We have to hand over accountability with the work. If we constantly rewrite and correct their work, the people we delegate to will figure out that no matter what they send we’ll be changing it. Solution: Clearly define and communicate the specifications of the work. Check the work against those specs. Send back the mistakes and missteps for correction. For example, when you hire a professional inputter, take your hands off the keyboard. Check for errors, but let the person make the corrections.
  • We think different is wrong. The thinking trap is I need to check and change this work because this person doesn’t have the ___ (dedication, experience, expertise…) It’s delegation critical to understand the difference between wrong and different. Someone else might do the work differently than you, but that difference may not make it wrong. Before you mark a correction, ask yourself Is this truly wrong or just different from how I might do or say it?.

Learning to delegate well is critical to growth. Anything we do ourselves limits the time we have to get to higher-level tasks. Want to scale up? Avoid these five thinking traps and you’ll be better equipped to recognize great candidates who can contribute to your success.

You may wonder how to find great delegation candidates, especially if you have little or no budget to begin. Look to the people around you — those who want experience in what you do. Talk to local colleges to find interns. Ask your friends. Finding the people to delegate to isn’t nearly as hard as learning to delegate well. It will also be easier to attract temporary help, the best VA, or volunteer interns, when you know exactly what the job specs are and how to communicate your needs. the people we delegate to will be more interested in making the same great choices we would make.

What else do you find critical to scaling up?

Be irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Help, I’m a workhorse and I’m stuck…

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by Patty Azzarello

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I recently received some input from a reader that defined the perfect storm of being stuck in the workhorse trap. Here it is…

I’m the workhorse for our volunteer emergency communicator group. There are 4 of us, but here lately I’ve been the only one answering the calls from the City for severe weather (tornadoes, severe hailstorms, etc.) even in the middle of the night. Problem is, by the time the City gets to me, they’ve already tried the other members with no luck. I’ve said something, but so far no results.

Since lives and property may be at stake, I feel it’s important to have someone doing the job. So, I do it—

But I say something to the rest of the group every time since the 5th time in a 3 day period– now, it’s been 13 times in a week that we’ve been called and I’m the only one who would answer the call. Okay one guy had surgery twice this week, first on his eye and again on his foot so he gets a pass. But the other 2? One is a definite flake and the other… well, I really don’t know.

I’m tired, and we still have more shots at being called again in the next 2 days. I feel bad saying “NO, SORRY– I can’t” when it’s the City Office of Emergency Management or the National Weather Service, but I might just have to, and tell them that I’m exhausted. After all, we’re VOLUNTEERS!

First, let’s look at the situation

1. THANK YOU. The world is a better place because of people like you that are willing to make personal sacrifice and step up when others need them.

2. Many people in their jobs feel like this. They feel they are the only one capable or available to the work. The work must get done, so they do it. Even though lives are typically not at stake, their values won’t let them drop the work.

3. In your case, lives are actually at stake! Truly, the work must get done.

4. Because you are all volunteers, there is no official way to insist that people do the work.

5. You have tried to raise the issue to get the rest of the team to step up to no avail – so you are stuck being the workhorse.
What can be done?

The first point to remember is that even if you can order people around, you are much better off if you can persuade them to be emotionally committed to doing the work. This makes everything better.

Second, it’s important to note that when I talk about getting out of workhorse mode, it is never about abandoning the work. The trick is to figure out how to get the critical work done without doing it all personally.

Sure, sometimes you need to work 24X7 when there is a crisis, a deadline, a big opportunity. The problem arises when that becomes a steady-state way of working.

If you want to get out of work-horse mode, don’t expect your manager or business partner to make it better.

YOU need to be the one to invent a new approach to make it better. Stick to your instincts that this is not right. Devise a plan to change it.

Here are some suggestions to improve the situation:

Your desired outcome:  Have other people to share the workload with.

There are two basic ways to achieve that outcome:

1. Get the people on the team to step up?
2. Get new people

Get People on the Team to Step Up

1. Record the data about what has happened. Data is not opinion or emotion. It can’t be argued with. Keep a record of all the phone calls that were made and what the response was from each team member.

Call a meeting of the whole team and share the data. Ask everyone to comment on it.

2. Discuss the team’s desired outcome. What does successful service look like? What will it require? Ask everyone to contribute to the definition of the process and the required commitment and responsibility.

Be really clear what the responsibilities are. Ask everyone on the team to talk about their ability to respond to their share of responsibilities.

3. Create an actual calendar for who is on call each day. Set an expectation that if you commit to be on call that you WILL ANSWER. Have everyone sign off on the schedule as a group commitment to one another.

4. Be super clear that there are only two choices, sign and commit or leave the group. There is no room for broken commitments when it is a matter of life or death.

If you are afraid of losing people on the team by doing this, remember that the people who are NOT answering the phone on a regular basis are not part of the team anyway. (They shouldn’t get to talk big and pretend they are a volunteer if they don’t do the work.)

They are not helping. Ask them to leave. Get new people who will be committed members of the team.

Get new people

A critical factor of getting out of workhorse mode is making sure that you have a team that is capable of doing the job.

No matter how vital the work is, staying in work-horse mode long term is the wrong answer.

You need to take it upon yourself to create a team or a process that can get the work done that really matters, without burning up your time personally.

If your current team can’t cut it, you have to change the team.

If you are an individual, you need to influence. You need re-negotiate the work to focus on the most critical outcomes, and recommend a new, better process that achieves the desired outcome in a different way.

In any organization, volunteer or business, people get burned out, leave, or have other priorities come up in life. It is important that you are always cultivating a pipeline of new people that can (and want to do) the job.

When you look at the people who are not performing, decide “Can’t or Won’t”.

Can’t you can work with, Won’t is not worth the trouble.

Cut them loose. Get people who are motivated to help. That will be your only way out of workhorse mode long term whether you are in a group of volunteers or leading a business team.

Also, there are lots more ideas about workhorse traps and escape routes in Chapter 3 of my book, Rise… They Shoot Workhorses, Don’t they?
What do you think?

IF you have any other ideas for this generous and tired emergency response volunteer, please share them in the comment box below!

12 Outstanding Managers Share How They Delegate for Success

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Take Too Long to Teach Someone? How Long Will It Take if You Don’t?

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Personal bandwidth who has enough?
Whether we work for a huge corporation or work for ourselves, learning to ask for help in positive, profitable ways is a learned skill. We all have to learn to delegate well or we can’t grow beyond what we can do by ourselves and do well. Without delegation skills, we’ll be stuck as builders, line item worker, mid-level of execution because we won’t be able to …

  • grow past what one person can do in day.
  • trust people who have skills we don’t.
  • move to higher level thinking by passing on what early learners can do.

With that thought in mind, I asked 12 outstanding managers (13 if you count me) this question …

How do you delegate responsibility to inspire the best performance from people you work with?

Here’s what they said.

Know the Outcome You Want

The key to be really clear on what you are looking in a position or on a specific project — and by that I mean, first with yourself. If you don’t have a clear idea in your own mind — if you instead have only a vague notion — it’s pretty difficult for anyone who works with you. And that’s a frustration for everyone. Do I sound like I’ve been there? Uh.. yeah! — Ann Handley

Work with and Trust the Right People

Simple as it sounds, sometimes we reach for the nearest person to help, rather than taking time to identify the person best suited for the work we have. Taking a moment to look at the skills required and match the person to the job can make a HUGE difference in the success of a job.

You are correct, not having enough time to get everything done is a top concern for most of us. I know it is for me. I think that the key is to recognize that you absolutely cannot do it all on your own. And the responsibilities will only increase, so it becomes a necessity to bring in an assistant or even a team to help with time-draining details. Spend time hiring the RIGHT people that can be reliable and trustworthy and then TRUST THEM TO DO IT. — Kelly Olexa

I make sure to delegate squarely in the sweet spot of the other individual’s skill set, which usually maps to one of my weaknesses. This gives the teammate the opportunity to take ownership and feel important (which, in fact, they are!) — Steve Woodruff

First, pick and work with great people, if you want the best performance. Second, never let an issue fester, when you could address with an open honest, if painful, communication. — Becky McCray

Set Clear Expectations

Often when we work with someone we respect, we “endow” that person with great traits. We unconsciously assume he or she will deliver things that we don’t mention when we “hand over” a task.

Clearly state the task to be done, set a clear goal and give feedback when the task is completed — Barry Moltz

I am a control freak, so it is not in my nature to delegate. It has to be a process of discussion and mutual trust, then I let go (as best as I can). This means agreeing time frame, ensuring the person I am delegating to knows EXACTLY what is expected of them, and talking through everything they need before they can get started. — Chris Garrett

First, I make sure I’m clear about what I’m delegating. In other words, I try to make clear the work I expect the person to complete and the decisions that they will be responsible for making.

Second, I try my hardest to trust. This is the only way to not be a micro-manager. Truth is, people have brains and ideas of their own…they might make choices that are different than what I would choose. When they do, I want to learn how why they did, so I ask their rationale. More often that not, it’s sound.

Combined, I believe that these two things allow me to get the best performance from the people I work with. — Scott Porad

Let People Know Why You’re Counting on Their Performance

To get great work, communicate how it important a project is and why it’s important. Let people know that you’re counting on them for their best. Nothing ruins performance more than thinking someone might come behind us to “redo” what we’ve just done.

I get the best results when I explain not only the tasks at hand but also the purpose. Understanding the reason why something needs to be done and the general purpose / objectives behind the work gives the person performing the work extra insight and inspiration to do their best. — Carol Roth

Rather than delegating responsibility I try to delegate “soul”. Always make sure the person knows “why” what I am doing and delegating is so important to me. It becomes an emotional bond rather than a functional responsibility. — Hank Wasiak

Be There After the Assignment

It’s a risk to delegate and forget a project. Often a check back will reveal something that we’ve not communicated well. Sometimes a question or an offer to “take a look” can empower someone to perform at even higher levels.

I work my best to create simple systems and empower those I work with by asking how I can serve them to get the job done better, easier, and faster. — Lewis Howes

Value Great Performance

Everyone likes to be paid well, but payment comes in many forms. Gratitude for great work, referrals, and citations add to the mix of what inspires people to want to do their best work for us.

Explain the task. Illustrate its importance. Communicate the benefit to them. Then make sure the benefit happens. Even if it’s just a “good job” you can’t forget the praise or next time they’ll forget to follow through. — Jason Falls

and Remember to Delegate Even When You Don’t Want to …

The point is that delegating today might mean that it will take you two days to teach someone how to do something, but two days from now they’ll know how … If you don’t delegate now, two days from now you’ll still be someone who has to go it alone.

I suck at actually IMPLEMENTING this, but I DO try to remember it as guidance….learned it from a smart guy on an Admiral’s staff….

“It’s not a question of ‘What must I do?’ It’s a question of ‘What must get done?’ Stuff has to get done, but that does not mean that I – personally – must do it.”

— Sheila Scarborough

Asking for help clearly with focus on the person and the work that needs doing can actually improve our performance and make our value greater. After all, who doesn’t know someone who does something better than we do?

Where might a little delegation raise your visiblity, your performance, and the amount of work you get done?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Five Critical Pitfalls that Can Disable Any Social Media Team

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A Team Needs Power to Work

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As you consider and hire the people for your social media team, think through the responsibilities you’ll be handing over. Because if you don’t hand over responsibility, accountability and the corresponding power, you’ll be be setting the team up for failure.

Now, if that’s your purpose – to ensure failure. You can do that by first setting aside any leadership skills you’ve learned and tapping into your own insecurity. Get closer to your fear of change and cling tight to what used to work. Repeat after me

If this social media thing works, I might have to change how I do things or worse they might take my job.

If you read that without a smile, then maybe it’s time to click away, because this is really is about how to make your life easier by building a powerful social media team who will take work and worries off your desk.

Yes, the worries too … because if you can avoid these five critical pitfalls they’ll on your team and be making the same great choices you would make in the social media situations they face.

  • Pitfall 1: Change your team’s priorities randomly and often. Make each day a moving target. As soon as they start to look good at one thing, place your focus on a different aspect of the job.
  • Pitfall 2: Don’t allow them time to develop a realistic social strategy. Ask for a schedule that will have them up and using every tool you can name before they have enough time to learn it’s nuances and relational value. Just pull out a calendar. Then hold them to dates they can’t control.
  • Pitfall 3: Develop a plan for resources and budget, but don’t share it. That way they’ll have to ask permission for every paperclip they need to use. They won’t be able to have a viable idea, let alone respond to someone on social site.
  • Pitfall 4: Focus heavily on a quality and communication standard that requires every word to be vetted by 14 approval stages before it can go live. Remove all sense of trust in the people you hire. Train them to fear failure, mistakes, and problems. Then complain about the lack of response to customers.
  • Pitfall 5: Constantly point to misbehavior of customers that have spoken out against other companies. Live by a defensive motto of us versus the “users.” Never allow or invite customers to offer input or reach out to build relationships with the people who buy or use your company’s products.

The pleasures of the pitfalls are that they will keep a team “on their toes” and so busy trying to make something happen, they won’t have a chance to do something that will build anything.

On the other hand, if you want a peak-performing social media team let them onto the field.

  • Hire people who love serving people and give them clear goals and priorities.
  • Choose the people who love the company’s mission and let them build a practical strategy to achieve it. Give them time to move slowly onto the social web as they know the tools.
  • Give them the resources — people and tools — they need to perform well.
  • Train them how mature online relationships work and trust them to ask when things get critical or need legal counsel.
  • Encourage them to advocate for customers and ways for customers to build relationships with the company and each other.

The pleasures of opening the door to peak performance is a team that grows, keeps learning, and turns customers into fiercely loyal fans.

What are the pitfalls of social media management you’ve discovered? What do you see that leads a team to peak performance?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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