A Game-changer....The Gentle Art of Delegation

A Game-changer....The Gentle Art of Delegation

A great and highly recommended book that I point my clients in the direction of is Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. Having read it clients tend to take a good look at their own leadership skills in the metaphorical mirror, some also feel the need to upgrade their delegation skills. It’s interesting to note that those that take the effort to improve their delegation skills also report that their businesses are just that little bit easier to run.

Are you good at delegating?

A great many business owners, executives and managers struggle with delegation. The most common excuse I get for not delegating is people feel it takes more time to delegate and quality of work isn’t as good so they might as well do it themselves. Yet delegation when carried out correctly is an extremely valuable tool and has two major benefits for you the business owner, executive or manager:

·         It will free up your time so that you can focus on the tasks that add the most value to your business and not those that are well below your pay grade.

·        By empowering others and helping them to grow you are developing future leaders.

A useful distinction here is to note the difference between delegation and abdication. Abdication is giving someone a task without any direction and hoping they get it right. Delegation on the other hand is giving someone a task whilst you still retain responsibility for the outcome of the task.

Delegation is not a waste of time it is an investment in time.

Make a list of the tasks that you are carrying out on a day to day basis. Now mark each task on a scale of 1-10 how much do you enjoy doing this task (10 = Love it) then mark again on a scale of 1-10 how much skill does it take to do the task (10 = high level of skill)

Now pick one task that has scored low on both the skill and enjoyment scale and ask yourself “Why am I holding onto this task” at some level you have a resistance to handing it over.

Make a list of your reasons for not delegating the task.

Now make a list of the reasons that you should delegate the task. What would be different in your world if someone else could effectively do the task?  If this view of the future excites you it will be worth your while moving forward with the delegation process and follow these four steps:

1.   You watch me doing

First you need to identify someone with the correct knowledge, skillset, attitudes and ability to learn and is willing to take on the task. Failure to identify the right person will inevitably lead to the cry of “I might as well do it myself”.  Once you have identified the right person have them watch you carry out the task. This will take no extra time because you are doing the task anyway. A really useful exercise is to get this person to document the steps as you go through them this will then form the basis for the future systemisation of your business.

2.   Now you help me do it

Now repeat the task whilst the other person helps you whilst at the same time reviewing, updating and adding to their original notes. This step may take a little longer but is so worthwhile and it is always good to remind yourself of the benefits of delegating the task that you identified above.

3.   I help you whilst you carry out the task

It’s time to take a step back and observe your delegatee carrying out the task whilst following their own notes. At times, you may have to step in and assist them. Look for the bottlenecks in their process and learning, ask questions to help them deepen the learning whilst also identifying any future training needs.

4.   You complete the task whilst I observe

Now have the person carry out the task using their notes whilst you observe. You may have to overcome the urge to step in and help them just to speed things up. The key to this step is to get them to think for themselves, so if they ask you a question use the ‘hedgehog’ technique and fire a question back at them with the aim of getting   them think. For instance, “Looking at your notes – what do you think you should do?”

When I suggest delegating tasks to the people I work with the main kick back I get is ‘the process takes too much time’. The challenge with this approach is, you will have to use your time to do the task anyway, and these tasks are holding you back from focusing on your true value to business. So ask yourself “What is the true cost to the business if I hold onto this task and how long am I prepared to put up with that?”

Learning the art of delegation has to be one of the biggest opportunities open to you to find the time you need to actively work ON your business.

I would be interested in your comments and to learn if you have a different/better system for delegation that is working for you?