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THE SIX ESSENTIAL STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL DELEGATION

Delegation is more than simply issuing orders.

Delegating is all about getting someone to accept personal accountability for the performance of a task.

Many managers are poor at delegating tasks to staff, and end up having to do all the work themselves.

 By using this set of steps you will ensure that staff understand what they need to do and that you can be confident to let them get on with the job.

1. Provide background information on what is needed and why it is necessary.

2. Describe specifically what is needed, and what you want the person to do.

3. Ask the person for questions about the task/project.

4. Give answers to technical questions. Give empathy to questions related to feelings.

5. Commit to provide specific further information/support. Set follow up date(s).

6. Ask for help and commitment to make the task succeed.

The steps needed to ensure that an employee understands the task and will perform it willingly are expanded below, with illustrations of phrases which could be used.

Step 1.           Provide background information on what is needed and why it is necessary.

The purpose of this step is to prepare the person to accept the task.

Think about it: How would you feel about a task if you didn’t fully understand what was expected of you?

Think about it: Explaining why it is necessary to you or the organisation can enhance the other person’s self-esteem, or make them aware of the bigger picture.

Typical phraseology:

"I have been asked to provide a summary report on X for the Monday meeting. You are the person most closely involved with X and communication skills is one of the development areas we identified at your last appraisal, so I want you to produce the report."

This gambit leaves no room for doubt. Note the use of specific rather than general words:

“You are the person most closely involved” not “You are one of the people involved”.

“We identified” not “We talked about”.

“I want you to” not “I would like you to”.

Step 2.           Describe specifically what is needed, and what you want the person to do.

The purpose of this step is to make clear your expectations.

Think about it: The level of detail obviously depends on the person’s familiarity with this type of task. You will irritate experienced people if you go into too much detail because you will be implying that they can’t think for themselves. For someone brand new to this type of task you will need to be more precise and specific 

Typical phraseology:

"So I need you to provide me with a one page report under these headings by 12.00 on Friday."

Step 3. Ask the person for questions about the task/project.

By this stage the person will have realised that there is no escaping the task, and so their attention is focused on any practical difficulties involved in achieving it.

Beware: This is also the stage at which some employees will attempt to negotiate acceptable parameters for failure.

So the manager needs to keep this stage factual.

A phrase such as "Do you have any questions?" is useful.

A phrase like "How do you feel about it?" will take the interaction off at a tangent.

Beware: When people ask technical questions about how to do the task, it is very tempting to tell them. While this may seem easier and quicker, it is actually reducing the person’s confidence and undermining their self-esteem. It is more productive in the longer term to ask for their ideas and encourage the good ones.

Typical phraseology:

“How much of the report should I devote to topic A?”

“Well, you’re the expert. How much information do you think the management group will need in order to make an informed decision?”

Step 4. Answer technical questions. Empathise with feelings/problems type questions.

“Do you want it on paper or electronic? – Give the information.

“I’ve never done this sort of thing before. I hope you’re not expecting a masterpiece. Could you draft up the first one so that I can use it as a model?” (Attempt at reverse delegation.)

“I can see that you’re concerned about quality, and that this is a step beyond your normal work. I’m confident you’ll do a good job, as you have with other tasks which were strange at first.”

Step 5. Commit to provide specific further information/support. Set follow-up date(s).

“I’ll email you today the suppliers list that you need."

"I'll be happy to give feedback on your rough draft. Come and see me at 9.00 on Thursday, and I'll work through it with you"

Step 6. Ask for help and commitment to make the task succeed.

"I'm relying on your experience to make it an informative report. So will you do it for me?"

All of the above may sound like a lot of effort, but it works.

The person has no doubt that they are accountable for fulfilling the task. This means that they can now be managed.

Although this set of steps will maximise the likelihood successful delegation, there is, of course, no absolute guarantee that the person will perform the task at all, or to the standards they committed to. The next set of steps enables you to find out how it went, or what went wrong. 

Exercise:

Pick a task which you currently do yourself but could be done by someone else.

Using the above set of steps, write out the phrases you would use next time when delegating this task to a member of staff.

Anticipate their reactions and consider what responses you would give, using as many of the general skills as possible. When in doubt, use more of the skills, particularly self-esteem and empathy, rather than less.