Effective business leaders don’t do everything themselves. Rather, they know what tasks and responsibilities to delegate, how to distribute them, and whom to entrust them to. Indeed, delegation of authority is a critical leadership skill – it must be learned and honed over time, and it doesn’t always come easily.
Defining Delegation
In business management, delegation of authority refers to the act of transferring a task or responsibility from one person to another, such as from a manager to another employee. At a high level, delegation can be seen simply as a way to lighten a heavy task load.
But delegation is best used by business leaders as a tool to free themselves up to focus on mission-critical tasks– while supporting the personal growth of team members and ensuring that the right people are handling the right jobs.
Business Benefits of Delegation in Management
There are several major benefits that come with delegation of authority:
- Delegation enables business leaders to effectively manage their workload, reducing stress and increasing productivity.
- Delegation helps team members develop new skills, which can increase their ability to innovate and create competitive advantage.
- Delegation builds trust between managers and team members, which can improve company morale and employee engagement.
- Delegation empowers team members, which can motivate them to perform better at work.
- Delegation gives employees opportunities to growbeyond their roles, which can help attract and retain talent.
For Many Managers, Job Delegation Doesn’t Come Easy
It’s clear that delegation of authority makes good business (and career) sense, but the act doesn’t always come easily. It’s not uncommon for business leaders and managers to hesitate to delegate work.
Why?
Managers might think that it would take longer to explain the task than to actually complete it themselves, or they might feel guilty about adding work to team members’ plates. Some leaders might not trust that team members can do the job well– or, at least, not as well as they themselves could. Likewise, some business managers want to make themselves indispensable by becoming the keepers of specific knowledge or tasks (sometimes known as “task hoarding” or “knowledge hoarding”).
But this type of thinking can result in negative outcomes for both business leaders and team members, such as burnout, lack of trust, and employees feeling undervalued.
“Your overfunctioning may be creating a dynamic where others underfunction,” according to a 2021 article in Fast Company. “When you assume responsibility for doing everything and ‘fixing’ situations, others don’t get the opportunity to step up. Delegation is not a punishment, nor about you ‘dumping work on people.’ Rather, it is a chance for your team and colleagues to learn, grow, and acquire new skills and competencies.”
7 Tips to Boost Your Delegation Skills
It can be challenging for some leaders, especially new leaders, to transition from handling all responsibilities to delegating tasks. But as a leader’s responsibilities grow and become more complex, holding onto unnecessary tasks can hinder productivity. Great leaders know how to delegate well.
To boost your delegation skills, try the following tips:
- Carefully assess which tasks to delegate. Confidential, high-priority, or high-risk tasksgenerally should not be delegated. However, urgent and low-risk tasks are ideal to consider passing to other employees.
- Pick the right person for the job. This doesn't always mean the person who is already able to do it. Consider which team members need to develop skills in an area related to the task, who has shown an interest in the work, and who would be excited for a fresh challenge.
- Explain why you’re delegating tasks. Consider offering more than just the business justification. Add context about what’s at stake and how the taskfits into the big picture to help the employee get a sense of why their participation is valuable. This can help build their confidence and facilitate their growth within the company.
- Be clear about responsibilities. . Designate who is doing what. Describe the desired results in detail, provide criteria for achieving success, and confirm thatemployees understand what to do.
- Provide resources. Make sure team members have the resources necessary to successfully perform the task. Resources can include time, money, training, or help from other team members. In some cases, managers may have to readjust team members’ priorities. For example, do they have tasks that can then be delegated to others? Assigning more minor tasks elsewhere can free up time for their new job roles.
- Encourage creativity. Employees often have the best ideas for how to get things done. Be open to supporting employees’ ideas about how to perform tasks differently moving forward. New tools and processes can often help move things along more smoothly toward success.
- Use mistakes to learn. Create an environment in which sensible risk taking is encouraged and mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities, rather than proof that a job shouldn't have been delegated in the first place.
The Takeaway
Effective delegation of authority and tasks is a hallmark of a successful business leader. Delegating the right jobs in the right way to the right people enhances business leadership skills while creating a more inspiring and engaging environment for team members– all of which benefits the business as a whole.
Photo: Getty Images