Top Ten Tips while Delegation to team

Here are our Top Ten Tips while Delegation to team

Identify the Task

• Decide what should be delegated – some tasks should not.
• Decide whether to delegate all or part of it.

 Identify the Right Person

• Ascertain someone with the appropriate experience level.
• Vary who you delegate to (to avoid favouritism or overloading one person).
• Think about the skill level of the person you are delegating to and what training they’ll need.
• Identify how much coaching will be required and how much time you have for this.

 Explain Why You are Delegating it to Them

• Sell it to them.
• Explain the benefits it will bring.
• Explain what they will be able to do as a result of it.
• Tell them how appreciative you will be.
• Think about authority and responsibility.

 Specify the Expected Outcomes

• Establish and specify what the completed task should look like.

 Establish a Target Completion Date

• Agree the target – ask them how long it will take.

 Discuss How

• Ask them how they feel they can tackle it – this method gets more buy in than simply giving them a series of instructions.
• Encourage them to talk you through ideas they have.
• Give them some latitude in how they choose to complete the task as long as the outcome is what you have specified.

Identify Resources Required

• Time – The delegation may mean that you need to re-allocate some of their workload to others.
• Equipment – Check whether any specialised equipment is needed.
• Money – Identify whether a budget is required, and how much.
• People – Identify whether other help might be needed, and who is available that can help them complete the task.

Decide How and When You are Going to Monitor Progress

• The level of monitoring will be dependent on the complexity of the task, their skills and experience, the risks of it going wrong and the possible consequences if things go wrong.
• You may need to highlight ‘mile stones’ for review.

 Identify Who Else Needs to be Informed

• The Boss – Make sure they know what is going on.
• The Team – Make sure the team know (to avoid gossip and assumptions).
• Other Departments – ‘Opens doors’ for the person you’ve delegated to. For example: “Just to let you know, Sarah from my department is going to do the end of month report, so she‘ll be coming to see you to get the normal stats”

Acknowledge Effort

• Review achievement and celebrate success. Remember to say “Thank you!”
• Remember to assign credit where it is due – if someone has completed a task for you, remember the success is theirs and so should be the praise and recognition!