Category: Talent Management and Development

Leaders constantly face demands on their time, and discerning what to do, how to do it and when can be a challenge. Delegation provides:

An effective means for managing time wisely and

An effective way to develop others.

Leaders make more leaders, and are also good at killing two birds with one stone.

 

So how to delegate?

 

Delegation Steps and Levels:

What needs to be delegated? All your responsibilities should be put in to one of three buckets: 1. Don’t do it- get rid of the task or responsibility 2. Do it yourself. 3. Delegate it. Take time to catalogue all your responsibilities/tasks based on these three categories.

Pick the right person– Are they competent or can they be trained to do the task/job? Do they need opportunities to develop in certain areas?

Establish open channels of communication– Ensure that people feel comfortable coming to you with questions when a task or result is delegated to them. Remind them you are always available to answer their questions and act as a sounding board for making decisions related to their responsibilities. Schedule regular feedback sessions if necessary to encourage dialogue.

Delegate part of the task or activity (gradual delegation). Make sure to communicate the results you want achieved and by when.You may need to give direction of how to perform the task at first or provide training for completing the task/activity effectively.

Delegate the whole task. Make sure to communicate the results you want achieved and by when and leave the person 100% responsible.

Delegate the result(s) you want achieved. Instead of telling them what to do and how to do it (ie- delegating the task or activity) tell them what you want to be achieved and by when and get out of their way.

Delegate authority and responsibility. Put the person in charge and leave it to them to make decisions about what gets done, how and when, leaving them responsible for establishing priorities and results. All you will need to do is establish parameters (such as budget constraints).

Leave the person alone.

More thoughts on Delegation:

2 Tips if you have Bored Employees

Want to be a good leader? How about a millionaire? Manage yourself and your time first.

What does it take to think like a millionaire? In reading The Millionaire Mind, I was struck by what seemed to first be a contradiction. Based on the study of almost 1000 millionaires, it was obvious these individuals as a group managed their expenses just as wisely, if not more, than their revenue generation. Most bought at discount retailers and had very small or non-existent mortgages by buying older homes that retained or appreciated in value.

Keeping costs low is a priority in the millionaire household, except with what the book described as “do it yourself” projects. Most millionaires captured in the study did not cut their own grass and if something broke in their house, they didn’t fix it, they called an expert.

At first glance, this doesn’t seem like a managing cost approach. However, upon further inspection, it is not a matter of keeping costs down, it is a matter how your time is best spent because time is money. If the cost equation involves devotion of ones time, especially for someone who has learned how to generate revenue (as most millionaires have) through their time, best to outsource those non-essential tasks to someone who can do them more effectively. Which actually saves money.

What does this have to do with leadership? Maybe leaders could learn a thing or two from the millionaire mindset. One thing I find that is a frequent area for tactical leadership coaching of what is really personal leadership (instead of actually leading others) and that is the issue of time management.  It is difficult to lead and guide the work of others if, as a leader, we have difficulty managing our own work and time.

We’ve devoted several blog posts over the years to this topic that you can view here:

Personal Leadership on Purpose

A New Take on Time Management

5 Ways to Find Your Productivity Sweet Spot

Saying ‘No” to Something is Saying ‘Yes” to Something Else

Schedules Communicate Priorities

But what can you take from all of these, and what do we work with clients on helping them manage their time better? What does the millionaire mindset teach us? It’s pretty simple:

• Define Your Purpose see the mission statement and goal setting links in this post.
• Vet how you spend your time by that purpose. A helpful way to do this is by looking at Covey’s approach- is it urgent/not urgent, important/not important. The goal is to be in the green on this grid- or in Quadrant II by spending your time on tasks that are important, but not yet urgent. It’s simply being proactive. Notice that many of these items in Quadrant II deal with developing others – values clarification, relationship building, empowerment.

Image source: https://www.franklincovey.com/blog/manage-your-time-and-energy-effectively/

Described by Marshall Goldsmith in his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, feedforward is a process to solicit help in improving your performance once you’ve gotten feedback on what you need to improve upon. In our coaching process, and in many others, this is done through a 360° feedback assessment. (If you want other tips on how to solicit feedback yourself, Goldsmith’s book has a methods you can employ, or you can read ideas we recommend here.

 

How to do it:

Once you get feedback, you then follow the feedforward process as Goldsmith describes by:

1. What do you stink at? Pick the behavior you want to change or improve based on the feedback you’ve received. In our coaching process, this should be reflected in the goals the individual sets as a previous step in the process.
2. Tell people what you stink at. Describe the behavior you want to change one-on-one with anyone. It could be co-workers, your boss, your spouse, anyone. They do not have to be an expert.
3. Ask for help. Ask the person for two suggestions on how you could improve in this area in the future. There should be no discussion of the past- only the focus on the future.
4. Shut up. Listen to the suggestions, take notes if you desire, and thank the person for their suggestions. Don’t comment or judge their suggestions, just thank them.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 with other people. As many as you like, the more the better.
6. Stop stinking. Once you have a list of suggestions, commit to implementing what will work for you and regularly communicate your efforts to those involved.

 

Feedforward at first can appear to be a process that leaves one vulnerable, and many people think that others won’t provide honest input when asked. But if done correctly, it can build your capabilities as a leader not only to help improve your performance but engaging in the process will convey humility, which is a trait many people actually seek in a leader they are want to follow.

Have your ever sought someone’s input on how to improve? If so, what were the outcomes of you implementing their suggestions?