TheLeadershipNotebook

5 Tips for Effective Delegation

 

“The great leaders are like the best conductors-

they reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players.”

~Blaine Lee

 

Imagine you’re playing Leadership Jeopardy with Delegation as one of the categories.

 

“I’ll take Delegation for $500, Bob.” The answers could be any one of the following:

1.  “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”
2. “My team members are all too busy to take on more work.”
3. “I’m too busy to teach them the right way.”

 

The Question: What is: “Why I don’t delegate?”

 

I’ve heard these same worn out answers from my harried coaching clients. They’d rather work 25 hours a day than delegate to their eager and capable staff.

As leaders, we have two major priorities. Our first is to think strategically, crafting a plan and approach to solve our toughest problems. A second priority is to develop our teams to help us solve those problems.

But you don’t have time to do the first unless you’re committed to the second.

 

Leveraging leadership is all about giving yourself the opportunity to do what you do best, and making sure your teams can do the same. And you can’t do either without effective delegation.

So if we know we must delegate effectively to succeed, how can we move beyond thinking like the answers detailed above.

Here are 5 tips that you can use to begin to develop your leadership leverage:

 

1. Accept the fact that effective delegation is a leadership imperative and decide to improve your delegation skills immediately.  I’ve reviewed numerous position descriptions and competency models and completed scores of 360 interviews and assessments. In every case, effective delegation is a skill requirement for leaders at all levels. Don’t resist building this necessary skill.

2. Effective delegation involves understanding the competencies of your team.  Match the skills and abilities of the individual to the tasks to be delegated. Be patient. Know that they will not complete the task exactly like you would but that is the key part of their learning and development. Understand their focus for development. What is it that they want to learn to be more fulfilled? What do they need to learn to advance? Know how the delegated task fits their developmental needs.

 

3. Invest the time up front to make sure you teach them what they need to know to get them on their way.

 

• Clearly articulate your desired outcome. 
• Clearly articulate the time expected for completion.
• Clearly articulate the deadline for project or task completion.

 

Giving blanket orders to “do what it takes” or “get it back to me sometime next week” only sets both parties up for frustration and potential failure. Time spent up front provides greater returns on your investment once the project is complete. And that’s the definition of leverage.

 

4. Don’t get caught in “upward delegation,” which occurs when your staff attempts to give the project back due to time constraints or lack of understanding. Encourage your staff to focus on solving the problem and taking responsibility to complete the work. This is their time to learn and your time to lead.

5. Thoroughly review the completed work and provide feedback, positive if it meets your needs or constructive if the results are less than you expect. This is not the time to just “let it go” and rework it yourself.

 

Effective delegation provides a win-win solution for you and your team members. As the leader, you have developed and empowered your team to be more comfortable in taking on additional responsibility. This frees up available time for you to think strategically and work on more complex challenges.

So, what holds you back from more effective delegation habits? How can you break through to realize this is a win-win for both you as the leader and your team members who must develop in order to move forward?

To your success,

 

Mary

 

 

Conquering Organization and Time Management from the Inside Out

 

 

• “My office is a disaster area.  I can’t find anything.”
•  “I’m always late for meetings and appointments.”
•  “I can’t seem to meet my deadlines.”
• “My disorganization is driving me crazy.”

 

Do any of these statements describe your situation? If so, you’re not alone. These are actual comments made to me by four different coaching clients. Each client expressed the frustration and stress they felt as a direct result of their disorganization. In each case they said, “Something has to change.”

 

It’s not surprising. A lot is expected of today’s leaders. Increasing demands on our time and resources require a new way of operating. The chaos we create for ourselves is more stressful than productive and our disorganization wreaks havoc on our lives and the lives of our coworkers, family and friends.

 

As I shared with each of my coaching clients, there is hope! We do not have to accept disorganization as a way of life. However, just like any valuable endeavor requiring change, moving from disorganization to organization requires us to shift how we think, feel and behave.

 

When you think of being “organized,” what comes to mind? According to Marilyn Paul, author of the book, “It’s Hard to Make a Difference When You Can’t Find Your Keys” being organized means you can:

 

• find what you want, when you need it
• complete your tasks in a timely way
• arrive at your destination when you choose
• keep agreements, and make agreements that you can keep
• focus on what is important to you
• do all of this with a great degree of presence of mind

 

Sounds great doesn’t it?

 

How can I Get There?

"How can I get there?” That’s what each of my clients asked. For those of you who have tried unsuccessfully the “only handle it once” technique or similar tactical approaches to organization, it’s time to think about becoming organized in a new way. My clients came to learn that getting organized required them to understand how their thoughts, behaviors and beliefs were negatively impacting their desire:

 

• to live with confidence, knowing they could find something when they needed it
• to live with reliability, knowing they would show up when they said they would
• to live with responsibility,  in meeting their deadlines
• to live with the calm of knowing that they could count on themselves

 

The Seven Step Change Cycle

In her book, Paul describes a cycle for change applied specifically to creating a path for organization. Thus, Paul’s cycle was an excellent tool that I integrate with one on one coaching in helping my clients when organization (or lack thereof) is their coachable issue. Her approach is an extremely useful framework for focused change in behaviors, thoughts and beliefs.

 

The steps in the cycle along with some of the representative questions are below:

 

Step 1 ~ Establish Your Purpose

 Why do you want to get organized? What is your disorganization costing you?

What will you gain from creating new, organized behaviors that you want?

Step 2~ Create your Vision

How would I like my home or work space to be?

 How will I feel when I arrive to my meeting on time?

 How will I feel when I do what I say I will do?

Step 3~ Take Stock of your Current Reality

How do I organize myself now? What choices am I currently making?

What areas of disorganization (i.e. clutter, timeliness, etc.) are causing the most challenge?

Step 4~ Choose Support

What kind of support do I need?

Who can help me stay the course in this valuable change effort?

Step 5~ Draw on Organizing Wisdom

This step is where the practical solutions come in. When we integrate the tactical organizing process with the deeper changes in beliefs, habits and behaviors, success is possible.

 Step 6~Take Effective Action

How will I overcome my blocks to change? What specific steps will I take?

 Step 7~Go Deeper to Keep Going

How can I sustain these changes?

 How can I stay motivated to learn and grow through the change process?

 

This Seven Step Change Cycle integrates well with my Retained Learnings™ Coaching Program and my clients have experienced success as they work through the process with the support of me as their coach and change agent.

 

The Bottom Line

When you challenge your underlying thinking, feelings and beliefs and begin practicing new behaviors, fundamental change can occur. Utilizing the Seven Step path to organization as outlined by Marilyn Paul provides a new opportunity for restoring or beginning a life of order and control.

 

How do you stay organized? What practices and belief systems get you to where you need to be on time? I’d love to hear your ideas on “organization from the inside out.”

 

To your success,

 

Mary