129: Delegate It And Get More Done
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The ability to delegate effectively is sadly one of the most overlooked skills a leader needs to develop to maintain high levels of effectiveness in their role. Also, they need this skill to be sure that they are developing others on their team.
Whether it’s a special project or specific task, there are so many things that need too occur for a team to be successful in an ever-changing organizational environment that one person simply cannot do it all by themselves.
However, the old adage of “it’s easier to do it myself” often takes over and when we fall prey to this belief, we are left wondering why that great idea for that service project has been our list for six months.
This week we give a few key tips to you to become better at delegating those key tasks and projects that need to move forward.
First, what are the benefits of delegating?
- You will develop the people on your team
- You will spend more time doing what only you can do and want to do
- You will use your resources (i.e. time) more effectively
How do you know what you should delegate? John Maxwell has a great little model that he uses and also states that if someone does a task 80% as well as you do, delegate it. I like this approach to delegation and use it regularly.
What process can we use to delegate most effectively? I prefer Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model and I think it does an extremely excellent job of making us understand how poor delegation can be prevented and how to correct it if we start down that path.
Lastly there are two big mistakes I watch leaders make when it comes to effective delegation.
- Follow up: be sure to follow up on the project or task. Delegation doesn’t mean “set it and forget it”.
- Appreciate the person for their work on the project. Don’t forget this simple and mandatory approach.
What works well for you with delegation?
