How to Master the Art of Delegation in Leadership

While everyone was affected during the pandemic in one way or the other, managers were among the most affected. Gallup research found that managers are 27% more likely than individual employees to feel stressed in the present workday. This situation can be traced back to one of the qualities most managers usually lack:  the art of delegation.

Often, the skills that make someone a great achiever are not the same that are needed to be a great leader. Sometimes, these skills might be the root cause of what makes you a bad delegator. While achievers take pride in getting excellent results, they are often hesitant to share the credit with others. But as leaders, you must understand that the next leadership level is about becoming a multiplier. You must not define your success by your wins but by how hard you work to make others win. Therefore, this article will analyze the importance of delegation in business and how to master the art of delegation.

What Is Delegation in Business?

Delegation in business is about assigning tasks or handing over authority to another person or a group to accomplish a particular goal. According to the rules of delegation, you must be clear about the following:  

• What needs to be done?
• Who handles what?
• What authority do they have to complete the task?

How to Delegate Effectively?

Delegation is an effective way to manage your time and resources. It can help you achieve your desired results and prevent you from overloading others. Here are a few simple steps to help you understand how to delegate.

Redefine Your Priorities

You need to spend less time worrying about what they cannot do and focus on what they can. Replace “I am not confident if they can do the task” with “My number-one goal is to work to find their real talent.” While employees primarily work to show you what their talent is, a good leader is someone who works to show the employees what their superpowers are. To become an excellent leader, you need to believe more in people than they believe in themselves.

You can never delegate work if you remain under the impression that no one can do it better than you. People development should be your metric for success rather than product development. Hence, to learn the art of delegation, you need to believe in people and their potential. 

Create an Environment of High Support And Challenges

If you want to help your employees find their superpowers, you must understand that it will not be easy. Therefore, if you want to bring the best out of your employees, try creating an encouraging environment that accommodates failures. The rules of delegation state that as a leader, you must make your team members excited about trying instead of fearing failing.

If you wish to master the art of delegation, you must help people believe that they can find ways to stretch their abilities to handle any challenge. On the other hand, if you plan on giving your employees a single opportunity to prove their talent, which provides no further opportunities to learn, they will only confirm your belief that they are not up to the mark.

Consider Your Communication Style

As leaders, we are often more concerned while delegating a job about how the request will be perceived or received rather than seeing the job done well. Among the most common reasons for not delegating is the fear of being viewed as lazy or the guilt associated with overburdening an already overworked staff. However, the importance of delegation lies in the fact that if you do not offer assignments to people, it tends to inhibit their growth and effectiveness. Hence you can address these problems by reconsidering your communication style. 

Read Also: How to Understand Your Communication Style

Ask For Help Instead of Issuing Orders

The art of delegation is knowing that people never like being commanded but always like helping. You must develop the humility to recognize a delegation for what it is: a request for help. Therefore, always begin by asking for advice. It increases the likelihood of people responding well to the request and comes across as a compliment for their abilities. It also creates buy-in and communicates that you value their perspective as a leader.

Instead of “we need you to do this,” try “I am struggling with this work. Can you help us with this work?.” If you often struggle with how to delegate, try reframing it as an invitation to co-create.

Lead With The ‘Why’

While delegating, we often tend to be preoccupied with the ‘how’ rather than the ‘why’. Instead of telling them how the work should be done, explain why you have chosen them for this work. Try to motivate them by saying they possess the perfect skill set for this endeavor and are destined for success. If you can explain why you have selected them and what value they add to the effort, they would be more than happy to do that work. The art of delegation makes it sound like they were carefully chosen, not dumped on.

While it may not be something you were born with, delegation in leadership is just as important as every other skill. Therefore, you must acquire it so that you can lead your employees in a better way. All you need to put in is a little effort and intentionality; it will be rich dividends for you and your organization.