Delegation: How many steps does it take?

Introduction

The word delegation is commonly used in business and social life. Some people feel they are good at it, while others feel they are not. There are many arguments in favor of delegation with the strongest one being, “You can’t do it all yourself.” On the other hand, there are many occasions where it is just easier and you know you will get a good result of you just do it yourself.

This article is not a cheerleading effort for delegation, nor is it an admonition not to delegate. Rather, this article “unpacks” the word delegation and identifies many, but not all, of the key steps that are necessary to delegate well and achieve excellent work through the work of others.

Michael Gerber in The E-Myth Revisited made a brilliant distinction that should help everyone who “delegates” on a regular basis. His thesis is that if you ask someone to do something, and do not follow up, and do not continue to be responsible for the job getting done and done well, then you have not delegated, you have abdicated. Delegation includes staying involved at some level in the supervision of the person or group to whom who have delegated. Now, let’s look at all of the different aspects or things that you will or should do if you delegate a task to someone else.

The Steps in the Art of Successful Delegation

Not every task that you delegate will require all of these activities to ensure success. However, especially in delegating more complex tasks, or tasks that will take some time to complete, you will need to undertake many of these activities in order to promote success. I list these activities, but do not explain each one, since they are commonly known activities in the management and leadership literatures. This list, like most any list, is not exhaustive, but it is pretty comprehensive of what the delegator needs to be wiling to do on a regular basis to be a successful delegator.

1. Team Building

2. Enrollment

3. Supervision

4. Accountability (hold others accountable)

5. Scheduling

6. Planning

7. Stakeholder Analysis

8. Project Management

9. Resource Allocation

10. Skill/Interest Analysis

11. Problem Definition

12. Create Shared Meaning

13. Communication

14. Imagination

15. People Management

16. Budgeting

17. Prioritizing

18. Expectations Management

19. Build Up/Train People

20. Record Keeping

21. Reporting

22. Stage Gating – Giving Approval to Move To the Next Stage

23. Acknowledging Success or Failure

Conclusion

No wonder that often when we delegate it does not turn out so well. The goal of this article is to begin a conversation about becoming good, if not brilliant, at delegating tasks, projects, programs, and activities to another person or group of people. Both leadership and management require that delegation be done well.