Alliance for Leadership Acceleration

Delegating effectively is as much about getting more done as it is about empowering others and creating a high-performance organization. Delegating is often misunderstood and before we talk about the six steps to delegating effectively it is first important to understand what delegating is and what it is not.

Delegating is about sharing work, sharing authority, and providing employee development. Delegating is not about dumping your workload on someone else, letting go of all responsibility, or assigning work and checking the box done - never checking back to ensure it was done and done well.

Once you have defined what you need to delegate, then you can follow these 6 steps to delegate effectively:

1. Provide CLARITY about what you want done:  be specific and provide needed instruction.
   
2. MATCH the right task to the right individual.
3. Establish LEVELS of authority and autonomy – don’t hesitate to provide challenging assignments.
4. Determine RESOURCES and support for the individual.
5. Give clear DEADLINES for completion and discuss how & when you will check-in for follow-up.
6. Provide FEEDBACK on performance when assignment is complete.

Delegating effectively is one of the top 5 most consistently self-reported challenges that leaders struggle with. If you would like to know more about how LEAP the Leadership Acceleration Program can help you (or someone you know) become more effective at delegating, join us for an upcoming webinar.

In traditional organizations managers set goals, make decisions, establish and manage the budget, set policies, control the flow of information, etc.  In these organizations, managers are the “thinkers and planners” and employees are merely the “doers”.  This sets up an attitude of compliance in the minds of the workers.  People’s hearts are not in their work. They learn to get by, do the minimum and watch the clock.

In high-performance organizations, leaders recognize the value and potential of their human resources and want to get the most possible from them, so they create a culture and organizational design in which people participate in goal-setting, making decisions, and solving problems. People go beyond compliance to commitment in their motivation. They want to be part of the organization and are excited to contribute to its success and improvement.

What do you think would happen if your employees truly felt and acted like partners in the business?  What if they saw it as their business and not just your business?  What would be the consequences?

Set Goals at the Right Level
Setting goals at the correct level is a skill that is acquired by practice.

You should set goals so that they are slightly out of your immediate grasp, but not so far that there is no hope of achieving them: no-one will put serious effort into achieving a goal that they believe is unrealistic. However, remember that the belief that a goal is unrealistic may be incorrect.
 
Set Realistic Goals
Goals may be set unrealistically high for the following reasons:

• Other people: Other people (parents, clients, bosses, media, society) can set unrealistic goals for you, based on what they want. Often this will be done in ignorance of your goals, desires and ambitions.
• Insufficient information: If you do not have a clear, realistic understanding of what you are trying to achieve and of the skills and knowledge to be mastered, it is difficult to set effective and realistic goals.
• Always expecting your best performance: Many people base their goals on their best performance, however long ago that was. This ignores the inevitable backsliding that can occur for good reasons, and ignores the factors that led to that best performance. It is better to set goals that raise your average performance and make it more consistent.
• Lack of respect for self: If you do not respect your right to rest, relaxation and pleasure in life then you risk burnout.

Beware of Setting Goals Too Low
It’s important to be realistic and not set goals too high. Alternatively, goals can be set too low because of:

• Fear of failure: If you are frightened of failure you will not take the risks needed for optimum performance. As you apply goal setting and see the achievement of goals, your self- confidence should increase, helping you to take bigger risks. Know that failure is a positive thing: it shows you areas where you can improve your skills and performance.
• Taking it too easy: It is easy to take the reasons for not setting goals unrealistically high as an excuse to set them too low. If you're not prepared to stretch yourself and work hard, then you are extremely unlikely to achieve anything of any real worth.
  

Personal factors such as tiredness, other commitments and the need for rest, etc. should also be taken into account when goals are set.

Set Performance Goals, Not Outcome Goals
Goals based on outcomes are extremely vulnerable to failure because of things beyond your control.

You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible - there is nothing as dispiriting as failing to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control such as bad business environments, poor judging, bad weather, injury, or just plain bad luck. Goals based on outcomes are extremely vulnerable to failure because of things beyond your control. This is very important.
 
If you base your goals on personal performance or skills or knowledge to be acquired, then you can keep control over the achievement of your goals and draw satisfaction from them. For example, you might achieve a personal best time in a race, but still be disqualified as a result of a poor judging decision. If you had set an outcome goal of being in the top three, then this will be a defeat. If you set a performance goal of achieving a particular time, then you will have achieved the goal and can draw satisfaction and self-confidence from its achievement.
 
Another flaw when setting goals, is where outcome goals are based on the rewards of achieving something, whether these are financial or are based on the recognition of colleagues. In early stages these will be highly motivating factors, however as they are achieved, the benefits of further achievement at the same level reduce. You will become progressively less motivated.
 
Read the 2nd principle of goal setting: Set Specific, Measurable Goals

Setting Goals Effectively
The way in which you set a goal strongly affects the effectiveness. The following broad guidelines apply to setting effective goals:

• Be Positive: express your goals positively: 'Execute this technique well' is a much better goal than 'don't make this stupid mistake'.
  
• Be Precise: if you set a precise goal, putting in dates, times and amounts so that achievement can be measured, then you know the exact goal to be achieved, and can take complete satisfaction from having completely achieved it. 
• Set Priorities: where you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones. 
• Write Goals Down to avoid confusion and give them more force. 
• Keep Daily Operational Goals Small: Keep the goals you are working towards immediately, small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping operational goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward. Today's goals should be derived from larger goals.

Important!  You should note a number of general principles about goal setting:

1. Set Performance, Not Outcome Goals
2. Set Specific, Measurable Goals
3. Set Goals at the Right Level
4. Think Through Your Goals