How to delegate effectively as a manager

What does it really mean to delegate? 

Delegation isn’t offloading your work, it’s giving other people ownership of the outcome.  When you delegate authentically, you’re giving someone else authority over the project to be done. 

Instead of saying, “Here’s how to do this task – go do it the same way I would because I don’t have enough time,” you’re saying, “Here’s the result we’re aiming for. I’m here to help if you need me, but I trust you to take us there.”

You’re defining the problem and letting your employee define the solution. 

It can feel scary to let go of ownership over a project, but to delegate effectively is to do just that. Empowering your employees to own the solution will result in higher productivity, more employee engagement and an overall culture of accountability.

The 3 biggest delegation downfalls 

What are the signs of bad delegation?

Here are some of the missteps – and what you can do to course-correct: 

1. Creating bottlenecks 

When you teach your team to do some of the work, but not enough to cross the finish line, you’ve created a bottleneck. 

Bottlenecks are specific points in a production line where too many requests are flowing through one person or checkpoint at once. This creates a backlog of items to be processed. It slows down every other point in the process, making it difficult for other working parts of the production line to function as they should. 

Signs of a bottleneck: 

• You have a very long list of requests from your team and you’re finding it difficult to stay caught up. But, once you go through each request, you see that most are solved with a simple yes or no.
• You’re always the one to finish a project or task or finally say it’s complete. You’re closing the loop and tying up loose ends – as opposed to your team member who began the process and did most of the work. 
• You may be starting to sense frustration from your team because their projects aren’t getting completed in a timely manner. 

How to avoid it:

While someone is onboarding and learning, bottlenecks are to be expected. But once your new employee is up and running, you shouldn’t be the sole obstacle in the way of a completed project. This is sure to result in a major loss in potential production, and eventually a loss of morale. 

To avoid being a bottleneck, think carefully about where you’re most helpful and where you want to provide input – and communicate it with your team. Establishing clear roles on the team will help promote a culture of accountability and also give you peace of mind that your team’s clear on when to ask you for input and when to go ahead.

Remember though, if you set too many checkpoints and bottlenecks will arise.

You should also examine what you’ve trained your team to do – and not do. How can you equip them better to own the entire process end to end? 

2. Micromanaging 

Micromanaging is exactly what it sounds like – a manager who focuses too closely on the little details. 

This is a problem for many reasons, the top being – your smothering your team and no one wants to be smothered. In fact, it’s one of the manager behaviors direct reports dislike most.

What’s the root cause of micromanagement? 

While perfectionism may play a role, in reality, lack of trust and fear are often the primary drivers. Fear of letting go, fear of not knowing everything that’s happening, and maybe even personal insecurity about your role in the work.

Signs of micromanagement: 

• No decision can be made without your input. 
• You’re asking your team to update you – constantly – about even little changes or movement in a project status. 
• Your team spends more time explaining to you what they’re doing and why than actually doing the work. 

How to avoid it: 

It’s important to understand that you’re not essential for each and every process and decision. If you feel like you are, it’s time to take a step back and put more trust in your team. On a remote team, this can feel especially challenging.

Spend some time building trust with your team. A great way to do this is through one-on-one meetings. Consistent one-on-ones are a powerful tool for managers to build rapport and a foundation of trust with their employees.

One-on-ones are also a great time to ask your team members how they prefer to be supported. Since micromanaging can look different to different people, understanding how your direct reports like to be managed will go a long way in avoiding micromanagement. For example, do they prefer an unplanned, casual check-in? Would they appreciate more hands-on help? Everyone’s different.

3. Playing hero

Maybe you don’t micromanage, but whenever your team has a question or needs help, you swoop in to fix everything (or at least this is what you think you’re doing). 

What your team really needs is you to just answer their question or provide some guidance, then back away and let them continue figuring things out for themselves. Or, maybe they just need to talk it out. They likely already have the answer, but need to be challenged to find it.

When your team member asks you a question or needs your help, you shouldn’t take this as a confirmation that you need to be more involved. It’s not the time to jump in and take over.

Signs you’re playing hero: 

• You’re creating a culture of dependency. No one else in the company knows what your team members are good at, because you’re the face of everything. You do it all. 
• Team members don’t come to you for help unless they want you to take over and finish the project or task for them. This creates an environment where some people never turn to you for help, and some people always do. 

How to avoid it: 

When you’re an individual contributor, you may demonstrate your passion and work ethic by jumping in to help when your team members need it, going above and beyond, and doing just a little bit more than someone may expect. 

When you’re a team leader, on the other hand, success is measured differently. It’s no longer about how hard you work and how much time you give. It’s about your people. As a manager, delegation is a tactic for you to help them shine. 

Are you giving your team members a clear path to grow independently in their roles? Do other people in the company know what your team members do and are good at? Remember, their wins are also your wins. When people can see that your team is thriving, it reflects favourably on everyone. 

5 effective delegation techniques to set your team up for success

It’s clear from the downfalls that you need to give your team some independence and create a culture of trust if you’re going to be an effective delegator. Now the question is, how? Avoiding a lot of these mistakes is easier said than done.

Here are five tips to help improve how you delegate to your team.

1. Be selfless 

This may seem counterintuitive, but failing to delegate is selfish behavior. You’re not being a hero by hoarding all the work. By delegating and giving ownership to your employees, you’re helping your team members build their resume, learn new things, and hopefully find more satisfaction in their careers. 

When you fail to delegate, you’re removing opportunities instead of creating them. 

2. Document what’s important

Your team members can’t read your mind! If you delegate something and your team doesn’t have the information needed to get it done, that’s on you, not them. Write down the process you want them to follow, and give them clear instructions and resources. 

3. Know where you fit

If you’re not delegating, you’re doing too much. That means you’re not clear on your own priorities. So much of good leadership is knowing your own strengths, weaknesses, and capacity. 

It may be time for a mental reset on what you personally can and should do every day to make an impact. Whatever is leftover: delegate.

4. Invest time upfront

Spend the right amount of time training your team on best practices, why you do things a certain way, lessons learned, and actionable strategies they can apply to their work. 

People don’t like managers who tell them what to do and how to do it “just because.” People appreciate managers who provide principles and guardrails based on their learnings from actually doing the work. 

5. Design learning environments

People are going to make mistakes, and that’s okay. Mistakes create an opportunity for learning. What matters is that as a manager, you’re creating an environment where your team has room to make mistakes while they learn, and these mistakes won’t jeopardize the entire project.