Delegating can often feel like a daunting task. You might believe it’s quicker to do it yourself, worry about missed deadlines, or lack complete trust in your team. However, this struggle is common, and overcoming it is crucial because delegating is not merely about offloading tasks. It’s about maintaining momentum, fostering the development of your team, and concentrating on your most critical responsibilities. Learning how to delegate effectively is a skill that can be learnt.

The primary challenge in delegation often lies in overcoming the emotional barriers that make it difficult to let go. Distrust, control issues, perfectionism, and fear of failure are common culprits that keep individuals entangled in the minutiae or handling everything single-handedly. Dave Kerpen, author of Get Over Yourself: How to Lead and Delegate Effectively for More Time, More Freedom, and More Success, advises focusing on the bigger picture, urging individuals to push past fears of negative outcomes. Emily Morgan, founder of Delegate Solutions and author of Let It Go!: How to (Finally) Master Delegation & Scale Freedom Across Your Organization, frames delegation as a personal “energy management system”, where redirecting energy through delegation allows focus on higher-impact contributions.

Before effective delegation can begin, it’s essential to recognise your self-sabotaging habits. Morgan identifies several common patterns:

• The isolationist: Trying to accomplish everything independently.
• The hero: Constantly intervening to save the day.
• The dreamer: Generating ideas without considering the team’s capacity.
• The interventionist (micromanager): Insisting on being constantly involved.

Identifying these tendencies requires asking: What is the true cost – not just to you, but also to your team and the overall work? It’s vital to be clear about how you want to spend your time. Furthermore, past negative experiences with delegation shouldn’t deter future attempts. Kerpen states that once committed to delegating, the “how” is not complex.

Identifying Delegable Tasks: What Can You Let Go Of?

Kerpen suggests that there are only three core areas a manager should not delegate: strategy and vision (the “head work”), hiring decisions, and ensuring access to necessary resources and budget. Everything else is potentially delegable. When faced with a task, ask: Can someone else manage this? If it doesn’t fall into the non-delegable categories, the answer is likely “yes”.

While delegating disliked tasks is easier, it’s often more challenging to hand off tasks you excel at and enjoy. Morgan points out that these tasks consume significant time and can create a feeling of importance and necessity. However, clinging to these tasks deprives team members of valuable learning opportunities. Delegation should be viewed as a way to foster the growth of their skill sets.

Taking the First Steps: Starting Small for Momentum

Begin the delegation journey with baby steps. Morgan recommends tackling “low-hanging fruit” – simple tasks requiring minimal effort and quick completion. Achieving early successes creates positive momentum. Focus on routine tasks with clear, repeatable steps, such as weekly reports or update memos. Formalise these tasks into processes to empower your team. Allowing team members to demonstrate their abilities also helps to address any lingering trust issues. Starting with small assignments facilitates gradual skill development and fosters mutual confidence. It’s crucial to remember that mistakes will happen, as they are part of the learning process.

Finding the Right People: Identifying Your Delegation Candidates

The next crucial step is identifying who to delegate to. Consider various factors: who possesses the interest, capacity, and skills for the task? Who could benefit from learning something new? And, fundamentally, who do you trust?. Initially, focus on reliable team members who meet deadlines and show eagerness to learn. If identifying suitable individuals proves difficult, it might be indicative of underlying control issues. Morgan reminds us that you don’t always need to be the “hero”. Kerpen adds that if you believe you lack the right person within your immediate team, it’s your responsibility to find them. Explore options beyond your team and even your organisation, such as contractors, part-timers, freelancers, or even AI. Be creative and don’t let perceived limitations hinder you.

Guiding with Autonomy: Setting Expectations and Empowering Your Team

Be transparent about your expectations and offer guidance, but avoid excessive interference. Clearly explain the assignment, set a deadline, and provide a rough estimate of the expected time investment. Misunderstandings can arise when the perceived effort differs significantly. Share your vision for the final outcome and communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing, what constitutes success. Kerpen advises to “delegate outcomes, not tasks”, granting your team the autonomy to determine the best approach. Assuming you know the only or best way to achieve a result is arrogant. If the team is invested in the desired outcome, they will find their own path to achieve it. Provide sufficient direction for alignment, but allow space for creativity, and then, “surrender control”.

Monitoring Without Micromanaging: Finding the Right Balance

The frequency of check-ins should be tailored to the project and task complexity. Some initiatives may require daily updates, while others only need weekly reviews. Kerpen suggests focusing check-ins around two key questions: “How are things going? And what are your roadblocks?”. This approach ensures conversations are solution-oriented rather than simply status updates. Avoid constant, disruptive communication like excessive Slack messages. Instead, seek ways to monitor progress without hindering the team’s workflow. A work management platform, for instance, can help track performance unobtrusively, allowing you to feel confident that things are on track.

Coaching and Collaboration: Guiding, Listening, and Seeking Feedback

Adopt the roles of both coach and cheerleader for your team. Kerpen explains that a coach’s role is to maximise the potential of their people. Your aim isn’t to ensure perfect replication of your own work but to inspire and guide. Share your experience and provide context, helping your team understand how their individual contributions fit into the larger picture and why their work matters. Encourage your team to ask questions and provide feedback to you. Without consistent and open communication, delegation efforts can falter.

Embracing Progress Over Perfection: A Realistic Perspective

Effective delegation is about “empowering your team, coaching them to success, and giving them the tools they need to succeed while championing them along the way”. The significant benefit is gaining more time, energy, and mental space to concentrate on your priorities, both professionally and personally. However, it’s important to be realistic; delegation is not a panacea. There will still be work to be done. Morgan advises factoring this into your planning and schedule. Even if a delegated task is completed to 80% of your standard, or only partially finished, it still represents progress. The goal is not unattainable perfection but continuous progress, and delegation is the instrument to achieve it.

In conclusion, by embracing the above principles and actively working to overcome the inherent challenges, you can transform delegation from a source of anxiety into a powerful tool for personal and team growth.