Five Effective Strategies for Delegating Better and Achieving Set Goals

One of the many skills you must possess as a leader is delegation. The ability to effectively share your workload amongst employees to achieve set goals is imperative to maximizing productivity and ensuring a work balance.

However, delegating can be hard, especially when you’re used to getting things done yourself and your way. There are tons of possible risks involved – strategies could get mixed up, deliverables could suffer and cleaning up someone else’s mess could mean more work for you. But it is important to note that delegation isn’t about you – it’s about your co-workers and employees.

Learning to let go and hand over tasks and jobs to someone else provides an opportunity for growth for that individual. They get to learn on the job, learn from their mistakes, grow in skill and know-how and have a full work experience all the while taking the load off your table.

If you’re finding delegating hard, I have just the thing you need. Just like any skill, it takes time and practice to learn and effectively delegate properly.  And these 5 strategies will help you effectively delegate for better results at achieving set goals.

Learn to Let Go

The first step to delegating is to just let go. It might seem so simple but letting go can be one of the hardest things you’ll do. Sometimes, leaders are stuck in their routine of getting everything done that the idea of outsourcing or delegating seems a bit too foreign. Even the risk of having your worker ruin the entire project might seem too big to take on. But it must be done.

You can start things off by delegating the smaller projects. Look at all the tasks involved and start by giving out the smallest task to get done.

For example: If you have to write a 10 page report on the “Instability of the Money Culture in Nigeria”; organize a phone interview with the MD of a Nigerian bank and have to meet with a potential client, you can delegate the report and have more time to prepare for and handle the rest. This will afford you more time to be productive and give the workers the work experience they need.

Give Instructions

If you find delegating difficult to do, you can ensure a good outcome by giving necessary instructions. This is a great proactive strategy for ensuring the task delegated gets done effectively and according to your standards. No matter how easy or minute the task is, ensure to clearly state how you want the job done, milestones you want to be hit, explain strategies to be used and expected outcome.

You can do this by sending a detailed e-mail to the worker stating your expectations or by having a small meeting where you expressly state what you need to be done. You can also have the worker check in with you every hour or 3 hours to give you updates on the progress of the job. By doing this, you minimize mistakes that could be made and have more confidence in delegating more tasks and jobs.

Delegate According to Your Worker’s Strengths

Different jobs require different skills. As a leader, it is important to be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each worker. This ability will serve you in choosing which worker you give what job.

If the job requires Writing Skills, then choosing a worker who isn’t proficient in writing wouldn’t be the best option. Step back and look at how each worker can handle the set task and pick the one who is skilled in the required area.

It is also important to note that giving the same worker the same kind of tasks will help improve their skill in carrying out tasks of that nature.

Delegate with Trust, But Make Sure to Verify              

For a seamless delegation process, you need to stay abreast of the jobs/tasks being done. For the most part, you need to trust the worker handling the job. Leaders need to be able to build trust with those working with them, that they will make the best decision when it comes to carrying out set tasks.

However, in trusting the worker, it is important to check in and verify the job is going according to plan, especially if they are first timers when it comes to handling jobs. Call in, send e-mails or drop by to see if they need help, guidance and most especially, to see that the job will be done on time.

By trusting the worker to get the ball rolling, you give them the confidence they need to work effectively at any capacity – alone or as a part of a team. And by checking in, you show that it is important to get 2nd and 3rd opinions on the job being done, especially if they are handling it on your behalf.

Give Feedback

Feedback is a very vital part of delegating effectively. The job has been done, and now that it’s over you need to tell the workers how they performed. If they did well, you must acknowledge the job well done and encourage them. If they didn’t do as well as expected, constructive criticism should be the next step. Let them know how they could’ve done better and the loopholes you noticed.

This is also an opportunity for the worker to give you constructive feedback on how you delegated. Make them comfortable enough to tell you how they think your delegating was – were you too aggressive? Did you give them enough space to work freely? Do they think you assigned the right jobs to the right people?

Giving feedback is a two-way street that will serve both sides and make sure the handling of tasks and jobs goes smoothly within your organization.

I’m not going to tell you that the skill of delegating will be easy to learn – just like any skill, only time and practice will tell. As you delegate more, you’ll get a firmer hold on how to pick the right workers for certain tasks, the art of letting go and how to delegate effectively in general.