To delegate or not to delegate…

Do you wish you were much more effective in delegating?

Last week, I shared a video about the ‘delegation spectrum‘. This week, I will take it a big step further. I outline the range of choices we have and give you a tool that you can use!

Here are the elements. I also include opportunities for coaching.

1 – You do it – no delegation

The one extreme end: You do the entire work and don’t involve anyone else.

Coaching: none. no one else is involved.

2 – You do it – and show them

You do the work and the other person observes you.

Coaching: Ask them what they observe, what they notice, what they learn, how they want to do it, what it means for them!

3 – They do it – with your guidance

They do the work with limited autonomy. They perform under your close supervision and guidance. This is to ensure necessary quality on things that must be done a certain way, no flexibility possible.

Coaching: Ask what’s difficult for them, what they learned, how they want to build their own confidence in it.

4 – They do it – with frequent check-ins

They do the work with moderate autonomy. You check in on progress and execution quality in agreed frequent intervals. This is to reduce high-impact and easy-to-correct mistakes before they form negative habits and behaviours.

Coaching: You share neutral observations about their mistakes AND successes. You positively reinforce.

5 – They do it – with INfrequent check-ins

They do the work with wider autonomy. You check in on progress and execution quality in agreed infrequent intervals.

Coaching: You ask about success, failures and learnings. You check in on their motivation and growth potential. You are available for situational support.

6 – They do it – and tell you when they are done

They do the work with full autonomy. The team shares with you when the task is done and outline the results, learnings, successes, mistakes.

Coaching: You conduct intentional AARs (After Action Reviews) after every task execution. You dedicate time to coach on learnings about failures and successes, so that the team improves performance and growth over time.

7 – They do it – full delegation.

They do the work with full autonomy. The team shares outcomes on a need basis or includes outcomes on regular reports.

Coaching: You conduct check-ins on the team’s execution about the work on a per need basis.

How to use this spectrum?

The purpose of this spectrum is to highlight to People Leaders that delegation is not a binary choice (‘I either delegate or not’), but a spectrum of choices. The higher you go on the spectrum, the more autonomy the team has and the more you let go as a Leader. This is a simple risk and reward calculation.

Here’s a practical way to explore this, if you are a formal or informal People Leader.

Ask yourself: What is the maximum degree of autonomy I can give to my team for any given task in our group?

I would like to offer you atemplate, where you can enter a few example tasks and plot them against your current and desired level of delegation.

Draw up a simple matrix like this (or just use my template):

add in your own priority task(s)

highlight where you currently are with a task on the delegation spectrum

indicate where you want to go with it

explore the difference (if any) and ask yourself some tough questions 😃

Summary

The delegation spectrum is a powerful thinking model. It opens up a pathway to lead team members on specific work tasks to more autonomy. If we combine it with a visual overview of our delegation spectrum, we can gain clear insight about opportunities for growth how we work with our team.

Hope you enjoy this deeper skill dive on delegation!