How to delegate properly
In a way that inspires your team, not annoys them
Today we’re responding to a question sent to my Instagram DMs this week:
For a long time, we’ve viewed delegation as nothing more than handing over tasks - But when applied properly it’s a skill that can:
TRANSFORM your team’s morale
EMPOWER your team to love the work they do
Have them view you as an INSPIRING leader
Over the years I’ve honed in my delegation process, and the overview of the process looks like this (we’re going deep into point 3 today):
We can not expect what we can not inspect - We need a written down process doc before handing over to communicate clear expectations, even if it’s 3 bullet points, it needs to be written
Ensure you’re picking the right person - Play to people’s strengths
Delegate with purpose - Communicate the purpose and the outcome (not the how)
Delegation with purpose
“Our passions are ignited when we set out to advance a cause greater than ourselves” - Simon Sinek
Sounds all fancy the way Simon says it, but in simple terms, when we are connecting the work we’re doing day to day, to a bigger purpose than ourselves, that is when we feel inspired and empowered.
Meaning… To empower your team with your task delegation, you need to be constantly connecting your team’s work to a bigger vision and/or mission.
How does it look in practice?
The next time you hand a task over to a team member, I want you to first start with the purpose.
Let’s break it down:
Say you’re a manager in a tech company, and you need a member of your team to do a task, you ask:
“Please can you run a report from me of our clients, with columns of their average monthly revenue, and where they’re located in the world. I need it by Friday.”
You’ll most likely get exactly that.
A report, with a list of clients, with the columns you’ve asked for above. And (probably) by Friday.
A normal task, inciting normal action, happening every day across the working world.
Your team member will feel indifferent, and most likely go home and tell their partner about the mundane tasks they’ve had to do at work.
But let’s use some simple psychology to flip this entire scenario on it’s head, and turn the delegation into something much more empowering.
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