Delegation

View or download the printable version of the Quick Guide to Delegation (PDF).

What is delegation?

Delegation is when you empower and entrust your employee to take responsibility for a task or activity. Effective delegation takes commitment and a well-thought-through approach. You may choose to delegate to improve overall results and/or to help develop an employee’s skills.

Successful delegation includes:

Identifying the task/project
Identifying the team member
Determining whether this is a good time to delegate
Clear communication
Follow up

Why should I delegate?

While you might be hesitant to delegate for various reasons (e.g., work visibility, trust issues, time commitment, employee workload) there are clear benefits to effective delegation:

It helps you become a better supervisor: It can help distribute work and provide you with opportunities to focus on higher-level tasks. It is also a chance to improve your coaching and communication skills.
It helps develop your employees: Delegation gives your employees more authority over decision-making, which can lead to increased job satisfaction and confidence. It can also provide more opportunities to receive feedback from you, develop new skills, and understand how their work fits into broader goals.
It helps improve results for your department or unit: Delegating tasks can lead to increased employee engagement through higher motivation and innovation from employees and more coordination between departments and teams.

How do I get started?

The following steps will help you delegate more effectively:

2. Identify the team member

Who on my team could do this? Consider:

Current performance: Does the employee successfully accomplish their current responsibilities? Do they deliver the results expected of them? If not, they would not be a good candidate. The best candidate to delegate to needs to meet or exceed performance expectations for their current role.
Current skills and development needs: Does the employee have the skills, knowledge and abilities needed to successfully complete this project? If so, they are a good candidate to delegate to. If not, would this assignment be an opportunity for the employee to develop these skills?
Motivation: Is the employee motivated/wanting to develop and grow? Did they express interest in this task/project?
Experience and mastery: Has the employee been a part of your team for a while? If a person is too new to their role, use caution when assigning them new tasks.

Often, delegation involves assigning a task that is a “stretch task” for an employee — it will require capacity to develop skills that are needed for that larger task. Stretch tasks can be very effective in developing high-potential employees. Refer to the Assessing Performance, Potential and Readiness Quick Guide to learn more about what potential and readiness look like and how to assess it.

3. Time

Is it a good time to delegate this task?

Effective delegation takes time and focus; it takes time upfront but has lasting benefits. Consider:

Task timing: How soon is the task due? How flexible is the deadline? If you are facing a close deadline, and your employee does not yet have the skills and experience to complete the task, it is NOT the ideal time to delegate. Also, if it’s a high-stakes and high-visibility task that needs a fast turnaround, it might not be a good time to delegate.
Setup timing: Do you have time to explain the task in detail needed for successful completion? Delegation requires adequate time to carefully consider the employee’s motivation and to clearly communicate the project/task and its goals.
Training and support timing: Can you commit to supporting the employee and guide them through the learning process? Many supervisors take a short-term view of delegation, which involves task completion; however, it is also an opportunity to increase the skills of your team members, allowing your team to get more work done faster.

4. Communication

Set aside adequate time to go over the details of the project. This is a crucial step to set up your employee for success. Be sure to communicate:

Describe the task

What is the task?
What are the goals of the task/project?
What does success look like?
Can you allow room to make minor mistakes?
When does it need to get done?
What are the key milestones?
How long should it typically take?

Set context and provide background info as needed

How does this project or task contribute to the big picture?
How can this work help your department/college to be successful?
Who would your employee need to work with?
What connections or introductions need to be made?
What are some of the things that might affect the project or task’s success?
Are there any competing priorities?
What resources might they need to complete the project?

Explain why you selected them for the task

How will this project help them build new skills?
Would there be an opportunity to establish or strengthen connections with colleagues?
Could it be a useful experience to get for a bigger role in the future?

Clarify authority.

This is a crucial step for successful delegation. Make sure you communicate this to both the employee and key project/task stakeholders. Note that the more authority someone has over the decision-making, the faster they will be able to move. However, there is also a greater risk of some mistakes and a need for course corrections. Determining their level of authority, which will also depend on employee experience and the nature of the task:

Can they make and implement decisions as needed without prior consultation with you? Or
Can they make decisions as needed, but notify you before implementing? Or
Can they provide alternatives and make recommendations, which you must then approve to go forward?

Agree on a process for feedback and your involvement.

How will you track progress?
How and when would the feedback be provided?
When would they involve you?
How will the project or task be evaluated?

5. Follow up

Make sure to provide regular feedback, recognize success, and foster accountability.

What is going well? What can be done better? How can you help?
What questions do they have about the assignment?

Conducting “lessons learned“ is a helpful way to frame your follow-up conversations to help coach and develop your employee.

Avoid micromanaging. Don’t jump in to “save” a project, remember mistakes are an important part of the learning process. When giving feedback*, think whether it would be helpful:

Will there be opportunities for the person to practice the behavior again?
Has the person had the chance to familiarize themselves with the task?

*See the Quick Guide to Feedback and the Quick Guide to Coaching for more information on the ways to make your feedback and coaching more effective.

View or download the printable version of the Quick Guide to Delegation (PDF).

Service Areas

Supervisory Development Program

Topics

Driving Results Through Others

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Quick Guide

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Delegation

What is delegation?

Why should I delegate?

How do I get started?

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