Dilemma While Delegating

Is delegation only for supervisors?

Delegation is about:

• Determining the best way to handle a

project or task, then

• Discovering the best way to solicit the

help of others, where and when it is
appropriate.

Many people mistakenly think that only those with direct authority can delegate. You can
delegate within teams too!

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Common Myths About Delegation
Why do people hesitate to delegate?

I impose I fear others

unnecessarily high criticizing my
standards that productivity and
others may fall efficiency.
I fear that I might
short of. I don’t
lose my job.
entirely trust
others.

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Busting the Myths
Why People Hesitate to Delegate?
Myths
You simply have too much to do and
can’t make the time to delegate.
You believe that you are indispensable.
You want to maintain the impression of
being overworked.
You are so possessive about your work,
that it’s difficult to let go.
You are too proud to ask for help.
You are concerned about burdening or
overloading other people.
Facts
That’s the reason you have so much to
do.
No one is Indispensable.
Is that really a good impression?
Collaborative team work is usually more
efficient and productive.
May be somebody else can do this better
than you.
You will help them learn something new.
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Activity: Share Your Delegation Experience
Reflect on your experience and share a situation where delegation worked successfully or where it failed.

• Have you ever delegated any task?

• Why did you decide to delegate?

• Was delegation effective? If yes, why? If not, why not?

• What was the takeaway from the success/What was the

learning?

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Activity Debrief: Share Your Delegation Experience
Reflect on your experience and share a situation where delegation worked successfully or where it failed.

• Effective delegation can lead to Team Awards

• Better Delegation Skills build capability and lead to internal
promotions/movements/Improved skill level

• Missed timelines leading to financial losses

• Ineffective delegation can lead to losing the company brand image

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Benefits of Delegation

By delegating you:
• Free yourself up to do more important jobs in your schedule
• Develop the skills of others
• Make others’ job more diverse or challenging
• Assign projects to people who are possibly better suited to the task
• Demonstrate confidence in others

For those you are delegating to, this means:

• Chance to do things they wouldn’t normally do
• New skills and responsibilities
• Opportunity to prove themselves
• Training and/or experience in new skills
• More involvement in the job and enrichment by its variety

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3 How to go About Delegation?

• What to Delegate?
Topics
• When to Delegate?
• Whom to Delegate to?

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What to Delegate?
The Delegation Onion

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When to Delegate?
Is this a task that someone else can
do, or is it critical that you do it
yourself?

Does the task provide an Is this a task that will

opportunity to grow and recur, in a similar form,
develop another person's in the future?
skills?

Do you have enough time

Is this a task that I
to delegate the job
should delegate?
effectively?

Tip
Effectively Communicate:
• The project's timelines/deadlines.
• Your expectations or goals for the project or task(s).

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 When not to Delegate?
Wrong Motives of Delegating

To avoid a job you don’t like to do

To avoid responsibility of learning new skills

To penalize someone you don’t like

To pass on the responsibility of failure

To avoid commitment due to sheer laziness

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Whom to Delegate to?
Factors to be considered while Delegating

Experience, Work Style

Knowledge and Skills

Training Needs Current Workload

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4 Delegation Process

• How to Delegate?
Topics
• Activity: Delegation Scenario
• Activity Debrief

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How to Delegate?

6. Follow-up
and reward
5. Guarantee
understanding
4. Provide
resources,
3. remove
Communicate barriers
2. Choose the the task
right person
1. Understand
the task

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How to Delegate?
Understand the Task and Identify the Right Person

• Outcome that is needed

• Timelines and context

• Barriers to success

• Resources that are required

• Tools and any available training

1. Understand the task
• People who might be affected

A person

• Willing to take on more challenging tasks to develop the skills

• Motivated to take on the task

• Skilled and experienced to complete the task

• Productive and efficient in completing the given task

2. Choose the right person

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How to Delegate?
Delegate the Task, Provide Resources, and Remove Barriers

Communicate
• The expectations of the task, the results required
• The business impact of the task completed with quality versus without
quality
• That you are passing on responsibility and authority for this task.
• What‘s in it for the other person

3. Communicate the task • Specific timelines and milestones along the way

• Make sure the person has the time, resources, and technology required
to complete the task

• Discuss the reallocation or reprioritization of some of their other tasks

to accommodate this new task

• Ensure that others know that you have delegated authority to this
person
4. Provide resources,
• Communicate that you are available for guidance and support remove barriers
• Let the person know you have trust and confidence in him/her
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How to Delegate?
Guarantee Understanding, Follow-up and Reward

• Make sure the individual has the willingness to understand exactly what
is expected before he or she leaves the meeting

• Ask the person to summarize and restate the points discussed

• You can then confirm the understanding and reassure of your guidance
and support to proceed

5. Guarantee understanding

• Give the person the flexibility to decide on the process

• Do not follow up too frequently

• Give frequent feedback about the progress being made and suggest
corrective action, if required

• Acknowledge progress at each follow-up meeting and in public if

possible 6. Follow-up and reward
• Help the person find solutions on their own rather than spoon
feeding or, worse still, taking the task back from them

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Activity: Delegating Scenario
• What would you delegate in the given scenario? Why?
• How would you do so?

Ruby is an excellent team player and a committed professional. Her

peers and supervisor look for her support on many initiatives and
Ruby too likes to take up new responsibilities. However, this week is
becoming a challenge for her as she is swamped with work.

Currently, she is working on a challenging design for a new

requirement. She is also acting as a buddy for a new team member
and has to explain the onboarding procedures to him. In addition,
she is on the ‘Practice events management’ team, and is required to
attend the core committee meetings for organizing a team outing. If
that wasn’t enough, her lead has just emailed asking her to create a
couple of slides about their current project for a Senior Leadership
meeting.

Ruby is worried that she might not be able to meet her

commitments.

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Activity Debrief: Delegating Scenario
Delegating Opportunities

Ruby can delegate the following tasks to her team members:

• Request another person from the team to support with the

onboarding of the new team member.

• Let the other team members of the organizing committee

plan for the team outing. She can just help them by
providing any required contacts.

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Course Summary
• Which of your current task(s) can you delegate and why?
• What will you do differently to improve your delegation skills?

Key Points
• Effectively delegating work frees you for more important tasks and gives other
eligible people an opportunity to prove themselves.
• Learn to delegate jobs that others can do, either independently or with your help,
or jobs that you can do with others’ help.
• Never delegate to avoid the task or to penalize someone.
• While delegating,
- Understand the task and identify the right person,
- Provide resources and remove barriers,
- Guarantee understanding, do required follow-up, and reward the person.

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