{"id":454,"date":"2017-07-13T00:32:04","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T00:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meglehigh.com\/?p=454"},"modified":"2017-09-10T13:20:28","modified_gmt":"2017-09-10T13:20:28","slug":"mistakes-delegating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/mistakes-delegating\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Mistakes You\u2019re Probably Making When You Delegate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ideally, delegating a task to one of your team members is a win-win-win\u2014for you, your team member and your organization. That\u2019s because when you can develop your skills to get work done through others, you will have a higher performing team, more time to focus on business results and a stronger commitment from your employees. <\/span><\/p>\n

But what happens if you delegate a task to a team member and they don\u2019t do it? Then you\u2019re left with frustration, delays and other not-so-good outcomes. Don\u2019t make these 5 mistakes when delegating tasks to team members:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. You don\u2019t define the task.<\/b><\/h2>\n

The first step is asking yourself if the task can be delegated at all. If the answer is yes, think about what it is you\u2019re looking for and what the end result should be. Also think through things like skills and resources needed to complete the task, timing, budget, and preferred format and frequency of communication.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. You don\u2019t select the right team member for the job. <\/b><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s important to pick a team member who is both willing and able to complete the delegated task. So how do you know who that is? Observe them. Coming right out and asking if they\u2019re interested in taking on the task can also help. If the answer is no, then it\u2019s time to sniff out barriers and uncover what is getting in their way. Unfortunately, many leaders shy away from this important step because they either assume they know the answer (we don\u2019t have to review what happens when you assume, do we?) or they don’t want to hear the answer. But once you better understand what\u2019s getting in the way, you can work together to remove the obstacle. When your employee knows you have their best interest in mind, are willing to be flexible and listen to their ideas, you\u2019re also developing their loyalty and ownership in their job.<\/p>\n

3. You don\u2019t do a good job communicating with your team member. <\/b><\/h2>\n

Setting expectations is one thing; effectively communicating them is another. Face-to-face and written communication, like checklists, can work together to help your employee understand the responsibilities of the job, how it connects to the success of the business and what\u2019s in it for them. This may seem like information overload, but it helps turn merely compliant team members into committed, engaged ones.<\/p>\n

4. You don\u2019t inspect the process. <\/b><\/h2>\n

This is not the same thing as micromanaging. Instead, it\u2019s following up at regular intervals while the delegated task is being worked on. It\u2019s asking important questions and collecting feedback on what\u2019s working, what\u2019s not and what\u2019s missing from the process. It\u2019s doing that again when the process is over. This helps you gauge both your role and that of your team member in the delegation process. It allows you to determine if any given gap in performance is just a one-time event or a trend over time. That allows you to invest your energy in things that have the biggest impact.<\/p>\n

5. You don\u2019t offer recognition. <\/b><\/h2>\n

Team members to whom you delegate need recognition for their efforts. People want to know their work is noticed, especially when it\u2019s done well. That helps them to continue doing it. But telling someone \u201cgood job\u201d provides them no idea of what they did well. Instead, provide specific feedback. Example: \u201cI noticed that your email response time is consistently within 24 hours, just like we discussed. That will ensure we keep up the customer service standards we have set for our business. I really appreciate the positive impact you\u2019re making.\u201d<\/p>\n

As you can see, delegating is more than telling a team member to do something and then waiting for it to get done. Effective delegation takes a lot of preparation and follow-up. In that case, should you just do the task yourself? Maybe, but keep in mind that delegating isn\u2019t just about freeing up your own time; it\u2019s also about growing new leaders. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is your delegation not getting the job done? Make sure you’re avoiding these common pitfalls. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla sed ligula a sem vestibulum dapibus eget eu ante. Duis non turpis commodo, tristique enim quis, dictum nisi. Morbi at volutpat augue, vel cursus mauris. Praesent a justo elit. Proin interdum a quam ut molestie. Quisque tempor in odio quis lacinia. Etiam luctus dolor et nisl mattis, faucibus tincidunt sapien commodo. Nulla ex nisl, placerat eu felis sit amet, faucibus sodales eros. Sed suscipit sem id tellus aliquet laoreet. Praesent id erat vitae augue suscipit facilisis. Mauris lacinia turpis eget volutpat vehicula.\r\n\r\nPhasellus id metus id nulla posuere maximus. Curabitur sit amet augue tincidunt, hendrerit neque ut, suscipit lorem. Etiam vel turpis sit amet nunc egestas sollicitudin. Nullam placerat eros ac laoreet rhoncus. Aenean enim mauris, posuere at sagittis in, venenatis at nisl. Aliquam efficitur augue ligula, sed semper ipsum dapibus malesuada. Sed ac bibendum libero. Pellentesque vel egestas enim, et pellentesque purus.\r\n\r\nSuspendisse accumsan ipsum non mi posuere venenatis. Nulla ligula eros, dictum efficitur nisi in, placerat porttitor augue. Nam ullamcorper scelerisque leo, sed.","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,18],"tags":[14,16,17,15],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership-lessons","category-team-effectiveness","tag-delegation","tag-leadership","tag-talent-management","tag-team-building"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/meglehigh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}