5 Simple Rules of Delegation

Who doesn’t enjoy delegating? I love handing off tasks and projects to other team members. But there are some simple rules I believe we need to follow to make the experience rewarding for both people. By delegating, it relieves you of a heavy work load that may be hindering you from taking on more pressing projects that only you can handle. Delegating is shifting responsibility and balancing your load and is a great tool for team building. If you are not delegating you are missing out on a great opportunity. These 5 simple rules are from my experiences I learned along the way.

Let Go

You have to be able to let go of things and know that others can do them as well as you or even better than you. Do not delegate and still hold on to it, let go and let the other person run with it in their own capacity. You can still oversee the task but from a distance as to give them some ownership over the project or task.

Give Clear Instructions the First Time

Make sure that when you are delegating, you give the other person clear instructions so they are not constantly coming back to you asking questions. If they keep asking questions and coming back to you the time is wasted and the very purpose of delegating is to free you up. NOTE: If they keep coming back asking questions repeatedly, then you either did not give clear instructions or they are the wrong person for the task.

Always Affirm

Once the person you handed something off to brings you the completed task, always affirm. Even though you see some things done wrong, if you criticize them, they will not be receptive to more delegation later. Receive the project from them, affirm them, and leave. If what is wrong is minor, then fix it yourself later. However, the next time you give them the same or similar task, make the correction then with them for the future. If, what they did wrong just won’t work, bring it back to them the next day. Giving some time in between when you affirm them and correct them really helps them feel they are helping.

Start Small to Big

When you are delegating, always start with a small task and work your way up to big. Once the other person is comfortable with being delegated to, then you can give them larger projects that will really free you up more. If you start with a really large task, the other person could get overwhelmed and not enjoy the delegation and be reluctant to receive more at a later date. 

Be Selective

Just because you find someone that picks up how to do things really fast, don’t just dump all your little tasks to them. Be very selective as to what you delegate. Also, don’t just delegate off things you think are not important. To delegate is to free you up to take on new projects that are more pressing to you at the time. If you always delegate small less important tasks, the other person will pick up on that and get less value from the experience. Remember, delegating is building a team, balancing the work load, and giving others the opportunity to learn new things and grow in their job.

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