Delegating - How to Decide Who Does the Chores?

Delegation involves transferring a task, or part of a task, and the responsibility for it to someone else. Typically it’s thought of in a work context, with a manager delegating work to a person in their team. 

Delegating is a critical skill for managers at any level, and trust plays a vital role in its success, but the thought of it can be daunting.  If it isn’t done properly there can be major repercussions.  Then there are concerns about giving up control (no-one will be able to do it as well as I can!), or lack of confidence in the ability of others (they’re not ready yet, they need longer to develop) or even how long it will take to delegate (it’s just quicker and easier if I do it myself).

Delegating is an important trait for those who work in teams, and trust plays a critical role for its success.

Sometimes delegation will go up the chain of command in an organisation.  More importantly, delegation is something many of us are familiar with outside of the workplace - and if you’ve managed that over the years - successful delegation within the workplace should be a cinch.

The benefits of delegating work are well documented - 

For the Business

Greater productivity,

Resilient workforce,

Create a pool of talent ready for promotion,

High morale,

Improved employee retention.

For the Manager

Reduced workload,

Reduced stress,

More time on higher priorities,

More responsive team,

Better team collaboration.

For the individual

Increased feeling of responsibility,

Improved motivation,

Improved skill set,

Empowered,

Feels valued.

However, be wary, if not done well then there can be major repercussions, such as,

Work quality can suffer,

Productivity can decrease,

Employees feel demotivated,

Employee frustration,

Team dynamics can suffer.

So…how to do it well - perhaps not as alien and difficult as you think.  Take a step out of the world of work for a moment.  Imagine you are at home, you may have a young family, or at some time (maybe a while ago!) you were a young child at home yourself.

Who did/does the household chores?

When I was young my mum stayed home to look after the house and me and my sisters, my dad went out to work and looked after the maintenance side of things.

All the chores, cooking, cleaning, ironing, gardening etc. fell to my mum - until she started ‘delegating’.  Even as a young child she would ‘let’ me try and move the old Hoover (big clunky thing by today’s standards) around the room, or give me a duster to rub over some surfaces.  I felt great, I was being like the grown ups.  No doubt with both of these tasks she would have had to repeat it once I was out of sight - but it was a beginning.

A bit at a time I found I was doing more, and to be honest at the beginning it didn’t feel like work.  

I could help make a cake…

breaking the eggs was my favourite bit…

each time I was allowed to do a little more than the time before…

so by the age of ten I could make cakes on my own!  

She may have regretted this somewhat when me and my sisters made her birthday cake one year with green icing!

And baking wasn’t the only thing - sorting the washing into dark and light washes, hanging it out (and bringing it in quickly when it rained), setting the machine dials and so on.

I think ironing was the task that broke the image that all this was fun. I hated ironing - but by now I was old enough to know that this was all about preparing me for adult life, and in the house everyone had their responsibilities, especially as my mum now had a part-time job.

When my daughter was younger we started on the same path. Giving her responsibility for tasks, sometimes a bit at a time, so she has the ‘life’ skills she needs.

I suspect you can relate to the situation above, which means you understand delegating, probably from both a giving and receiving position.  Just because it was outside of the workplace doesn’t mean it doesn’t count.

The rules of successful delegation apply to both work and non-work situations, and if you’re familiar with how this works at home, then you can make it work, well, at work.

Top 10 tips

1. Start with a list -

of everything you do - could be a long one!

2. Identify routine tasks -

these should be the first ones you delegate - other more ad hoc or complex tasks can wait

3. Clear boundaries -

be clear about what the task entails and what it doesn't

4. Clear outcomes -

know what you are looking for - outcome is more important than process

5. It's ok to delegate part of a task -

you can add other elements as the person develops

6. 70% is enough -

this is a development opportunity, don't wait until someone is 100% competent before delegating

7. Take time to explain -

why you're delegating the task, why you've chosen them, and what you expect from them

8. Appropriate support -

check-in and monitor in line with ability and capacity - don't micro-manage or desert

9. Feedback -

review how it went, compliment a job well done, support any needed improvement

10. Start all over again! -

repeat the process, keep going until you really feel there is nothing else to delegate.

You do need to conquer those doubts you have about delegating, but to reap the rewards you need to take action. Have trust in your employees, and they will return it.

Cheers.