{"id":4432,"date":"2016-04-22T20:03:09","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T20:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/?p=4432"},"modified":"2016-04-22T20:04:54","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T20:04:54","slug":"tips-and-steps-for-effective-delegation-without-abdication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/tips-and-steps-for-effective-delegation-without-abdication\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips and Steps for Effective Delegation, Without Abdication"},"content":{"rendered":"

Building Effective \"delegation\"Delegation–without Abdication<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mastering effective delegation can help business owners\/managers on many levels.\u00a0 It can help them gain confidence AND multiply good organizational results by a greater level.\u00a0 It can prevent job burnout, reduce stress levels, and promote healthy work\/life balance.\u00a0 And, delegation is one of THE greatest tools to equip and mold others to grow as leaders, as well as do more for the team and organization. But often delegation is weak, or simply lacking from an organization.<\/p>\n

(See my weekly “Success Quick Tip” video on this here<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Why do people NOT delegate?\u00a0 It often comes down to feelings of fear: fear of loss of control, fear that someone else might actually do it better, fear of the unknown, fear of judgment from others (\u201cHe can\u2019t handle this on his own\u201d).<\/p>\n

Often there are stated reasons around not delegating: \u201cI tried it once.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cIt takes me longer to teach them than to do it myself.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI know I\u2019ll do it right.\u201d\u00a0 The real reason, in most cases, is that the owners\/managers simply don\u2019t trust themselves.\u00a0 They don\u2019t trust that they know how to delegate without losing control while doing it.<\/p>\n

It helps to move someone through the delegation process if they understand that delegation does not mean abdication.\u00a0 Loss of control does not need to be part of the equation if delegation is done purposefully and properly.\u00a0 Proper delegating means empowering someone else, and, as result, growing the results of the organization (and, possibly, make yourself look better).\u00a0 The manager\/owner must understand that he\/she is ultimately in control, and that every employee needs to get better in order for the business to grow. Delegation involves leadership and growth for everyone.\u00a0 If an employee doesn\u2019t expect to grow, that person is a drain in the organization.\u00a0 The owner\/manager must see: \u201cI add value, but my focus is to help the WHOLE organization grow in value, in order for it to move forward.\u201d \u00a0In other words, like a chain, the organization is only as strong as its weakest link.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the owner needs to look inside him\/herself and answer the questions: \u201cWhy am I trying to build this business for myself, as a person?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat are MY needs as the owner\/manager?\u201d\u00a0 Partnering with employees is a great way for the owner to get his\/her personal needs met\u2026and delegation is a great way to partner with employees, and inspire them to be their best.<\/p>\n

What is needed to start an effective delegation process? First, the person in charge needs to give the employee the whole process, i.e.: a \u201cmap\u201d, showing processes, procedures, and guidelines in the area being discussed.\u00a0 If everyone is \u201ctoo busy\u201d to do this, there may be a need to look at how organizational planning is done.\u00a0 In this situation, as in business planning, this \u201cmapping\u201d time, is time well spent (1 minute of planning saves 9 minutes of chaos.\u00a0 True).<\/p>\n

The owner\/manager needs to partner with the employee to set the guidelines.\u00a0 If a milestone is missed, they need to work together for a recovery plan.\u00a0 The boss needs to ask the employee what she needs to make the delegated task work: what is needed externally (office space, software, etc.), and internally (to meet regularly with boss, other colleagues, etc.).<\/p>\n

Four Levels of Effective Delegation<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are four levels of delegation, from novice to advanced, depending on the skill level of the employee.\u00a0 These are, in ascending order:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cYou go do _____, get facts, make a suggestion, and I\u2019ll decide.\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cYou go do _____, get facts, make a decision, and wait until I say \u2018Okay.\u2019\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cYou go do _____, get facts, make a decision, take action, and report regularly to me.\u201d<\/li>\n
  4. \u201cYou go do _____, get facts, make a decision, take action, and only tell me when something goes wrong.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To develop an effective delegation process, the owner\/manager must appreciate some truths:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Proper delegation empowers employees<\/li>\n
    • Proper delegation ensures that the proper result occurs\u2014and in a timely way:<\/li>\n
    • The majority of employees expect and require clarity of assignments.<\/li>\n
    • The majority of employees expect and require mutual understanding.<\/li>\n
    • There is a distinction between end results expected and how the task is accomplished (i.e.: let the ends justify the means\u2014after all, someone else may find a better way to accomplish the task).<\/li>\n
    • A series of checkpoints and controls must be built in when delegating a task.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      3 mistakes to Avoid<\/strong><\/p>\n

      There are 3 mistakes to avoid when introducing delegation into the owner\/manager\u2019s skill set:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Starting delegation when he\/she is in a crisis (at this time, focus should be on recovery and planning)<\/li>\n
      2. Not establishing benchmarks and\/or milestones with the employee.<\/li>\n
      3. Not specifying results for the owner\/manager to live up to, as well as the employee\u2026 Good delegation means mutual accountability and support.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Get my book, Stuckness–140 Insights & Tips to Get Unstuck, Get Going and Get What You Want<\/span>\u00a0on Amazon<\/p>\n

        Here’s to your success! \u00a0Lynnea<\/p>\n

        Connect with me on Linked In: Lynnea Quinn Hagen<\/p>\n

        Follow me on twitter: LynneaHagen<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Building Effective Delegation–without Abdication Mastering effective delegation can help business owners\/managers on many levels.\u00a0 It can help them gain confidence AND multiply good organizational results by a greater level.\u00a0 It can prevent job burnout, reduce stress levels, and promote healthy work\/life balance.\u00a0 And, delegation is one of THE greatest tools to equip and mold others […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,10,7,8,35,1],"tags":[180,189,190,164],"class_list":["post-4432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-build-business","category-business","category-change","category-leadership","category-success","category-uncategorized","tag-communication","tag-delegation","tag-empowering-others","tag-leadership","has-post-title","no-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4435,"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4432\/revisions\/4435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}