{"id":4483,"date":"2017-12-18T20:36:37","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T20:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/?p=4483"},"modified":"2017-12-18T20:38:22","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T20:38:22","slug":"4-steps-to-delegating-without-abdicating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/4-steps-to-delegating-without-abdicating\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Steps to Delegating Without Abdicating"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"delegating\"<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Building Effective Delegation<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Why do people NOT delegate? 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). And, as Mitch Meyerson states, some people are \u201ccompulsively self-reliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Often there are stated reasons around not delegating: \u201cI tried it once.\u201d \u201cIt takes me longer to teach them than to do it myself.\u201d \u201cI know I\u2019ll do it right.\u201d The real reason, in some cases, is that the owners\/managers simply don\u2019t trust themselves. 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. Loss of control does not need to be part of the equation if delegation is done purposefully and properly. Proper delegating means empowering someone else, and, as result, growing the results of the organization (and, possibly, make yourself look better). The manager\/owner\u2014the \u201cdelegator\u201d– 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. If an employee doesn\u2019t grow, that person will possibly be a drain on the organization. The delegator must be able to see: \u201cI add value, but my focus is to help the WHOLE organization grow in value, in order for it to move forward.\u201d In other words, like a chain, the organization is only as strong as its weakest link.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the delegator needs to look inside him\/herself and answer the questions: \u201cWhy am I trying to build this organization for myself, as a person?\u201d \u201cWhat are MY needs as the owner\/manager?\u201d 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 delegator needs to give the employee (or, \u201cdelegatee\u201d) the whole process, i.e.: a \u201cmap\u201d, showing processes, procedures, and guidelines in the area being discussed. If everyone is \u201ctoo busy\u201d to do this, there may be a need to look at how organizational planning is done. In this situation, as in business planning, this \u201cmapping\u201d time, is time well spent (1 minute of planning saves 9 minutes of chaos. True).<\/p>\n

The owner\/manager needs to partner with the employee to set the guidelines. If a milestone is missed, they need to work together on a recovery plan. 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 the boss, other colleagues, etc.).<\/p>\n

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

There are four levels of delegation, from novice to advanced, depending on the skill level of the employee. These are, in ascending order, saying to the \u201cdelegatee\u201d:<\/p>\n

1. \u201cYou go do _____, get facts, make a suggestion, and I\u2019ll decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. \u201cYou go do _____, get facts, make a decision, and wait until I say \u2018Okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

3. \u201cYou go do _____, get facts, make a decision, take action, and report regularly to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. \u201cYou go do _____, get facts, make a decision, take action, and only tell me when something goes wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u00b7 Proper delegation grows employees, and often builds organizational morale and loyalty.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Proper delegation can ensure that the proper result occurs\u2014and in a timely way.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 The majority of employees expects and requires clarity of assignments.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 The majority of employees expects and requires mutual understanding.<\/p>\n

\u00b7 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).<\/p>\n

\u00b7 A series of checkpoints and controls must be built in when delegating a task.<\/p>\n

3 mistakes to Avoid<\/p>\n

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

1. Starting delegation when he\/she is in a crisis (at this time, focus should be on recovery and planning)<\/p>\n

2. Not establishing benchmarks and\/or milestones with the employee.<\/p>\n

3. Not specifying results for the delegator to live up to, as well as the delegatee\u2026 Good delegation means mutual accountability and support.<\/p>\n

Learning and practicing effective delegation has its rewards–for the employee, the company and the manager. It is well worth the time and practice to do it well.\u00a0 If you’re open to having support to\u00a0effectively delegate, let me know.\u00a0 lynnea@abundancecoaching.net<\/p>\n

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

Building Effective Delegation Mastering effective delegation can help business owners\/managers on many levels. It can help them gain confidence AND multiply good organizational results by a greater level. It can prevent job burnout, reduce stress levels, and promote healthy work\/life balance. And, delegation is one of THE greatest tools to equip and mold others to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,31,35,92,1],"tags":[189,190,164],"class_list":["post-4483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-build-business","category-productivity","category-success","category-success-steps","category-uncategorized","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\/4483","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=4483"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4489,"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4483\/revisions\/4489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/abundancecoaching.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}