One of the most difficult transitions for leaders to make is the shift from doing to leading.
This can be especially true for entrepreneurs because often you are the expert, aka the “doer” in your business. You have proven your idea through hard work and a lot of trial and error. You ARE the expert and known for your expertise. You experienced success and have scaled your business and grown your team.
Then one day you wake up with a team and all the responsibilities that come with it. You have clients and team demanding more from you.
The actions you have taken to grow your company to this point need to shift in order for you to continue to grow and scale your business. You need to empower your team, delegate even more and delegate more effectively.
Delegation is core to the way we get work done and creating an accountable culture.
Just as it is important to have a structure in place for where and when you communicate and share updates, it is also important HOW you communicate when giving tasks and assignments. Here are two frameworks to use for the two typical ways we delegate with our teams.
Delegating New Projects
First lets look at delegating when you have a new idea or project you want to get started or you have a function that you normally manage and now you want to delegate it
This framework is good for when delegating /assigning a project to someone. The first two steps are about you communicating to your team / team member and the second part is about making sure they are clear on what you are communicating and how and when they will report status and results.
A common breakdown I’ve seen is the boss (you) share a new project idea and feel like you’ve handed it off. Meanwhile, the team is thinking that sounds great and are waiting for further details and instructions. They took it as a “heads up” and you thought you were handing it off!
Using this framework supports you getting clarity of expectations and timelines and knowing that your team can run with it.
Delegation Levels for Day to Day Tasks
In addition, there is delegation for tasks and daily operations. Being clear in how you delegate “the smaller stuff” is just as important as how you share new ideas and projects. In fact it can be more important because we naturally put more focus and attention on the “big” stuff.
Creating a shared language/understanding with your team sets you up for a better result so your team can move forward with more confidence.
Really this all comes down to being clear on what you are communicating and what you need.
Remember your team can’t read your mind. In the busy-ness of day to day work, they won’t just know how important (or unimportant) a task is. Don’t underestimate the time it takes to do things and make sure you are specific with how much time and effort you want people to invest. A classic breakdown in delegation, is when the “boss” requests something, believing its a simple quick request and then later finds out that its taken up way more time and resources then the request was worth.
Using a structure will support you to be clearer, hand off work more efficiently and support you and your team to get work done with confidence.
Are you getting the most from your team?
Need to up-level your communications and delegation practices?
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