Top Tips for Dealing with Delegation Challenges

• Before delegating any work, hold an informal meeting with the relevant team members, explaining why you have decided to delegate the work, and why you have chosen them for the job. This will encourage them not to simply view the delegated tasks as ‘extra work’ passed to them at random. Highlighting the reasons why you have chosen individual team members to tackle the delegated work (e.g. their skills or expertise) should also help to boost their confidence and make them feel more positive about the delegation process.
• When briefing your team members, remember to explain how and why the delegated work might represent a development opportunity to them. Perhaps it might help them develop a specific skill (e.g. time management, customer service, communication), or maybe it will give them exposure to a new aspect of the organization.
• Wherever possible, try to resist the temptation to delegate only straightforward tasks. Delegating ‘meatier’ pieces of work is likely to prove more energizing and motivational for those to whom you delegate and will send a clear message to your team that taking on delegated work can be an exciting opportunity for development.
• If you sense that some team members are still reluctant to take on the delegated work, provide them with some real-life examples of the benefits of doing this. Perhaps there are some experiences from your own career or those of your colleagues that you can share. (If you plan to use someone else’s example, make sure you check with them beforehand that they are comfortable with you doing this.)
• If it is feasible to do so in your organization, consider including your team members’ delegated responsibilities in their next performance review. Explaining this to your team members will signal to them that their efforts will not go unnoticed and will be formally acknowledged within the framework of the organization’s performance management system.
• Make sure you thank your team members in advance for their help and co-operation. Showing that you appreciate their efforts will go a long way to making them feel more positive about their role in the delegation process.

They Seem Unsure of Their Objectives

• It is important to brief your team members about the purpose and objectives of the delegated work before asking them to get started. Take some time to explain the context of the delegated task and how it contributes to the team’s or organization’s overall goals and objectives. Allow some time at the end of this explanation for your team members to ask questions. Doing this upfront should ensure that everyone understands what they need to achieve, and why, from the start.
• Once the delegated work is under way, changes might occur that alter your team members’ objectives (e.g. a piece of work may be identified as having a higher priority than first anticipated). If this happens, meet with your team members as soon as possible to advise them of the change and answer any questions they might have about it.

Team Members are Unsure How to Get Started

• If your team members are required to learn a new process or skill, it is important to spend some time with them at the start to explain, or, if appropriate, show them what they need to do. If you have the time to do so, you might even wish to consider working on the task with your team members until they are able to proceed on their own. Taking these steps at the start of the process will help your team members feel more confident about tackling the delegated work.
• When team members do have the skills and ability to get started immediately and there is still a delay, there is the chance that they have not found the time to begin the delegated work. You might wish to hold an informal meeting with your team members to ask them to honestly assess their current workload, and consider whether they can accommodate the delegated tasks. If it transpires that they cannot, thank them for their honesty, and consider who else might be better positioned to take on the delegated work.
• Alternatively, the delay might be caused by insufficient equipment or resources. When you meet with your team members, check with them that they have everything need to start work on the delegated tasks. If they feel that they do not, consider how this could be rectified. If you cannot buy new supplies straight away, perhaps you could temporarily draft in some of the equipment or resources from another department.

They Don't Have the Skills/Expertise to Work Unsupervised

• This problem can be prevented to a large extent by making sure you select the team members with the most appropriate skills and strengths to tackle the delegated work from the outset. If after delegating the work, you realize you’ve picked the wrong person for the job, it is important to review your approach to the selection process. Consider what you might do differently to prevent this problem from reoccurring in the future.
• If it transpires that an individual to whom you delegate is not in fact able to undertake the work, it is important to address this quickly. Request an informal meeting with the team member in question to discuss the problem and explore some potential solutions. Rather than simply telling the team member what you think, try asking them some probing coaching questions in the first instance. These are open-ended questions that should encourage the team member to reflect honestly on the issue and suggest solutions that might work well for them (e.g. ‘Why do you think you are finding this difficult?’ or ‘What do you need to help you complete this work?’).
• If it transpires that the employee simply needs some additional support, rather than extensive training and development, you could consider bringing in another team member to work on the delegated project with them. However, if it is not possible to do this, you may need to pass the work on to another team member, who you know can complete the work quickly.
• If, after discussing the problem with the employee, you identify a training and development need, be sure to record this in their training and development plan. If there is a pressing deadline, there may not be sufficient time to provide the employee with the required training and expect them to complete the work. In this situation you may wish to consider passing the work to another team member, who you know can complete it quickly. It is important to reassure the employee that they will receive the training they need and to provide them with a realistic timeframe for this.
• In the longer term, you may wish to consider planning your team members’ training and development in advance, to ensure they already have the skills in place to complete delegated work when it arises. Although it is not always possible to know in advance what these training and development needs might be, you may be aware of some obvious skills gaps that might prevent your team members from completing some of the tasks you are likely to delegate.

Team Members are Unsure How They're Doing

• As your team members progress through the delegated work, it is important to provide them with regular feedback. This will help them to understand how they are doing, and whether there are any areas in which they need to improve or modify their approach. It is equally important to provide team members with praise when they have done well, as this will help to boost their confidence and renew their commitment to the delegated work.
• When the delegated work is complete, it is a good idea to hold a debrief meeting with your team. This will allow all of you to collectively reflect on the successes of the delegation process, as well as potential areas for improvement. Having this conversation with your team members will provide you all with the opportunity to share lessons learned and develop a clear view of how to move forward.
• Your feedback regarding the delegated work shouldn’t be reserved solely for the delegation process. It is also a good idea to reiterate it in your team members’ next performance review meeting. This will signal to your team that the way in which they approach delegated work will have implications beyond the delegation process itself.