Why Delegation Is the Cornerstone of Business Leadership
Leaders act as visionaries at every level of a company. They maintain the goals of the company and make decisions that guide the business forward. At every level, a leader is encouraged to support their team members and develop their skills so they are motivated to reinvest in the company.
A leader must trust their team to complete their assignments and be empowered to make decisions that will leave a positive impact on clients and other team members. For a leader to function effectively, they must delegate. It is important for a leader to delegate. Burnout is inevitable without delegation and neglecting other responsibilities for the sake of the business can lead to additional problems in your personal life.
What is Delegation?
Delegation is a process. Each task a leader delegates must go to someone with the skills and capacity to carry them out effectively. Delegation is not offloading work onto others. It is about empowering and trusting team members to take ownership of their position and make decisions within defined boundaries. Boundaries are created when a leader provides clear direction on how a project should be completed.
Delegation is a crucial part of growth. It not only helps leaders manage their workload but also contributes to the development of their team members. Team members want to help the business so they are motivated to understand how the business operates and why decisions are made at selected steps in the process. This boosts morale and prompts team members to engage more freely within the organization. With proper delegation, a culture of trust is fostered in the organization, and confidence in the company and their position grows stronger.
Tools For Proper Delegation
Incorporating project management software and time management strategies into your delegation process can supercharge your leadership journey. You can use tools like Asana, Trello, or Slack to stay on track and discuss progress.
These tools empower leaders to prioritize high-impact tasks and facilitate their ability to lead the team. Time management tools like time blocking help leaders meet with team members to keep the team motivated and satisfied with their job.
Challenges of Effective Delegation
Delegation challenges often revolve around trust, communication, and clarity. By implementing strategies to build trust within a team and provide clear guidelines, leaders can effectively overcome these challenges and promote a smoother delegation process.
Unclear Instructions
A common challenge many leaders face when delegating is providing unclear instructions. Ambiguous instructions can lead to misunderstandings and poor outcomes. If you have no documentation on how to follow instructions, steps may be missed or not replicated consistently for a uniform client experience. This will lead to different experiences for clients and leaders feel they need to take the delegated tasks away because of inconsistencies.
Leaders who are unsure how to convey their expectations or instructions are likely to fail when onboarding an Executive Assistant (EA). An EA needs time with their leader to discuss tasks for clarification or have their leader provide guidance so a process can be implemented for everyone to follow. The EA is supported and encouraged to do their best while the leader is able to monitor their progress and ensure all tasks are being covered.
To overcome this obstacle, a leader needs to provide clear and detailed instructions on how a task should be completed. Deadlines are clearly expressed and objectives are outlined that give your EA an opportunity to succeed from the beginning. Your EA must be encouraged to ask questions and become a part of the team so everyone is working towards the same goals. Provide different opportunities for your EA to learn these tasks. Use Loom videos, written steps, or pictures of the process to share how to do the task.
Lack of Trust in the Team
Another common challenge in delegation is a lack of trust. Trust is crucial for effective delegation. Leaders may hesitate to delegate if they don't fully trust their team's competence or reliability. Knowing what to delegate and the right person to delegate it to are very important for every leader. If a team member doesn’t have the skills or knowledge to complete the task, a leader must be aware of this before delegating the task and blaming the team member for not speaking up.
Instead, trust should be built into the relationship from the beginning. This involves clear communication so everyone is comfortable with the details. Leaders should set expectations that clearly outline what is to be achieved and the resources available to accomplish the task. Trust is also important because it is a chance to provide constructive feedback and growth opportunities. A good leader will invest time in getting to know their team's strengths and capabilities. This will make the team trust their leader even more.
The Importance of Delegation to Leadership
Delegation stands at the core of effective leadership, enabling leaders to accomplish more while cultivating a talented and motivated workforce. Leaders are able to concentrate on strategic planning and long-term processes because they have delegated the daily operations to their teams. By entrusting routine tasks to others, leaders can allocate mental energy to critical decision-making processes.
Leaders who embrace delegation can unlock their true potential by building a stronger team. Delegation fosters team member development and transforms them into a powerhouse of talent and skill. It's an investment that yields dividends in terms of motivation, morale, and performance.
To learn more about the Elevated Experience an Elevate EA provides, join us for a live discussion on how to successfully delegate. You’ll learn:
How to look for signs of burnout
Different ways to organize yourself and your business
Reasons to invest time in networking, and more.
Learning to delegate successfully takes time. The first step starts here. Join us and learn how you can better delegate the tasks you need to achieve. You can sign up here.
