In business, delegation – effective delegation specifically – is a mission-critical skill. And as more organizations move toward a remote workforce, leaders must be adept at delegating.
But delegating isn’t easy – at least it doesn’t start that way. It takes practice and commitment, and can be the difference between accelerated growth and stalling out.
Here are seven delegation tips to keep your growing business in the fast lane.
- Know Your Own Process.
You can’t teach – or effectively delegate – something you don’t know and understand yourself. Often, people would rather muddle their way through something without a clear understanding in order to save face, so make sure both you and those involved understand your expectations and provide the necessary training to set everyone up for success.
- Discuss & Assign Projects.
Host weekly one-on-one calls to proactively discuss delegated projects, questions, or concerns. Further, consider bi-weekly or monthly all-calls with everyone on your virtual team to update each initiative’s status and address any questions to get – and keep – everyone on the same page.
- Use Collaboration Tools.
A recent survey found that 38 percent of respondents named communication as their key issue when working on a virtual team. Calls, texts, or voicemails work fine for casual conversations but to emphasize a deadline or celebrate an accomplishment, virtual collaboration tools like Basecamp and Slack work well.
- Details Matter.
Be sure to document everything – maybe in a collaborative project management platform like Trello or Basecamp – in order to create a chain of communication that everyone can reference. There, everyone can upload emails, documents, images and other files so everyone can access them as needed.
- Be Inclusive.
When there are important decisions to make or tasks to complete for a particular project or initiative, be sure to include all involved parties on emails. This will serve to not only let everyone know what has been completed and by whom, but will also help remote employees stay aware of the status of each project as it’s handed off.
- Divide-and-Conquer.
When it comes to delegating effectively, it’s important to remember that each person on your team plays an invaluable role in the completion of projects, tasks and initiatives. Be sure to break each into smaller deliverables so people can get in where they fit in. Successful delegation is a matter of choosing the right tool – or employee – for the job.
- Now … Let Go.
If you’ve successfully navigated the first six steps – congratulations! That was the easy part. This last step is essential, but also the most challenging. From this point on, it’s imperative to have faith in your delegation process and people. And while it may be hard to let someone else take the reins, you’re so primed to delegate effectively and successfully because you’ve adopted the 70 percent rule. (If you haven’t yet, you can prime yourself here.)
***BONUS DELEGATION TIP***
Now, this should go without saying but in a fast-paced world that leaves no time for frivolity or pleasantries, never underestimate the power and impact of manners. ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ still go a long, long way.
Ultimately, effective delegation is about trust and letting go. When you manage a remote team, you can’t just aimlessly wander over to someone’s desk and breathe down their neck. (Which, really, you probably shouldn’t regardless but that’s another topic altogether.) Take that leap of faith – faith in your ability to hire world-class employees and faith in those rockstar employees to do exactly what you entrusted to them in the first place. Your business, your sanity and your bottom line will thank you.
What are you waiting for?
Fill out this worksheet and give it to your team today! The only thing you’ll lose are the tasks that are stealing 15 hours of your week.