Delegation
By Lisa Seppala, MBA, BComm, ACC, PHS (Adv Cert)
The other night it was my turn to wash the dishes after dinner, a big pile of pots I would typically wash by hand. As I stared at the pile, I asked myself, ‘is this really what I should be working on?’ Into the dishwasher they went, and I moved on to other tasks needing my time and skillset. You could say I ‘delegated’ the task of washing the dishes to the dishwasher, which only has one function and does a better job in a more environmentally friendly way than I do.
In some ways, this mindfulness moment reminded me of when I first took on a leadership role and every time I took a step up the corporate ladder. I needed to lead with a different mindset. I needed to leave the old tasks behind and work on fulfilling new ones.
Does this sound familiar? Are there things that you’re doing that should be delegated?
As a leader, the ability to delegate means recognizing your role and the roles of the people on your team. Overstepping your role and diving into what you used to do or were good at in the past sends mixed signals to your team. Sometimes, like in emergencies, your team may appreciate an all-hands-on-deck approach. At other times they may feel that you don’t trust them to do the job well. Moving past over-functioning behavior will allow your team to progress and thrive.
There are many aspects to creating a psychologically healthy and safe workplace, and delegation reflects a few. These include:
- trusting your team to deliver
- clearly defining roles and responsibilities
- providing opportunities for growth and development, and
- allowing your team members to have some control over their work.
When you’re about to dive in to perform a task, stop and reflect, ‘is this something I should be doing given my role, or am I doing it because it’s something I’m good at and I feel comfortable performing?’
At my end, I will continue to look for ways to shift tasks better performed by others to their shoulders, including if those ‘others’ are machines designed for a specific job.