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Hi, um, so Matt already discussed our company, Blackmail. We work with technology organizations to help them work and perform better.
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We offer training, coaching, and consulting. However, this work leads us to ask you some questions, so we're going to try and be a bit more interactive in this session and see how it goes.
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The first question we have for you is: Do you practice delegation? Raise your hand if you do not. Cool, so we see some people practicing delegation. Sorry, some of you have your hands up, genuinely fewer hands here.
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Who here finds delegation easy? Who feels confident in their delegation of work to other people? We have one confident hand and one half-hand up. Okay, that's cool; we're going to work on that.
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Now, who finds it difficult? It looks like this might be the rest of you, right? So, the question is: Why is delegation hard?
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Reliability is a concern; it's about getting reliable results when you give someone a piece of work. We will talk about how to make that better. There’s also the matter of power dynamics—you shouldn't be controlling people.
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Do your colleagues trust you? Do you trust them, and does your boss trust you to delegate tasks effectively? These are essential questions.
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So let's meet Jack, who has some concerns. Jack was a senior developer before becoming an engineering manager. He identified strongly with being a successful individual contributor.
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Now that he's transitioned, he still loves getting hands-on with work. He has extremely high expectations of himself and the work's quality. Yet, Jack often finds himself working extra hours to keep pace with his managerial responsibilities.
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Guess what? Jack's team is also growing fast; they've just hired three new people, and hiring is still ongoing. His projects are progressing well, but there's an issue.
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There isn't much documentation in the codebase. Without adequate onboarding documentation, the team has been struggling for months. Every time they onboard a new member, it takes a substantial time investment to get them productive.
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Jack has a looming performance review next week, and he's trying to become more efficient, but it's tough. With projects piling up, he's starting to drop the ball on his responsibilities.
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Let's talk a bit about delegation. The act of delegation is a critical management practice where a leader assigned tasks or projects to other individuals on the team.
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It entails designating responsibility to someone else, lending your authority to allow them to make decisions on your behalf, which is essential for time management and team development.
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One of the hardest parts of delegation is trusting others with tasks for which you are responsible, while still being accountable for the final outcome.
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Going back to Jack, he feels he has painted himself into a corner—he doesn't have enough hours in the day due to many projects and tasks piling up.
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So first, if you've ever thought of delegating but felt hesitant, raise your finger for every concern that comes to mind. For instance, do you feel bad about giving someone more work?
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Do you think you don’t have time to teach others? Is it quicker for you to do it yourself? Are you unsure if you can trust other people to deliver the work to the same quality you can?
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Or do you think they will resent you for assigning them tasks? And if it's a boring job, do you decide to do it yourself because you want to lead by example?
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It’s evident that if you care too much about details, you may not let go. Guess what? All these reasons for not delegating lead to worse consequences, like overloading your schedule.
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Ultimately, if Jack doesn’t address his delegation issues, he risks burnout and negatively impacts his team’s growth opportunities.
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Leaders need to understand their resistance to delegation. They may be reluctant to relinquish control or fear being perceived as slacking off.
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They must shift their mindset regarding their responsibilities. Being the only one capable of certain tasks may provide a sense of purpose, but if they don't trust others, it creates blockers.
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As managers, leaders need to take on the responsibility to help others deliver on the work and no longer do it themselves.
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Effective delegation fosters team growth, promotes professional development, and eases the workload on leaders.
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It's proven that leaders who excel in delegation can boost morale and productivity.
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Effective delegation leads to reduced burnout risks, frees up time for strategic planning, improves relationships through one-on-one coaching, motivates employees, and enhances team resilience.
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When we delegate effectively, we allow the team to thrive, which drives business growth.
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While we need to relinquish authority when we delegate, leaders need to make it clear that they still hold accountability for the outcomes.
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Many leaders struggle with letting go of tasks they feel they can only do best. They might micromanage due to concerns about standards not being met.
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Delegation doesn’t mean eliminating responsibility. It's about understanding when to step back and let others take the reins.
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Let’s go back to Jack, who needs to overcome his reluctance to delegate by understanding his team’s skills and trusting their abilities.
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Moving forward, Jack can learn to identify tasks he can delegate, such as the onboarding process for new team members.
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This may not be easy at first, especially given his history of being hands-on and detail-oriented.
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However, by properly structuring delegation, providing context and support, Jack will foster an environment where his team can take on more responsibility.
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In closing, remember that if you want to handle smaller tasks yourself, go ahead. But for making a significant impact, mastering delegation is essential.
