tp how to better delegate v2

27 March 2015

How to better delegate: Now!

Self-learning programme to become a better delegator

By Martina Weinberger

than those you would have made yourself.”

having the courage

to let your people make different mistakes,

“Delegation is…

27 March 2015

It is built in a Q&A format. Go step by step, slide by slide, and improve your delegation skills.

Whenever you see this big green symbol take a moment to think about the question and answer it, before you go on.

Whenever you see this symbol – it is application time, we would like to encourage you with a few questions, to think through a real life situation, so when you see the ‘people’ symbol, think about an upcoming delegation… about the real person you want to delegate to, and try and apply what we have just talked about…

When you see this symbol, the slide/section contains ‘general wisdom’ about delegation. Read, absorb, contrast with what you are doing (well) already, maybe even better?

“Use the useful” !

HOW DOES THIS SESSION ‘WORK’?

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27 March 20153 www.togunaleadership.com

Setting the ‘stage’

- The myths of delegation

- Motivation & other considerations

Delegate: Plan – Do – Review

3 Actions

CONTENT


Have an honest look at your current situation and write down – what makes

delegation difficult right now?

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WHAT GETS IN YOUR WAY OF DELEGATING?


MYTHS OF DELEGATION

Whilst most managers agree that delegation is crucial… these are some classical ‘things’ that get in the way of actually doing it…

I can do this better myself

I do not have confidence in my staff

It is easier to do it myself, than to organise, explain, explain some more and then monitor results

I don’t know how to delegate

My staff has too much to do themselves… there is no capacity for delegation

I have no time to delegate.


MYTH BUSTER WORKSHEET

Things that need to get

done, to fulfill the

objectives of my team...

Things that I need to stop

doing myself...

What has

stopped me

from delegating

this so far?

Who is the right

person to

delegate this

to?

What is

motivating for

this person,

about this

task?

When will

I delegate

this?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7


What piece of work will you need to delegate soon: ___________________________

To whom: _________________________________

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YOUR DELEGATION ‘TEST CASE’

What do you find motivating; what works for you?

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HOW DO YOU LIKE TO BE DELEGATED TO?


…and what does that mean for delegation?

Learn about the 4general motivators

1. People want to make a contribution to something bigger, than a simple task

2. People want to learn and grow personally

3. People like to contribute their own ideas

4. People grow with recognition and praise

WHAT MOTIVATES PEOPLE…

Let us talk about real life

Is the person you need to delegate to, motivated by one of the 4 ‘general’ motivators?

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What else might motivate this person, when you think about the task you need to delegate?

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How might you best motivate the other person?

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WHAT MOTIVATES YOUR ‘TEST CASE’?


HOW TO DELEGATE

Plan

DoReview

What to delegate?

To whom?

6-Steps delegation

conversation

Delegate

Get out of the doing Do not ‘forget‘ about

this step...

…and what not to?

As always the ‘right’ answer is: it depends… but on what does it depend?

If possible, delegate an entire project or function, unless you delegate to

someone very junior an entire task might be overwhelming

Provide a ‘stretch’, not an impossible one

Do not delegate your management functions.

Is the task you’re considering ‘right’ for the person you have in mind? Can they do it?

Will they learn? How might you need to ‘cut it’ differently?

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WHAT TO DELEGATE…


Take workload, experience and competence of your staff into account, delegate to the lowest possible competence level

Think:

- Who will be motivated by this assignment?

- Who will be able to play to his/her strengths taking on this assignment?

- Is there sufficient stretch?

Do you delegate to your ‘star’/your ‘go-to’ person, or is it time to get others to ‘step-up’?

Is the person you are thinking about right now, the right person to delegate this piece of work to, or do you need to delegate it to somebody else?

- _________________________________________________________

- _________________________________________________________

- _________________________________________________________

- _________________________________________________________

TO WHOM DO YOU DELEGATE

Step 1: Positively describe the assignment and ‘big picture’

Step 2: What is in it for the other person?

Step 3: Ask: Are you interested in taking this on? Can I count on you?

(get a ‘yes’)

Step 4: Thank you! It is important!!

Step 5: Help the other person to do it ‘their way’

- What do you suggest? What else?

Step 6: Agree on concrete results (see ‘checklist delegation’) on:

- Goal, timelines, available resources, level of authority delegated.


6 STEPS DELEGATION CONVERSATION

Delegation is not a one-off conversation!

0 Prepare…

1 A first ‘delegation talk’, motivation & big picture, get commitment

1a Finish delegation, get suggestion from ‘the other person’,agree on checklist items

2/2 Check-in: praise and coach, stay out of doing!

3 Delivery of finished ‘piece of work’ – praise and celebrate

4 Review… yes indeed this is the end of task one, and the beginning of the next delegation.

…and so on…27 March 201515 www.togunaleadership.com

DELEGATION TIMELINE

1 1a 2 2 2 30 4


AN EASY FORMAT FOR A REVIEW

Ask: How did this delegation work for you?

Recognise: Achievements

Compare: The results with the expected standards

Avoid: Criticism and blame for problems

Do: Plan improvements for future projects

Create: A plan of action for continued growth

Advertise: Who needs to be aware of the other person’s success ?


My 3 key actions – to take now _____________________________________________________________

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How will I benefit form taking these actions? _____________________________________________________________

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How will others benefit from me taking these actions? _____________________________________________________________

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WHAT HAVE I LEARNED IN THIS SKILL SESSION?


DELEGATION RESOURCE CENTRE


Have you reviewed (relevant) earlier performance? And how does that drive criteria for

success this time?

Do you have a clear definition of the project, task, or function and the scope of the

responsibilities being delegated? Are you clear on ‘deliverables’?

Agreed final due date?

Agreed escalation procedures - what if things start going wrong?

Is your staff member aware of available resources?

Is there a need for any special training, coaching, or assistance and is it clear who will

provide it?

Are you both clear on the level of authority being delegated? When does your staff

member need to “check-in”?

Is it clear, who makes which decisions?

Do you have an ‘agreed’ plan for follow-up and feedback to monitor progress?

DELEGATION CHECKLIST


…of what you delegated?

The diagram below is what Harvard Business School recommends. You need to find your way of working when using the tools that are available to you (Outlook? Internal system? A clever app?)

The idea is to keep on top of what is going on – without getting in the way of the ‘doing’.

HOW DO YOU KEEP TRACK…


Are you wondering what people think of your delegation skills? Is it easy working for you?

How about asking them? Here are a few ‘good questions’

1. Are there areas where I need to delegate more to you?

2. Are there areas where I need to get more involved or provide more help?

3. Do you ever see me doing things that I should not be doing?

4. Can I let go of some of my work and give it to you? What do you suggest?

To start improving our delegation, ask your team members in 1-1s

AND manage expectations. Do not promise to do everything that is suggested! Just promise to listen to their ideas, think about it and get back to them…

Based on management ‘quick tip’ by Marshall Goldsmith - “How can I become better at Delegating”(Harvard Business School Publishing)

FEEDBACK = BREAKFAST FOR CHAMPIONS!


William Oncken Jnr: Managing Management Time: Who's Got the Monkey?

Source: Harvard Business Review, can be bought at HBR.orgFor all of you who get ‘delegated back’ and end up doing your people’s work !

Lauren Keller Johnson: Are you delegating so it sticks?

Source: HBR.org (Nice ‘short’ summary of good delegation principles… )

Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson: The One Minute Manager – Increase Productivity, Profits and Your Own Prosperity! (on Situational Leadership)

Good, easy read to solidify the thinking to become a situational leader and expert delegator!

FURTHER READING


A business graduate, originally in Marketing and Strategy Consulting, I spent the last 15 years working with leaders of all kinds, to see them and the environment they work in grow and flourish. What a fun job I have!

The majority of my work is delivering and continuously enhancing bespoke leadership development programmes and working with individual leaders in coaching. I relish the buzz of real-time interaction with others - creating the energy and space that groups and individuals need for their learning.

I started out as a Product Manager for fast moving consumer goods – working in Scotland, Portugal and England. Following this I was responsible for marketing the aftersales services of another consumer goods company. It was in this role, that I had my first brush with developing bespoke learning events for the service crew across Europe.

After completing an internationally focused MBA at INSEAD, I joined a leading international strategy consulting firm. This taught me – beside the skill of quickly thinking my way into a whole series of different business issues – that I much rather work with people, designing processes for them to learn, than being the consultant who ‘knows and tells’. So I decided to set up my own freelance consulting and training business in 1999.

Today I focus on working with professional service firms and high tech companies –industries with a ‘specialist culture’.

I hold an MBA from INSEAD and a BA in European Business Administration and am a certified systemic business coach, accredited with the DVCT – German Association for Coaching and Training.

Growing up in lower Bavaria I felt the intense need to escape and see the world. Having previously lived and worked in Portugal, the UK and France. My French husband, our three teenage kids and I recently spent three years, living working and revelling in the US Pacific North West.

Martina Weinberger

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


TOGUNA Leadership Development creates bespoke learning experiences that give leaders

protected space and time to focus

a deep sense of self-efficacy

a ferocious appetite to act

permission to stumble, laugh and learn

awareness of their personal growth

Toguna Leadership Development

Coaching House

Maximilianstraße 43

80538 Munich

Germany

ABOUT TOGUNA

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