As a leader, you have a lot on your plate. You’re managing your team, guiding your arm of the organization and completing tasks associated with your role. It’s a lot for one person to keep track of, which makes delegation one of the most important leadership skills in your professional toolbelt.

Developing a delegating leadership style takes time and trust. You have to learn how to let go of the little things and have confidence in your team to accomplish higher-level projects on their own. This not only frees up your time to focus on the big picture; it also shows your team that you believe in their skills and support their professional development.

Delegating tasks is more than just handing down orders. At Building Champions, we believe there are five best practices that every leader should use to effectively delegate tasks and ensure deadlines are met. 

1.) Foster Responsibility

Effective delegation relies on empowering team members to take responsibility for the tasks you assign them. Even if they know it will push their professional skills, your team should be excited to take ownership of new projects and their outcomes. 

With that being said, don’t assign them projects that are out of their reach. If it’s their first time flexing a new skill or learning a process, start them off small. For example, if someone is tackling a financial task for the first time, don’t ask them to balance the company budget. Instead, have them sit with their team leader and assist with finding ways to reduce costs in their department. 

Every project will help your team develop a new skill that you can continue developing over time. Next time, you can give them something a little more difficult or that requires deeper thought. As your team completes projects, they’ll gradually grow in their professional abilities too. 

This is how you create a team that’s excited to take on new challenges and share your responsibilities.

2.) Set a Deadline

Working toward a goal is much easier when there’s a definitive end in sight. Setting deadlines for your team when you delegate work is an easy way to keep them motivated and on track. It gives them a chance to develop their time management skills too. Encourage them to set micro deadlines within the overall time frame to ensure they’re moving at the right pace.

For example: You give your three-person team a project, complete with a list of 15 specific tasks they’ll need to complete. You also set a deadline that the project needs to be completed in three weeks. Your team can then break down that list of tasks into smaller projects among themselves. They decide each of them will tackle five tasks and the order in which they need to be completed.

With this plan in place, your team is much more likely to produce a quality project and deliver it on time. 

Especially with longer deadlines, such as in the example, be sure you check in with them periodically to see if they’re still on track or if they have any questions. This is an often forgotten delegation skill that can make all the difference to your team. It also helps you assess if the deadline you set is realistic or if it might need to be adjusted.

3.) Give Them the Tools

For this style of leadership to be successful, your team will need the necessary tools to complete their project. This might be specific software, access to company resources or background information about the purpose and importance of the job. 

To preserve your hands-off approach, make sure you give your teams these tools from the get-go. This includes a detailed explanation of what you expect the outcome to look like and why you’re handing off this project. If you aren’t sure exactly what they’ll need, ask them to review the project and let you know what resources they’ll require to finish the project.

The best way to establish your team has everything they need is to hand off the task in a meeting. It can be an informal gathering in your office or an official event in the conference room, but the point is to get everyone on the same page at the same time. 

From there, an effective leader focuses on empowerment. Allow your team to manage the decision-making process as they navigate the project. Reaffirm that you believe in their competency and ability to succeed. This will lead to greater self-motivation and more autonomy among your team members.

4.) Be Available for Guidance

Although you’ve delegated a project to your team, that doesn’t mean you can walk away from it completely. It’s rare that people get a task perfect on the first try, so don’t expect your team to navigate their new project flawlessly. Keep yourself available to answer questions and provide guidance as needed.

This part of the delegation process gives you the opportunity to exercise your own leadership skills. Great leaders take time to coach their team members and help them find solutions to complex problems. Keep in mind, however, that coaching is different from micromanaging.

With coaching leadership, you:

• Encourage a higher-level thought process instead of giving people the answer. Show them potential paths to a solution and let them work out which is the best to take.

• Ask questions instead of giving directions. Get team members thinking about the true cause of the problem and a solution that will provide long-term results.

• Actively listen to their concerns and consider their current perspective. Show that you value their opinion by letting them fully explain themselves before offering advice.

All leaders delegate tasks, but successful leaders stick around to help their team if necessary.

5.) Make Corrections When Necessary

As you check in with your team throughout the project, it’s important to notice if they’re moving in the wrong direction. Catching these mistakes or misunderstandings early is critical to keep your project on track and your team focused on what’s most important. 

Make these corrections through constructive feedback to help your team see where they went wrong. Identify the problem, explain how that sent them in the wrong direction and offer suggestions for how they can get back on track and avoid the issue in the future. 

Be sure to ask if anyone has questions or needs further clarification, too. This helps to ensure everyone is on the same page and avoid more problems in the future.

Remember that course correcting is only necessary if the team is moving away from the goal of the project. You have to allow your team to reach the objective in the way that makes the most sense for them, so you don’t want to be overbearing and steer the whole operation. (Then what was the point of delegating the project in the first place?)

Allow your team to solve their problems and complete the project in their own way, as long as it’s moving toward the correct end result.

Support Your Team with Delegating Leadership

At Building Champions, we know that the type of leadership you choose can be the difference between becoming a great leader and remaining a poor one. That’s why we help our clients become Coaching Leaders with the know-how to delegate tasks and develop their teams. Let us help you hone your leadership skills. Buy our eCourse to learn how to become a Coaching Leader and take your organization to new heights.