Letting go is hard. It doesn’t matter if you’re a cartoon ice princess in the throes of self-discovery or a run-of-the-mill control freak enthusiast learning how to delegate. For managers and team leads, shedding that “doer” mindset can feel almost like a betrayal of self: “If I’m not the person who gets the work done, then who even am I?”
But effective delegation isn’t just a shift in self-image – it means trusting your team members. And trusting people is hard, too! Especially at work, where reputations are on the line. Sometimes it’s worth doing everything on your own for the sake of certainty (or so you may tell yourself). But that kind of thinking limits what you and your team can accomplish.
Chances are, you were promoted to a leadership role because you’re really good at doing whatever work your team is responsible for. But day-to-day execution isn’t your job anymore. Now, your job is to orchestrate the work others will execute. (And, real talk? That orchestration is plenty of work. You’re not slacking just because you’re not doing the hands-on tasks.)
Being thoughtful about how you assign work, and setting people up with the right context and resources, makes it possible for even the freakiest of control-oriented individuals to be good delegators. The key is to turn it into a collaborative exercise with your team.
Read on to learn how to map tasks to people, how to get buy-in, and how to let go of your impulse to micromanage.
Get input from your team when assigning tasks
When it comes to distributing tasks, the challenge for a “doer” is feeling confident that you’ve assigned the right tasks to the right people, and that they have enough time to get the work done.
The best way to get there is to start from scratch with some capacity planning. This will give you a holistic view of how much the team can reasonably accomplish in a week. You’ll also get a read on individual team members’ capabilities.
If you’re new to the team, it’s also helpful to understand who has historically handled what. The Atlassian Playbook’s Roles and Responsibilities Play will sort out what each team member is responsible for and reveal any gaps that need to be filled. This also gives you a chance to ask team members if they’re happy with their current remit or would like to change things up. This is almost as important as taking skills and workload into account. The more you cater to people’s preferences, the more engaged and productive they’ll be.
Set the context to instill a sense of ownership
If you’re not confident your team members care about the work as deeply as you do, you’ll be tempted to interfere or micromanage, which defeats the purpose of delegating in the first place. To instill a sense of ownership in the task’s assignee, you’ll need to build a shared understanding around two questions: “Why this?” and “Why you?”
pro tip
Setting the context around your team’s work is a crucial (though often overlooked) aspect of being a good leader. Make it a habit whether you’re delegating tasks, introducing a new project, or changing how the team operates.
Start with why the task matters. Talk with the assignee about the problem you’re solving, the impact on people experiencing it, and what happens if you don’t solve it.
Then explain why you think they’re the best fit for the task. Talk about the skills they’re trying to build in addition to the skills they already have – will taking on this task help them reach their goals? Be sure to express confidence in their ability to do the work well, and let them know you’re here as a resource.
Finally, confirm your team member is on board with the scope of the work and the due date. Watch out, though: they may be tempted to brush off their misgivings and say they’re good to go, even if they’re swimming in doubt on the inside. Don’t let this happen! It’ll only lead to disappointment and frustration down the road. Give them permission to speak their mind, and adjust the task as needed. If the deadline is carved in stone, perhaps the scope can be narrowed. If the task has a fixed scope, perhaps the timeline can be extended or more people brought in.
Focus on the ends, not the means
Now that your team member is off and running, it’s time for you to get out of the way. For someone who likes control, the hardest part of delegating can be staying focused on the outcome while allowing the task owner to decide how to get there.
You’ve probably done this same task in the past, and it’ll be tempting to lay out your approach down to the last detail so they can follow suit – resist that urge. A little advice can be helpful, but keep it high-level. Allowing your team member to approach the work in their own way helps them grow.
Instead of prescribing how the task should be done, define targets so they know what to aim for, and set guardrails so they know what’s out-of-bounds. First, communicate the goal or your definition of done in very clear terms. For example, “increase conversions by 10%” or “accounting approves the contract.” Then lay out guardrails like budget, legal restrictions, and any other hard-and-fast rule they’ll need to follow. If the task is to build a dashboard to display customer feedback, for instance, it shouldn’t display personally identifying information like the customer’s address or phone number.
Knowing that you’ve pointed your team member in the right direction and established parameters for them to work within should (in theory) be enough to keep you from getting overly involved while still getting a good night’s sleep.
Check in (just enough), and debrief afterward
Even though you’re not micromanaging, you still need to follow up. For a longer project, check in periodically. Ask what’s going well and what’s turning out to be a struggle. Are they still confident in their ability to deliver on time? Is there anything you can do to smooth the path for them?
Offering feedback while it’s still a work in progress is helpful, too. That gives your team member a chance to course-correct while there’s still time. With smaller tasks, it’s generally fine to check in once it’s complete.
Regardless of the scope of work, be sure to debrief afterward and use those takeaways to inform how you delegate tasks in the future. What aspects did they enjoy? What parts felt tedious or overly challenging? What did they learn? Do they want to take on more tasks like this? Try to use open-ended questions rather than just asking “How did it go?” (That will probably yield a one-word answer like “fine,” which isn’t terribly illuminating.)
pro tip
People’s goals and preferences around work are subject to change. That’s why the best managers ask these types of questions regularly, not just at annual review time.
Don’t forget to celebrate
Once you’ve debriefed, make it a point to celebrate their good work. A simple shout-out on Slack or in the next team meeting builds confidence and boosts commitment to the team.
And don’t forget to privately give yourself a little pat on the back, too. For those of us wired to do, making it through the entire journey from assigning the task to celebrating the outcome – without micromanaging or sneaking in to do some of the work yourself – is a big accomplishment. Good on you! You’re on your way to becoming a master delegator.