A colleague of mine, a former executive suite and management consultant for Harley Davidson, Lockheed Martin, and Northwestern Mutual, once wrote about delegation.
Jim CastigliaCoaching people in Fortune 500 companies, the guy knew what he was talking about. He said, “Delegation is a major aspect in the whole realm of developing others and allowing them to contribute their talents, abilities, and skills to the betterment of the team and the organization.”
No argument there.
He went on to cite several benefits of delegation and drew up an approach anyone could follow:
“The benefits of capitalizing on and mastering the skill of delegating are that you can build trust, your people grow their knowledge, skills, and competencies, you can concentrate on what you do best, and the company becomes more efficient, effective, and profitable.” Impressive results.
Identify Tasks to be Delegated
His recommended procedure was:
- First, identify the tasks that should be delegated
- Clearly identify the strengths of others to capitalize on them
- Determine which of those tasks might be a better fit for others
- Link the team members to the delegation task list
- Clarify and get agreement on levels of authority, responsibilities, deadlines, and performance measurements, and lastly
- Define and agree on supervision levels (low to high)
The Core Job of Management at All Levels
Since the core job of managers is to turn talent into performance, mastering delegation is critical. Delegation is fundamental to successful management. That goes no matter the level of management:
- Top-level management (i.e., business owners, presidents, vice-presidents, C-Suite executives— CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CTOs)
- mid-level management (general managers, branch managers, regional managers, plant managers, department managers); and
- first-line or front-line management (supervisors, floor managers, foremen, section leads, or team leads)
Again, no argument here. But, how much do you know about “talents”? Can you define what a talent is? Can you explain the differences between talents, knowledge, skills, and strengths clearly?
I submit to you that over 90% of managers at all levels couldn’t CLEARLY define the differences. And yet, to master delegation skills, you must know the language of talents and strengths. Fortunately, we can rely on a highly trusted resource for these insights.
Insightful Data
You’ve likely heard of the opinion polling organization called the Gallup Poll, part of Gallup, Inc., an analytic and advisory company founded by George Gallup in 1935 in Princeton, New Jersey.
The Gallup Organization has studied talent for decades and does extensive management consulting, research, and publishing.
They found in surveying over 10 million people worldwide that only one-third (3.3 out of 10) “strongly agree” with the statement: “At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.”
The costs to your organization of people not focusing on their strengths are enormous. I will assert that it’s the leading cause of company waste and dollars flying out the window, decreasing your bottom line profits, not to mention the effect on the well-being of all employees. It affects productivity, retention, and absenteeism.
Perform Only From Strength
Renown business guru Peter Drucker once said, “Most people think they know what they’re good at. They are usually wrong … And yet, a person can perform only from strength.”
Fortunately, Gallup provides clear definitions for us:
- Talent: any recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied. (Your talents are what make you stand out.)
- Strength: an action or activity done consistently and at near-perfect, and from which the person derives great satisfaction. A strength is talent plus an investment of time spent practicing, developing your skills, and building your knowledge base.
I’ll add to the definitions above:
- Knowledge: facts and information; education; theoretical understanding
- Skills: the ability to do something well; proficiency
- Practice: application of knowledge and skills; performance; habits; methods.
Note that when you add knowledge, skills, and practice, raw talent serves as a multiplier. (Clifton)
Why people DON’T delegate… (check any that apply to you)
- Find it hard to let go of tasks they’ve been doing for a long time
- Want to be in control of everything
- Quicker to just do it myself than to explain and correct mistakes
- Feel threatened by the competence of the delegates
- Staff will just go to delegates and not me anymore
- Find it difficult to give instructions
- Difficulty confronting poor performance
- Fear they can’t reward enough if delegates do really well.
Learning to delegate is like learning any task. It takes work, but it can be learned and practiced until you’ve got a strong handle on this high-performance initiative.
Make the effort. You’ll reap the benefits, and your company or department will win as well.
Reach out if you have any questions or would like to talk about your situation.
Jim Castiglia is the founder of Business Street Fighter Consulting, supporting entrepreneurial business owners in their desire to grow and maximize the value of their businesses. You can reach him by email at jvcastiglia@icloud.com or text him at 949.338.7141.
