Leadership a-z: D is for Delegation NaBloPoMo 7

Today's leadership a-z post is about Delegation. Not a leadership training program goes by without someone asking about how to delegate more effectively.


In starting to think about delegation and what we can delegate, we can apply the 5 Ws to Delegation:

What - What do you want to delegate? What are the specifics? What resources do they need to complete this?
Who - Who will you delegate to? Do they have the skills required? What support do they need along the way?
When - What are the major milestones along the way? How will you check in, and when?
Why - Why is this task important? Have you communicated the big picture?
Where - Where does the work need to take place?
How - What are the steps/actions required? How will it be measured? How will you all know it has been successful?

A lot of leaders fall into the trap of either not delegating and doing it all themselves. What is the cost of this? On the flipside, some leaders may over delegate, wondering why things are not done right. Often the questions flowing out of the 5 Ws have not been taken into account. Perhaps the person does not have the skills or resources to do the work, or maybe the authority to make it happen. Perhaps they've gotten things done, but there have been no checkpoints, so the actions taken really weren't the ones needed.

Coaching Questions:

What do you want to delegate?
Why is it important?
How will you communicate this to your staff?
When will you check in?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, PCC, CPT
Potentials Realized

Potentials Realized
Supporting leaders and teams through enhanced skills, better conversations and focused performance
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)


As an author Jennifer Britton is known for her thought leadership in the area of group and team coaching. She is also a former leader and team builder who spent the first 13 years of her career working within the United Nations as well as the international aid sector. From Boardroom to jungle, beach and forest to mountains, Jennifer has worked to develop teams and leaders in more than 18 countries, and virtually many more. She founded Potentials Realized in 2004 and focuses on leadership, teamwork and coaching skills training.

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