What is delegation and why it matters - LifeHack (2023)

Delegating tasks can make people feel uneasy, anxious or stressed because they fear losing control or that the quality of their work will suffer if someone else does it. Delegating tasks to others can also be seen as an admission of weakness or incompetence, as some may fear that others will judge them for not being able to do everything on their own.

However, the option to delegate tasks can greatly increase productivity by utilizing time and knowledge. To overcome all negative feelings and barriers, it is enough to work on the development of delegation skills.

What is a delegation?

Delegation is defined as "the act of authorizing another person to act on his or her own behalf".^[1]It is the process of delegating tasks, responsibilities and authority to another person or group of people.

"Delegating is the art of getting work from others and having them do it as if you were doing it yourself." –Andrew Carnegie

In delegation, a person in a managerial or executive position often delegates some of his workload or decision-making authority to other people in the organization while remaining responsible for the outcome of the task.

Delegation also applies touse other people's time to increase the quality of your time. By delegating tasks, you can focus on higher-level responsibilities, such as strategic planning, while team members work on tasks that require additional knowledge and experience. This allows you to focus your time and energy on tasks that are more important and have a greater impact on the organization.

I will discuss in more detail how delegating larger tasks to others allows you to complete tasks faster and free up time in my articleThe power of leverage to live the life you want.

4 types of delegation

While most delegations involve a leader or manager assigning tasks to their subordinates, there are other types of delegation that do not always involve managers or leaders. There are 4 different types of delegation:

General or specific delegation

This type of delegation depends on the task.

Giving broad responsibility to an individual or team without specific instructions on how to perform a task is called blanket delegation.

Specific delegation, on the other hand, involves assigning a specific task with specific requirements and expectations.

When an individual or team has a high degree of autonomy, or when a task requires creative problem solving, general delegation is used. When a task is highly structured or requires a specific skill set, specific delegation is used.

Formal or informal delegation

The approval process is at the heart of this type of delegation.

Formal delegation is a structured process of assigning tasks and responsibilities, with well-defined roles and expectations. Typically, this type of delegation is used in large organizations or public authorities.

On the other hand, informal delegation is the delegation of tasks or responsibilities to other people in an unstructured way, usually without a clear process or formal agreement. This type of delegation is often used in smaller organizations or teams where trust and cooperation are high.

Top-down or bottom-up delegation

This type of delegation is based on the organizational hierarchy.

Top-down delegation is when a person in a higher position assigns tasks or responsibilities to a person in a lower position. This type of delegation is commonly used in hierarchical organizations such as companies or government agencies.

Bottom-up delegation involves assigning tasks or responsibilities to someone in a higher position, often so that a lower-level employee can provide feedback or ideas. This type of delegation is commonly used in organizations with a more collaborative or flat structure, such as start-ups or small businesses.

Sidedelegation

This type of delegation requires the cooperation of a group or team. It involves delegating tasks or responsibilities to people at the same organizational level, often with a common goal.

This type of delegation is often used in cross-functional teams that bring together people from different departments or areas of expertise to accomplish a project or task.

Page posts can help foster collaboration, creativity and innovation. However, this can be difficult to manage as it requires a high level of communication and coordination between team members.

When deciding which of the four types of delegation to use, consider your goals, the complexity of the task, the level of formality in the organizational structure, and the skills and knowledge of the team members. You can read my article for more information on effective delegation:How to start delegating tasks effectively (step by step guide).

Advantages of delegation

Delegation can provide many benefits, including reducing manager or executive workload and stress, improving team morale and engagement, and increasing productivity and efficiency. Let's look at each of the benefits of delegating in turn.

1. Time handle

One of the main benefits of delegation isinfluence. As the famous Szymon Sinek said:

"Delegating isn't about getting someone else to do what you do. It's about getting people who are better than you to do what you can't". - Simon Sinek

When a manager delegates tasks and responsibilities to other members of his team, he can leverage those team members' skills, strengths, and time to achieve better results. Here are some examples:

• Improved performance:Delegating tasks to team members skilled in these areas can increase efficiency and productivity. When the right person is assigned a task, it is more likely to be completed quickly and accurately, with fewer errors and less wasted time.
• Greater knowledge:Delegating tasks to team members who have expertise in specific areas can help an organization leverage that knowledge. For example, a marketing manager can outsource a social media campaign to a team member with experience in social media marketing, which can help ensure the campaign is more effective and engaging.

2. Allows you to focus on more important tasks

Delegating tasks and responsibilities to other team members allows you to spend more time on tasks that require specialist knowledge.

Delegating routine or lower-level tasks to others can free up your time for strategic planning and decision-making. You can spend more time on tasks that require your knowledge and experience if you delegate tasks that others can do.

You can also take a break from the day-to-day operations of the organization and focus on long-term issues and strategic initiatives.

3. To allow others to learn and develop new skills

Delegating tasks to others can give them new challenges that they may not have had before. This can help them gain new skills and expand their experience that will be useful in their future careers. You can help them learn from their mistakes and improve their skills by providing feedback on their work.

Delegating tasks to others can also give them a sense of ownership over their work. This can make them feel more committed to the success of the organization and more committed to doing their best job.

4. Increase trust and communication in the team

Delegation can encourage team members to collaborate and work together on tasks. This can help break down organizational silos and foster a collaborative culture.

When team members collaborate on a task, they may need to communicate with each other to share information, provide feedback, and coordinate their efforts. This can help build trust and improve team communication.

Also, delegating tasks can improve team transparency. There is less room for confusion or misunderstanding when team members are clear about the tasks they are responsible for and the results they are expected to achieve.

5. Increased team flexibility and productivity

As team members are given the opportunity to take on new tasks and responsibilities, they may need to learn new skills or expand their knowledge in different areas. This can encourage mutual training and sharing of skills and make them more adaptable and adaptable.

Also, because delegating tasks to other team members helps spread the workload more evenly, it reduces bottlenecks in a team where one person is responsible for all tasks in a specific area.

Overall, delegation can help make the best use of each person's time and resources by freeing up time, increasing productivity, and encouraging responsibility and accountability. This can lead to increased productivity, better results and overall organizational success.

Why do people hesitate to delegate?

Why, with so many benefits to delegating, do some people still hesitate to delegate? They can explain why:

No time

When people are busy and have a lot on their plate, it can be tempting to take on all the responsibilities themselves.

Delegating a task can take time and effort, which can be perceived as a burden. They may also feel that explaining a task to someone else is time-consuming and may not produce the expected results. As a result, they decide to do the task themselves because they believe it is the most efficient way to get the job done.

In fact, although delegation may seem to take longer at first, it can save you time in the long run.

Perfectionism

Perfectionists may feel that it is their responsibility to ensure that all aspects of the work are carried out to their exacting standards. They may also feel that they are the only ones capable of performing the task at the required levelperfection. This can lead to a reluctance to delegate tasks to others because they believe that others will not be able to live up to the same standards as themselves.

Perfectionists may worry that if a task is not completed to their high standards, it will reflect negatively on them and their reputation. Thisfear of failurecan lead to a reluctance to delegate tasks, as they may feel that it is safer to do the tasks themselves than to risk mistakes or poor performance.

But failing to delegate tasks can lead to burnout and stress from taking on too many tasks and having difficulty getting them all done within the specified time frame.

Trust issues

People who are used to working alone or have negative experiences with delegating tasks to others may find it difficult to let go of control and trust others to get things done.

They may not believe that their team members have the necessary skills or knowledge to get the job done. This lack of trust can lead to an unwillingness to delegate tasks and overburden oneself.

Even if they already delegate, they may micromanage those to whom they have delegated tasks, which can be time-consuming and inefficient. This can lead to frustration and anger among those entrusted with the task, which lowers team morale and negatively affects the outcome.

Willingness to maintain excellence

Managers who have developed a high level of expertise in a particular area may feel that they are the best person for a particular task. They may fear that delegating these tasks to others will result in mistakes or poor results.

This anxiety is compounded by the fact that team members may have different ways of doing things that may differ from how the leader has done things in the past. These managers may feel that only they can get the job done the "right" way.

However, it is very important to realize that by delegating tasks to others, you can actually free up time to focus on further developing their knowledge or discovering new areas where they can excel.

Unclear goals

Effective delegation can be difficult without a clear understanding of what needs to be achieved. If the goals of the task are unclear to the manager, it can be difficult to communicate those goals to team members, resulting in misunderstandings, errors, and suboptimal performance.

To overcome the barrier of unclear goals, take some time before delegating to clarify the goals of the task or project. Outlining the desired outcomes, developing a detailed plan and setting clear expectations for the team can all be part of this.

No delegation skills

Delegation requires a specific set of skills, such as the ability to identify the right tasks to delegate, clearly communicate expectations, provide support and feedback to subordinates, and manage the delegation process effectively. If a manager lacks these skills, he may be hesitant to delegate tasks to others because he is not sure how to do it effectively.

Managers can invest in training and development to upgrade their skills to overcome the hurdle of lack of delegation skills. Training programs, working with a mentor or coach and seeking feedback and advice from more experienced colleagues can all be beneficial.

How to delegate effectively

There seem to be many barriers to delegation, but the good news is that by arming yourself with delegation skills, you can overcome all these challenges and delegate successfully.

To delegate effectively, you must choose the right task to delegate to the right person, set clear expectations, provide resources, support and feedback, and track progress at all times.

LifeHack is a fully distributed team with members working remotely from the US, Canada, UK and various European countries. Coordinating and managing tasks in a remote team can be challenging, especially if team members are in different time zones or have different work schedules. However, by effectively delegating tasks, I can ensure that everyone completes their tasks and projects.

Read my article to learn how I delegate tasks for personal and team productivity:How to start delegating tasks effectively (step by step guide)

Application

Delegation is essential to increase the efficiency and productivity of an organization. It allows managers to focus on higher-level tasks, improve team members' skills, build trust and communication, increase flexibility and foster a more collaborative work environment.

Although delegation can come with a few obstacles, it is important to remember that effective delegation requires clear goals, communication, trust and support.

Delegation is becoming increasingly important to keeping teams running as workplaces become more diverse and distributed. As a result, if you are a manager who wants to unlock the full potential of your teams and achieve greater success in your organization, you need to start delegating and developing the necessary skills.

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