Delegating, or perhaps abdicating?
There is a chasm of difference between the two. If you ask team members to describe their experience of being delegated to, many will say the work was dumped upon them, whilst the managers believe they have delegated the work.
Many of the managers we have worked with over the years concede that they are reluctant to delegate, for any number of good reasons, but mostly it is a lack of trust in the other’s perceived ability to perform the task as well as them.
This mind-set creates a downward spiral and all parties suffer.
The manager becomes overloaded with “doing” the work and the pressure builds.When the pressure becomes too much, they then have no choice but to “delegate”, but this is often done at pace, and often remotely, and in reality, they end up “dumping”.
The team member is then often left bewildered with little clear understanding of specifically what is required, by when, and why.
This often leads and perpetuates the mistrust the manager feels, because the work may understandably come back sub-standard, justifying the managers lack of trust.
And so that cycle continues!
One of our mantras at GBS is: Setting up for success. We believe this is the key to the art of effective delegation. Communication is also a key part of delegating tasks, as the delegate must know what they are doing to give a suitable product in return. This workshop is designed to help anyone who needs to delegate, to think differently about delegating and appreciate the value add in not only doing it but doing it well and setting their team members up to succeed, not fail. It also helps managers use their time more effectively so the need to delegate is less frequent.