Some people have a hard time letting go of control and allowing other people to help carry their workload. For those people, delegating tasks to team members might seem like an impossible obstacle. Perhaps they think the only way to ensure that something is done properly is to do everything themselves.
Allowing team members to carry some of the weight is far less work in the long run. You can get everything done properly, on time, where everyone contributes. If delegating tasks is a struggle, follow these three points to improve your delegation skills:
1.Train
To finish a project properly, everyone on the team should know how to do the work, in the technical sense. Training your staff to use programs, software, or applications (like bill.com) the right way gives them the tools they need to consistently deliver good work. Once they’ve been trained, employees should also be given the space to find their own way of doing things – one way isn’t always best for everyone. Employees are very capable of working on their own with far less supervision if they are properly instructed. This is the most time-consuming part of delegating, but also the most important.
It takes far more time, however, to go back and reconcile errors employees made when they don’t have the right training. You can save a lot of time and money in the long run by having even one more well-informed person on your team. It is always worth investing in your staff.
2. Check In
It is important to trust your team to do a lot of the work on their own, but it is just as important to know that they are dependable and on schedule. Make sure that you check in with employees at regular intervals using milestones or deadlines. This gives you the opportunity to provide frequent, but not overwhelming, feedback to your staff.
Don’t be afraid of checking on your team at irregular intervals, either. Send a few reminder emails or casually ask how the project is going in person. This gives your team space to reveal any problems with the project without feeling like they’re being confronted. Intermittently checking in with the team significantly reduces the amount of work that falls on your shoulders after completing the job.
3. Acknowledge
When the project has come to an end, acknowledging the team’s performance is a vital part of delegating. It can be uncomfortable, but it allows people to learn from successes as well as mistakes. Praise employees whose performance has been excellent. Offer constructive feedback for team members whose performance may have fallen short. Make sure that everyone knows what works, and why. Armed with feedback, employees can take on more tasks with fewer risks for future projects.
Make sure that you hear feedback from everyone on your team as well. It’s important that team members’ suggestions for improvement are heard. This gives you the chance to improve your management style in the future, as well as learn which team members perform best in what tasks.
Letting go of control isn’t easy, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Give yourself room to breathe and keep learning from the feedback from your team members. Employees are usually fully capable (and more than willing) to rise to the occasion when given the opportunity. Trust in others to do their jobs, and you’ll get more comfortable with delegation as time moves on.
You can also use our services to help with app and software training for your team. Click here to learn more about what Think Leader Consulting has to offer.