Managing a team requires you to delegate tasks effectively and responsibilities to succeed. After all, you cannot do the entire team's job alone!
However, some managers struggle with delegation. Some managers may feel the responsibility of doing the job "right" or "perfectly" to meet their version of success, and therefore either take the work back from their team or be intrusive in the team's process of getting the work done (aka micromanaging). Other managers might just delegate the nuisance tasks to their team, leaving the important work to the manager alone or only to the high performers the manager trusts.
Both of these examples present a common theme: ineffective delegation. If the goal is to effectively give the work back to your team, then both strategies above have failed. Taking the work back from your team only adds work to your plate, while micro-managing their work also adds more work! Delegating nuisance tasks to the rest of your team may take undesirable work off your plate, but it leaves you with a monopoly of the challenging work amongst yourself or the top performers you implicitly trust.
There is also a second theme with these examples: a lack of employee development. By taking the work back or micro-managing your team, you take away their chance of developing both in skill and in trust. If you cannot trust your team to do the work, how can they trust you with their development of new skills and responsibilities? Additionally, if you are monopolizing the big tasks and passing off the nuisance tasks, then you are effectively not helping your team members develop and grow in their careers.
You may not even realize you are doing all this! The fact it is happening unconsciously is understandable and relatively common for managers. Sometimes it is an implicit lack of trust in some/all of your team. Whether that lack of implicit stems from perfectionism, pressure from above, or even past assumptions about your team - it ultimately is holding your team back from performing at their very best and developing in their career
So what is the best solution to the lack of effective delegation and implicit lack of trust?
Conscious Delegation.
Giving the work back to your team looks like being consciously aware of what you are giving them and why you are doing it. Conscious delegation means knowing both the "what" and "why" behind delegating the work, so you can develop your team and motivate them to perform at their very best.
If you struggle with taking the work back from your team, it may be time to consciously keep the work within the team's hands. Even when the stress is high, it is up to you to have the discipline to allow your team to learn how to do the job to the best of their ability. After all, if you take the work from your team, how are they going to feel about their job performance? Probably not very empowered or very confident.
If you struggle with needing to interject and micromanage projects you delegated to your team, that might look like taking a step back and asking: "Why am I doing this?" "What might this be costing my team by micromanaging them?" Building trust requires giving that trust upfront. Instead of interjecting when you feel it is necessary, offer guidance and assistance when your team asks for it. Build that trust back by empowering your team to learn from each experience, and make it a safe place to make mistakes by offering coaching around the lessons to learn from each said mistake.
Finally, if you are monopolizing the important tasks for yourself and your high performers while delegating nuisance tasks to the rest of your team, it might be worth asking yourself: "How might this be hindering the rest of the team's development?" Offer the work to a wider pool of candidates in your team, and be ready to assist them when they ask for help. Your job is for them to develop and grow with each task that goes beyond their comfort zone while building confidence in your team to accomplish these tasks and others in the future. Nuisance tasks alone will only keep your team busy; challenging tasks (with guidance when asked for) build and develop your team's jobs to make your life easier and theirs more fulfilling at work.
Conscious delegation requires a high degree of self-awareness and awareness of what your team's needs are. Understanding what they want and need regarding professional development and career purpose will guide your conscious delegation of work. Once you address the underlying motivations for taking the work back, micro-managing, and monopolizing the important work, you can then begin the conscious effort to delegate what would best serve your team's needs.
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