Delegation is a critical skill for leaders because it frees them up to focus on strategic tasks and decision-making and helps their team members grow. Leaders who learn to delegate effectively empower their teams to learn new skills, gain experience, and take on greater responsibilities. Empowerment from delegation can boost team morale and increase overall productivity.
We’ve created a delegation spreadsheet that will help you evaluate what work is truly necessary for you to do and what would be beneficial to delegate.
Start by listing all of your current tasks under the “Tasks” column. Be totally honest here, and don’t judge yourself—even if you feel embarrassed that you're still performing a task that could be delegated to a team member, it's important to list it. The goal is not to have a “perfect” list but to empower you to delegate confidently!
After you’ve listed your tasks, put a checkmark under the “Only You” column for the tasks only you can do. You should be the only person capable of doing these tasks: if there’s a task that no current team member can perform but could be completed by a hypothetical new hire, it should not be included in this list.
Under “Delegate Outright,” check the box for tasks you can immediately delegate: someone else can do it just as well, if not better than you, and they are competent and committed to getting the task done.
Under “Delegate to 80%,” check the box for tasks someone else can complete 80% of the way. Once you’ve identified these tasks, train the other person on the remaining 20% of the task so they can complete it.
Under “Train Up or Hire Out,” check the box for tasks that can be trained up or hired out. If there is a task that a current team member could execute with some additional training or certification, it may be best to invest in their professional development. On the other hand, if there are tasks that could be easily managed by a new part-time or full-time employee, a temporary worker, or a virtual assistant, then it might be more efficient to hire additional help.
See the delegation spreadsheet here.
Chew on This:
What is one task that would be beneficial for you to delegate? What would be the result of you delegating this task?