A Guide to Delegating Effectively

Every business leader knows they need to delegate to achieve better results. The problem comes when leaders try to move from thought to action. Their beliefs about themselves, their team, and the work they are trying to accomplish frequently prevent them from letting go of tasks and trusting others to do work they have traditionally completed.

This resistance to delegation slows growth, creates workflow bottlenecks, and negatively impacts company performance.

What should a leader do?

Delegation is a skill. Like all skills, starting small and building up to more difficult tasks is best as you gain mastery. Leaders often become frustrated with the delegation process because they assign tasks to individuals, and experience the tasks not being done to their expectations.

They are accustomed to performing tasks at a high level and expect perfect results the first time they delegate a task. The reality is that most people do not do tasks perfectly the first time they attempt them. As a leader, you must learn to delegate effectively, and your employee or contractor must learn through practice how to do the task to your expectations. The more you delegate, the better you will get, and the more your employee does the task, the better they will perform. Having a system for delegating can help you have more predictable results.

How do you start?

The Power6 Leader program teaches the ACES system of delegation. ACES stands for Assess, Communication, Empower, and Support. This four-step approach to delegation reduces uncertainty and provides a systematic method for evaluating employees and tasks, setting expectations, building trust, and ensuring that employees' competencies are developed over time.

How to assess tasks to be delegated?

To help you get started, we have developed this worksheet to assess which tasks you should delegate and to whom.

Download this tool, read the instructions, and email Dorian Cunion if you have any questions about how to use it. dcunion@yourpathexecutivesolution.com

First Step in Delegating_ Assessing.docx

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