In last week’s blog post we explored the importance of trust and letting go of power for successful delegation of work within your team. Some leaders may have a difficult time trusting their employees to successfully complete tasks, but learning to do so is critical to your team’s overall success and ability to get work done. The true power of delegation is the ability to harness the collective knowledge of your staff to excel.
Following Up with Feedback
A critical aspect of delegating is what occurs after the task is finished. This is the delegation follow-up stage, which includes feedback.
The project assignment, whether delegated or not, should come with a clearly communicated set of expectations. How the employee met those expectations is the subject of the feedback. Employees who meet expectations deserve appropriate praise for their success. Giving people recognition and thanks for their efforts keeps them engaged and willing to do more.
On the other hand, when expectations are not met, a constructive feedback process is necessary. This is a considerate discussion on the improvements needed, while pointing out the positive things that took place. Leaders who can give instructive feedback while expressing consideration and thanks earn trust from employees and guide them to improvement.
Nothing causes your people to dread delegation more than an unfortunate response from you. When they dread it, the result of their work suffers accordingly. This in turn causes you to dread it, and the cycles spirals down.
As an expression of humility and openness, ask your people for their feedback on your delegation methods. Can your style be better? This dialogue helps to improve the delegation relationship and makes you a better leader. Keep in mind that each employee may have a slightly different approach to feedback and discussion. Knowing them personally gives you the best advantage.
Your goal is to have a staff that welcomes delegated tasks so they can be better contributors. Many leaders find this to be the most freeing way to be better delegators; when the process yields two-way success the organization is better suited to manage high workload situations. Make delegation a welcomed tool in your arsenal and raise the level of production for you and your staff.
The herd and I are here to help you through any bumpy patches as you learn to embrace delegation, trust in your employees to do a great job, and work with your team to improve the overall delegation process. All of our leadership and team retreats are completely customizable, and the results are both immediately noticed and long lasting.
As always, I would love to hear from you. I can be reached here or on LinkedIn.
