What Delegation Is and Isn't

I have reached a turning point in my life where I can no longer do all the things I want and need to do. Not only because I am running out of time, but because life has a funny way of accumulating tasks that need to be done. The older I get the more complex my life becomes. That complexity needs delegation if I want to see results or meet my expectations.

Delegation is a concept I’ve been familiar with for a long time. A skill I’ve even had some success with. In recent years I have found the process of delegating frustrating. As a result I have stopped delegating all together. I was finding that I was more efficient in my work and able to accomplish more. This supported my decision until I started feeling burnout. Burnout for me results in relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms that take their own tole.

Not delegating established me as an island. It shows a lack of trust in the teams I work with, including my family. When there are a million things that need to get done tackling them solo becomes ineffective, inefficient, and creates resentment. People want to help. We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Not delegating prevents that.

Convincing myself that delegation is important isn’t enough to start doing it. There’s learning curving in executing this skills that is feels like a hard won battle. But like any other skill it is learnable.

Delegation is people work not industry work. This means it’s relationship based. People work is sticky and chunky and complicated. It’s almost always rewarding but it’s almost never easy. Which means it’s frustrating and requires patience. The goal is to not do the industry work.

Delegation requires teaching. Teaching is it’s own skills that requires a lot more listening that talking.

Delegation depends on asking. If we don’t ask people to do things then delegation can’t happen. Asking for help is hard. It is my experience that people are waiting for something to do. Often that something is a reminder of what they were supposed to do in the first place.

Great delegation is based on observations. When we can observe the talents of the people we work with then we can leverage their skills and get the most out of delegation. When done right this makes people feel amazing.

Delegation is a form of management but it is not micro management. As humans it is easy to forget. Reminders are necessary for many and most tasks. Reminding those around us of the tasks they have to do is sign of respect and care. Watching their every move is unnecessary, unsustainable, and will undermine the delegation in the first place.