037: Delegating at Work & Home: How to Empower Your Team

Hello, hello everyone. Welcome to Productivity Paradox. I’m your host, Tanya  Dalton, and this is episode 37. Today we are talking all about delegating. And I felt like  this was a really important topic for us to cover because we’ve been talking about  systems all season long, and I wanted to end the season talking about how we can  make the systems even easier to implement. I was getting a lot of questions, and I  talked about this in the “Ask Tanya” episode a few weeks ago, but I was getting a lot  of questions from people who were telling me they have a hard time delegating to  other people or they just don’t think they can. So I wanted to talk about that today  because I think you might be underestimating the value of delegation.  

 So, what is delegation? Well, it’s essentially assigning responsibility to  someone else in order to complete a clearly defined task. Delegation incorporates  empowering your teammates through effective leadership. And here’s the key:  delegation can be used in any organization, so I’m going to refer to ‘team’ a lot in this  episode.  

 What do I mean by the term ‘team’? Now, I know I’ve mentioned this before  back when I talked about creating a family mission statement in episode 5, but I  always refer to my family as a team because that’s what we are. We’re a group of  people – big people, little people – who are all working together towards a common  goal, a strong family.  

 So when I’m talking about teams today, your team might be your family, or it  might be the group of people you work with, or it may be you and your roommate. A  team is just a collection of people, so, two or more who are working together. And I  want you to keep that in mind today. Delegation is not just for corporations. It’s not  just for big companies. It’s for small businesses, it’s for families, it’s for co-workers,  and so on. And in order to have a successful team, everyone must be flexible and  open to delegation.  

 But why don’t people delegate? Well, there’s several reasons. First reason, not  enough time. One of the biggest stumbling blocks is the perception that you don’t  have enough time. Having to explain the task or teach someone else the skills  necessary takes time, and if you’re feeling crunched for time it feels like a luxury that  you just don’t have.  

 But think of it this way. Yes, it may take you less time to complete the task  yourself now, but where does that put you the next time the task needs to be  completed? And so on. Think of it as an investment. You’re spending the time now to  get somebody else to eventually perhaps take it off your plate altogether.  

 The second reason is losing control. This is otherwise known as the  “perfectionism issue,” which we talked about just a few weeks ago in episode 28.  Perfectionism keeps us often from doing our best work and it hinders us from  accepting help from others. We fear that by giving the task to others they won’t be  able to do the job as well as we can do it ourselves, and so we pile ourselves high  with these tasks that really others can help us with.  

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 The third reason is no confidence in your team. When you think that no one  can do it as well as you, that shows you’re not confident in your team. My motto  when I was a teacher was to keep the barre high because others will rise to the task  or the job. But when you don’t have confidence in your team, they end up losing  confidence in their own abilities and they just might stop trying altogether. Let me  give you an example.  

 When I’m over for dinner at anyone’s house, I generally jump up after dinner  and help clean up. But I have a friend who has a very particular way of cleaning and  then loading the dishwasher. I found that when I helped, she would take the dishes I  had just loaded and take them all and spread them on the counter, and then she  would load the dishes the right way, her way.  

 So after several times of this happening, I gave up. I mean, who wants to be  told each time that they’re doing it all wrong? It’s the same thing with your team. If  you’re nitpicking the results every time, they’re not going to want to continue to try.  A gracious ‘thank you’ goes really far in instilling confidence in your team.  

 The fourth reason is guilt. We want to please everyone. Well, everyone but  ourselves. We place ourselves at the bottom of that people-pleasing list a lot if the  time, so we convince ourselves that we have time for one more thing, or that busy is  good. Everyone says that they’re busy, right? So we have to stop that glorification of  busy. Busy does not mean productive. It does not mean that you’re better than  anyone else. And it certainly doesn’t mean that you’re happy. We have to do away  with this desire to make sure everyone else is happy because we feel guilty.  

 But it’s not just the emotions that sometimes get in the way of us delegating.  There are situations that can act as barriers to delegating, like resources. Money is  usually a concern for most of us if we want to pay to delegate something out. I felt  this myself when I decided to take on help cleaning my house.  

 Now there are lots of ways you can figure this out, like can you work to  delegate money in other places. Think to yourself what is this task worth to you? Is it  worth forgoing your daily coffee? Is it worth not eating out one day a week? Or if the  budget is absolutely too tight, can you find a way to delegate some of it? For having  help with cleaning the house, could you just have the kitchen and the bathrooms  cleaned? Or could you share the task by delegating portions of it to other people that  you live with – your family, your roommate, or your spouse – so it doesn’t cost money,  it just costs time. So you have to think outside of the box sometimes.  

 The other situation that can be a barrier is the hierarchy. In some organizations  it’s difficult to understand the line of authority and who’s responsible for what. This is  true in offices and sometimes at home because multiple people may share  responsibilities, so there can be some confusion or it’s unclear who has ultimate  authority.  

 You usually see this when there’s someone on your team who’s not really  willing to help out. They feel like it’s “not their job.” This issue can usually be fixed  with some open communication and some discussions about the reasons why things  need to happen. Now, sometimes it does take more than communication, but it’s a  

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matter of finding the reasons why that person is not helping. And when you know  that, it can make a big difference in getting them to pitch in.  

 So now that we’ve talked about some of the barriers, let’s talk about what  tasks can you really delegate. Well, there’s actually a lot of tasks you can delegate.  First of all, there’s those automated tasks that we talked about back in episode 34.  These are the tasks that need to be done repeatedly, maybe once a week or once a  month. What’s nice about delegating out automated tasks is because they’re  repeated, it’s really easy to get someone else on a system and then they become  really good at doing it. So automated tasks are great to delegate.  

 There’s also teachable tasks. These are the tasks that, although they may seem  complicated at first, can translate into a system. For example, teaching one of your  direct reports at the office how to draft a presentation for the monthly team meeting,  and then eventually how to be the one to actually deliver those updates to the team.  Those are great to have somebody else do.  

 Then there is tasks that others can do better. Now, you can’t be good at  everything. There’s going to be things that just aren’t your strength. These are ideal  to farm out to people who can do a better job than you. And because you’re working  as a team, keep in mind you can’t do everything. Find the tasks you aren’t as strong  at and give them to someone who is. For me, I’m not the best at photography, so if I  want a really good image of something, I’ll ask Liz or I’ll ask John to do it for me. Both  of them are much better photographers than me. There’s no shame at not being  good at everything.  

 The fourth kind of task is the insignificant tasks. We talked about the levels of  the priority list. Tasks that are unimportant but urgent, these are tasks that are small  so they feel inconsequential to tackle, but they add up. They’re never important or  urgent, and even if they only take a few minutes, they end up taking you out of the  flow of your more strategic work. So these are ideal, also, to farm out and delegate.  

 Then there is the fifth kind of task, which is task for good development.  Delegate tasks to your team members who would benefit from the additional skill  development. If you’re already good at completing a certain task, let someone else  have a chance to try it so they can begin to build off these skill sets as they continue  to grow and be a part of your team.  

 Now, I’ll give you a quick example. My kids at the airport. When I travel with my  kids, I delegate to them that when we de-plane and get into an airport, they have to  figure out where we go next and they have to guide me through the airport to the  next gate. Now, I could do this myself, and I could probably do it a lot faster because  I’ve traveled a lot more. But I want to empower them; I want to feel confident that if  we do get separated at the airport they’re going to know where to go next. So I think  of it as an investment. And, side note, they totally think it’s fun that they are in charge  of our travel plans. So definitely think about tasks that will help others to develop.  

 And then the last kind of task I want to talk about are the tasks for which you  are not responsible. This is a really big one for parents. Are you cleaning your kids’  rooms? Are you feeding a dog that you got your child because they promised to take  

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care of it? It’s time to get those jobs back in the hands of the people they’re  supposed to belong to. Delegate that back out. If you find that you’re doing a lot of  jobs that belong to other people, you’ve got to push back a little bit and hand them  back over.  

 So to me, those are the six kind of tasks that are good to delegate. But how do  you do it? How do you start to delegate? Well, I always know it’s hard to start with a  blank sheet of paper, so I’ve got a download for you to help you figure out how to  prepare to delegate. And you can find that by going to inkwellpress.com/podcast,  and then go to episode 37 and you’ll see a download for you there.  

 So before you begin to delegate you have to lay the foundation, and that’s  what that download’s going to help you do. This preparation will become easier as  you begin to delegate more and more. However, until that time comes, you want to  spend a little time in the following four areas before you begin to actually delegate.  

 So the first thing is make a list of the tasks and the teammates. Use those  guidelines we just talked about to make a list of the tasks that you want to delegate,  and then make a list of your teammates alongside the list of the delegation tasks, and  then you can just draw a line from the task to who they should belong to. Think about  who’s best suited to accomplish these tasks. And again, don’t worry, I’ve got a  download that’s going to walk you through it.  

 Now I know that all sounds good, but how do you choose which team member  to assign each task? Well, think of it in terms of skill and development. So for skill,  when you’re choosing a team member to accomplish this task, you must know their  skill level. And when you choose people you think are capable, give them tasks that  are slightly beyond their current level. This’ll challenge them and will help them  develop their skills. You can give non-critical tasks to inexperienced teammates. Or if  your team is your family, this is great for younger ones. Accomplishing the task will  help increase their confidence and that adds their own value to the team.  

 So the other thing to think about when you trying to decide who to delegate  to is their development. Try to delegate tasks to the teammates that need the most  development. Give them tasks that will help them grow. It might involve a challenge,  

an initiative, perhaps judgment on their part. The more that you give your teammates  to accomplish, the more your team as a whole will be able to accomplish. So that’s  the first step, preparing for the delegation. Choosing the task and the person to  delegate it to.  

 Then, the next step is decide your outcomes. Before you’re delegating a task to  someone else you need to know your desired outcome. How important is it to you  that a task is done a certain way? Or, how thoroughly do you want it done? Is it okay  for them to do it any way they want to as long as it gets done? What are certain  steps that you feel need to happen? You need to think about what is the outcome  you are looking for with this task.  

 The third thing is know the supplies and the resources needed. There’s nothing  that will stymie delegation faster than them not having what they need. So once  you’ve decided on the task and who you want to delegate to, think about what  

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supplies or resources those tasks require. For example, if you’ve assigned the task for  someone to be in charge of a report in your office, what information do they need to  create the report. Do they need access to a color printer? Do they need certain  software programs? And so on. Anticipating these needs will help them be more  successful.  

 And then lastly, anticipate the questions. The people on your team will most  likely have questions, especially if this is the first time for them to tackle this type of  task. And they may even resist the responsibility that you’re giving them. Think  through what these questions or these stumbling blocks may be, and then you’re able  to address them effectively when you’re actually doing the delegating.  

 So, one of the things that I do, is I physically write out the task, the  expectations, I write out the supplies. And by doing that I’m hopefully anticipating a  lot of those questions that may crop up, and I’m helping keep them accountable so  that they don’t have to remember and there’s a paper trail.  

 So one note on this. When I was doing this with my kids before they were  readers, I used images and pictures that I would just download off the internet. That  way, that would help them see what I was looking for them to accomplish. And as we  start implementing the actual delegation, I make sure that we both feel empowered  to make adjustments to these notes.  

 As with all things of productivity, you need to have some flexibility. There will  be things that crop up that you did not anticipate no matter how thoroughly you feel  that you’ve thought it through. So make sure that you are giving a little bit of  breathing room, both for them and for you. And then, it’s time to start delegating.  

 So, how are you going to do the actual delegation? Start by scheduling a  meeting. Delegation takes time and preparation, so taking the time to discuss the  task and making sure there’s time to answer questions will really help. You want to  reduce the chance that something will go wrong. So if you’re delegating something,  let’s say, at work, schedule a meeting with the team member. If you’re delegating  something at home, this could happen at a family meeting. Just make sure you’re  treating the meeting as something important. It’s not something you just want to off handedly assign to someone, so schedule a meeting.  

 And then start with ‘why’. Lead your conversation with pointing out why the  task is important not just to you, but to your teammate, to the team as a whole, and  your organization. Delegation is most effective if you can link a delegated task to  your team’s goals, and that makes that team member feel like an important part of  the way your team works. So start with the ‘why’.  

 And then, three, make sure that the outcome is explained. We talked a little bit  about what your expectations for the outcomes are, but you want to make sure that  you tell your teammates the results that you expect. Explain how this outcome, when  it’s completed, fits into the picture of what the team as a whole is trying to achieve.  And then make sure you give clear instructions. Explain the different steps for the  task, especially if it’s someone who’s inexperienced. Be open, though, to discuss  possible alternative ways that they could accomplish the results.  

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 I like to empower team members by allowing them to create their own  instructions if I feel like they’re ready. I’ll ask them what steps they think they need to  do to accomplish the goal. Explain your ideas, ask for comments, suggestions, and  questions, but you’ll find that new ideas often emerge when you have an open  discussion like this with your teammates. Plus, it has the added bonus of instilling  confidence in them that you believe in them.  

 You want to make sure you’re encouraging questions to make sure they  understand everything. With my kids, if I’m delegating to my kids, I use an old teacher  trick where I ask them to explain back to me what they need to do and why they  need to do it. That allows me to see the gaps in their understanding, and that’s really  helpful, especially with children.  

 And then, assign accountability. And by that, I mean make sure they have the  appropriate authority to handle the task so that way they don’t have to run every  detail by you, or they’re not constantly asking for your assistance. You want them to  understand their role and your expectations before they start, and part of that is  really allowing them to collaborate with you on a deadline. You want to make sure  you and your teammates set a deadline for the completion of this task. Collaborating  on it will help them plan and will allow them to coordinate and prioritize the task for  themselves.  

 And that’s it. The very last thing to do is let go. Remember, you have to give  them a fair chance to accomplish the task. You want to check in on their progress  during different checkpoints, but don’t micromanage them or get in their way. Show  them that you have confidence in their success, but don’t be afraid to support them  or give them feedback. And make sure to allow them the grace that they need when  they make mistakes, because they will make mistakes. So help them to learn to  modify and readjust.  

 And when things don’t go well at all, well, talk it out. See if you can see where  it broke down and work together to find a solution. Just keep in mind that the  solution is not to delegate it back to yourself. Systems take time and they take  adjusting, so make sure to allow for that. I really think that if you start to delegate  some of these tasks that you’re taking on yourself, you’re going to see a huge  difference in how your systems work for you.  

 Now, next week we’re going to continue talking about how to make our  systems work for us and make life a little bit easier by talking about technology that  supports our systems. So I’m really excited about that.  

 All right. In the meantime, I would love for you to submit questions for me. I  have an “Ask Tanya” episode coming up. You can submit questions at  inkwellpress.com/question, and I’ll choose a few of my favorites to answer on the  show. Also, if you haven’t joined our productivity community, I encourage you to join  that at inkwellpress.com/group. I’d love to see you there.  

 All right. We’ll continue talking about systems next week. So until then, happy  planning. 

**This transcript is created by AI, so please excuse any typos, misspellings and grammar mistakes.

Tanya Dalton is a time management expert, productivity speaker and is host of one of the top productivity podcasts for women.