How can I delegate more?

Fast Company

2 days ago

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company 's workplace advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer your biggest and most pressing workplace questions.
How can I delegate more?
Warning: Clichés abound with my answer to this problem.
You may feel that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself, or that passing your work off to someone else means that it won't be done to the same standard. Or you might feel threatened that if someone else does a good job at your work you will be seen as expendable. Or maybe you're worried that teaching someone how to do some of your work will be more time-consuming than just doing it yourself.
But another cliché is true too: If you teach someone to fish, they eat for a lifetime. Delegating tasks may have more upfront time costs than doing it yourself, but once that person learns the skills and takes over the task, not only is it off of your to-do list forever, but they now have gained a valuable skill.
If you delegate the right tasks, you can also help in your own career growth. Here's where another cliche comes in: Time is money. As Fast Company contributor Elizabeth Grace Saunders pointed out in a recent article, 'If your time is worth about $60 an hour and a task takes five hours, that's $300 of time. But if you're paying an entry-level employee $15 per hour, that same task ends up only costing $75. For you to do the task might not make sense.'
But it's not just that creating a PowerPoint 'costs' you $300; it's what other things you can be doing with those five hours—or as Saunders puts it, the opportunity cost of spending your time in different ways. With those five hours freed up you could focus on the types of projects that are more likely to get you promoted, for example.
Okay, so now that I've convinced you why you need to delegate, here's how to go about it:
Write it down clearly
The worst way to delegate is to just throw a bunch of information at someone and hope for the best. Your best first step when handing over a task is to make a written guide. The clearer and more step-by-step, the better. Include screenshots or record a video if relevant. Yes, it's more up-front work for you, but then if the person you are delegating the task to doesn't remember something you told them, they have a reference. And if that person ends up leaving, you have a guide to pass on to the next person.
Walk them through the task and ask them to repeat it back to you
Putting together a written guide is your first step. The next is walking them through the task. Share your screen if you're in a virtual meeting or sit next to them and complete the task together. Watching you build the presentation, for example, will help form the memory of how to do it.
Make sure to stop for questions along the way. And, after you walk them through the task, it's a good idea to have them repeat back the most important points to make sure that information sticks. This might feel condescending at first blush but it's a common practice in lots of critical jobs. 'An air traffic controller gives a pilot instructions, and the pilot has to repeat it back to ensure they got it correctly,' says Dana Brownlee, author of The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up. 'You can use the same thing in the workplace.'
To avoid appearing untrusting, you can say something like, 'I know I threw a lot at you, and this has a lot of moving parts. To ensure I didn't confuse you, would you mind repeating the information about the slides and the day they're due?'
Check back in, then step back
Finally, once you've given them the written guide and walked them through how to do it, check back in around the time it's due to make sure everything is going smoothly. You don't have to go full-on micromanager and look over their shoulder. Just a simple, 'Hey, wanted to see if everything is going okay with the PowerPoint and my instructions were clear.'
This can be helpful if they hit a snag but were too embarrassed to speak up. Then, after they successfully complete the task, you can let them own it and reclaim you freed-up time!