Delegation — everyone knows about it, but not everyone does it — why?

7 min readJun 15, 2022

Just a quick warming-up. Could you give an honest answer to the following questions:
Do you delegate?
•If yes, in what situations and how exactly?
•If no, why not?

If you’ve found yourself in the ‘No’ league, please check the next paragraph.

Why people don’t delegate

There are many possible reasons why people might be afraid of handing over tasks or responsibilities:
- They worry about dumping their work on others;
- They feel threatened (modern FOMO thing). If I delegate, am I needed at all?
- They are afraid to lose control;
- They’re worried delegating will take longer than just doing the work;
- They delegate the tasks without delegating responsibility for them;
- And my favorite — team comes to you for a solution without trying by their own because you will always give this solution.

On the contrary, why people do delegate?

Let us refer to Liz Wiseman, author of New York Times bestseller Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter.

Let us compare the most widespread types of Multipliers VS Diminishers (at least here in software development):
1. Empire Builder , who accumulates resources and underutilized talent VS Talent Manager, who attracts talented people and brings out the best in them;
2. Tyrant, who creates an environment of constant stress for employees, inhibiting their opportunities VS Liberator, who creates an environment that is best for development and work;
3. Know-It-All, who gives directions and examples of exactly how things should look VS Challenger, who creates opportunities that help overcome shortcomings;
4. Manager, who makes centralized decisions that confuse others VS Conversationalist, who makes decisions after discussions;
5. Micromanager, who comes to results only through his own involvement VS Investor, who gives people the opportunity to act independently, investing in their success

Could you tell me what is the main difference between those leaders? Correct, different levels of delegation. Who’d be the preferable leader for you here?

So, why should you delegate?

1. Encourage each team member to develop and achieve career goals;
2. Give the leader an opportunity to probe the potential of team members (and decide on promotion): one will do his best and take initiative, another will do the task without enthusiasm, someone else will just procrastinate and show the work of a low quality;
3. Increase trust in the leader: delegation of authority is interpreted by team members as confidence in them;
4. Keep great specialists in the company, giving them more interesting work and areas for development;
5. Free yourself up to work on strategy and big improvements.

How can you start to delegate?

The main thing is going step by step. Remember how you were taught to ride a bike. First, they held you with two hands on the frame, then they removed one hand, stepped aside, looked how you coped with that road, returned and corrected your behavior.
Same thing here. If you want to delegate a task, it is important to determine what is in the person’s zone of proximal development (do not delegate everything at once if this is the first time for the employee), and what level of delegation should be applied to solve this particular task. Having explained the task to the employee, it is necessary to find out how he/she understood this task. Until the leader and the team member come to a common understanding of the task, it is pointless to move on to the next stage. You should also define the Definition of Done — levels of task completion (acceptable, high, rockstar). Next, the employee forms an action plan, the leader empowers him, and the person gets to work.
At each control point, the team member must receive feedback from the leader — positive or negative.

Well, you can use this algorithm:
1. Explain the task and make sure that the employee will be able to cope with it. Check if he/she understood everything, when he/she is ready to start and how much time team member will need;
2. Describe what you want to achieve as a result (SMART goal or else);
3. Agree on how to complete the task, if this is important and applicable(regulations, laws, company/team agreements etc.). And if not, leave the choice of strategy to employee;
4. Give the employee the authority and resources necessary to achieve the goal (material, informational, financial, etc.);
5. Clearly define deadlines and responsibilities. Explain what will happen if the task is completed or not completed. Clearly identify constraints and boundaries;
6. Set control points/milestones (if applicable, not applicable for some levels of delegation);
7. Check the result and give feedback.

Delegation levels

Previously, I mentioned Delegation levels. What are they?
Management 3.0 website reminds us, that
1. Delegation is not a binary thing. There are plenty of “shades of gray” between being a dictator and being an anarchist;
2. Delegation is a step-by-step process. You hand over accountability to other people in a controlled and gradual way;
3. Delegation is context-dependent. You want to delegate as much as possible but if you go too far chaos might unfold.

And here go the levels:
1. Tell: I will tell them
2. Sell: I will try and sell it to them
3. Consult: I will consult and then decide
4. Agree: We will agree together
5. Advise: I will advise but they decide
6. Inquire: I will inquire after they decide
7. Delegate: I will fully delegate

More examples and videos here: Delegation Poker & Delegation Board — Management 3.0 Practice (management30.com)

You can also find some practice there — for example, for a project manager:

Or use this tool in more standard deeds — like organize a party or plant a garden :).

And the most important question — when to delegate?

Delegation is a win-win when done appropriately. However, that does not mean that you can delegate just anything. So, what tasks can be delegated?
1. Small, routine things. Leader’s job is to develop the team/product/account, and not to control every step of the employees;
2. Tasks that anyone can do that don’t require special skills (or they do, but the team has them);
3. Tasks that require a lot of time;
4. Tasks that can be standardized;
5. Urgent tasks;
6. Tasks that the team member does better than the leader.
A smart leader is willing to admit that he is not an expert in all areas. Trust people, remember what qualities you once hired them for.

To determine when delegation is most appropriate there are five key questions you need to ask yourself:
1.Is there someone else who has (or can be given) the necessary information or expertise to complete the task? Does this person have time to take on more work?
2. Does the task provide an opportunity to grow and develop another person’s skills?
3. Is this a task that will recur, in a similar form, in the future?
4. Do you have enough time to delegate the job effectively? Time must be available for adequate training, for questions and answers, for opportunities to check progress, and for rework if necessary.
5. Is this a task that I should delegate? There are some tasks critical for long-term success (for example, recruiting the right people for your team), which genuinely do need your attention.

And the last, but not the least — when is the best time to start delegating?
-When there is someone to delegate;
-At the start with a new team;
-When processes change;
-On a big project;
-When roles and responsibilities are clear;
-When roles and responsibilities need to be clarified;
-On developing RACI matrix;
-When a team member does something cool and goes to promotion;
-When a team member want a promotion of to fulfill career goals;
-To help young professionals develop and give them new areas
responsibility;
-To test the team;
-When team member’s supervisor is very busy;
-Try this with your leader/supervisor — he/she might delegate something to you — take initiative!