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As an element of strategic leadership, we have been sharing content around managing for high performance. Managing your team for high performance is about the actions you take as a manager to:
1. Communicate for alignment
2. Collaborate on buy-in
3. Train or coach for development
Read more about delegating and developing your team members.
How do you utilize delegation? How can it serve as an opportunity to develop your team members?
Delegation is empowering others to act. Once your team members have enough skills to take on actions even partially independently you can begin developmentally delegating and eventually fully degelating.
Delegation is a spectrum. We often think of the purest form of delegation where the leader passes something off in a laissez-faire fashion, in reality, there are endless options for how to delegate and they often provide the perfect opportunity for development.
When delegation is done developmentally the leader sets clear expectations around at least desired results maybe additionally the specific actions, behaviors, and processes to occur. Some of the work can be done completely independently, but some can be done with varying levels of support. There is often regular monitoring for the leader to provide timely feedback to help the team members know how to be successful.
Development delegation when done well supports intrinsic motivation by triggering the need for autonomy and information as such it can be a particularly effective development tool.
What opportunities do you have for developmental delegation?
To practice more development delegation start with learning more about the behavior and it's strategic potential.
To practice development delegation you need to start by clarifying expectations. At a minimum, you should clarify expectations around results.
You can even clarify expected results on a spectrum. Consider situational leadership, is it important for you to:
1. Dictate the specific results?
2. Collaborate with your team members to align on the desired results?
3. Ask coaching questions to let your team member set the results using their own skills and experience?
4. Ask that your team members set the results and share them with you to align?
Like anything in situational leadership, you will determine which options to choose above based on how skilled your team members are, how bought in they are, and how much time you have. If they have minimal to no experience you want to focus on option 1. If they are not bought-in focus on option 2. If they should be able to set the results on their own but need support pursue option 3. If they are ready to set them alone choose option 4.
You can apply the same practice to determine the specific actions, behaviors, and processes of the work you are looking to delegate.
How do you monitor your team members' work?
When you read this did it trigger concerns for the dreaded MICROMANAGEMENT?
Development delegation requires monitoring to provide real-time feedback. Feedback is just information that tells someone how to be successful. If you are delegating developmentally it is crucial to give your team members information to let them know how to succeed. You cannot do this without monitoring.
Micromanagement is not a universally agreed-upon set of actions. We would argue it's not an action at all. It is a perception and an intention of control. If the leader intends to control, is concerned they appear controlling, or if the team perceives actions as controlling you are micromanaging.
If you intend to develop, empower, distribute work effectively, communicate information, create opportunities, engage and motivate your team, and work best to achieve goals you are not micromanaging.
When you look to monitor or report be critical and honest with yourself about your intentions. If you are seeking to control it is often based on something positive- you care deeply about the work and maybe even have a touch of perfectionism. Complete a risk-value audit when the details differ from your original vision. Maybe talk to a coach about your work style, motivators, values, and intentions.
If your intentions are not based on control move to shifting perceptions. Perception from others is influenced by communicating, listening, sharing your intentions, seeking buy-in, developing trust, applying their feedback, ensuring they feel heard, and involving your team in the process. Perceptions can shift.
In short, be realistic about your intentions, take time to develop perception, and create a plan to monitor for effective development delegation.
Drop the term micromanagement from your lexicon- it is freeing!
Resources for Developmental Delegation
Delegation
Two key frameworks help leaders determine when and how to delegate by balancing delegation, monitoring, and doing it yourself.
Situational Leadership
Practice Situational Leadership to strategically adjust your actions to align with the situation and associated needs.
Expectations
Expectations are our desires. Use Berkeley’s expectations formula to align with your team members.
Feedback
Center for Creative Leadership’s, SBI is a simple formula to share the information your team members need to know how to be successful.
About Talent Praxis
Cultivating Leadership Impact
We partner with organizations to design custom leadership development programs that integrate executive coaching, assessments, and training, delivering measurable results and elevating leadership effectiveness.
Why custom leadership development programs?
Leaders define the direction and culture of an organization. Leadership development programs result in:
Increased Productivity and Performance
Higher Employee Engagement and Retention
Improved Financial Performance
As your company and market evolve, so must your leadership. Our custom leadership development programs are designed to meet your organization’s unique needs, empowering leaders with the skills to drive engagement, foster success, and deliver measurable results.
