Academic Leadership: Fundamental Building Blocks
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Steps in Effective Delegation Questions to Ask Yourself
Step 3: Assign the task
The most important part of this step is to
communicate your expectations around
completion of the task clearly. This unpacks
your tacit knowledge on how you want the
outcome of the task to look. Be sure that
timelines, including deadlines, are
communicated clearly. Ensure there is
sufficient time for both of you to ask for
questions or clarification. You may find the
person you are delegating the work to has very
good ideas. It can be useful to get the person
to whom you are delegating to follow up with
some written confirmation of what you
discussed. This is especially important if the
task is a complex or critical one.
- Are you clear about what your expectations
are in relation to completion of the task?
How do you want the task to be completed?
How will you check to ensure that your
colleague understands these expectations?
- What barriers may make success difficult?
Can you smooth the way for them to be
successful?
- What is your role in the process? How
available are you to provide support,
mentoring, coaching, advice?
Step 4: Support and monitor
You will need to step back and let them get on
with it but also ensure that you keep the
communication lines open. Make it clear that
you are available to answer questions. Put in
place processes to monitor progress but don’t
rescue them as soon as they strike a problem.
Remember that one of the purposes of
delegation is to develop the skills and
knowledge of the person to whom you have
delegated the task. So while you might explore
with them what is going wrong, your focus
should be on helping them to find their own
solutions rather than finding the solution for
them-or taking the task over.
- How critical or risky is the delegated task?
To what extent is there any tolerance for
mistakes to be made?
- What is the quality standard? The higher
the risk and quality standard the higher the
support needs to be available.
- What processes are in place to monitor,
evaluate and check on progress?
Step 5: Recognise achievements
There are many formal and informal ways of
recognising learning and achievements. A
note in an email, recognition that the task was
completed successfully, a letter of appreciation
are a few ways of recognising achievements.
You may also want to have a follow-up meeting
to reflect on what was learnt from the
delegated task.
- How will you provide the individual with
feedback on performance both along the
way and on completion of the task?
- What is the most appropriate way to
acknowledge both the efforts and
achievements in relation to the work
completed?
- How can you assist your colleague in
reflecting on what they learned from this
experience?
By following these steps and considering these questions before and as you delegate,
you will be more likely to achieve success and assist those you work with in developing
their skills and knowledge.
