Have you ever planned a vacation and then became so stressed out about leaving work behind, you wished you had never planned it?
Several years ago, my husband and I planned a 10-day Alaskan cruise, which took several months to plan and, at the time, sounded like a fantastic idea. After all the down payments were made, however, a huge project kicked off and the closer we got to our departure day, the more stressed I became. What was going to happen while I was gone?
The truth is, I hadn’t mastered the fine art of delegation and I find this to be a common issue among the executives I coach.
The Importance of Delegation
“Your most important task as a leader is to teach people how to think and ask the right questions so that the world doesn’t go to hell if you take a day off,” says Jeffrey Pfeffer, the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and author of What Were They Thinking?: Unconventional Wisdom About Management.
Real delegation is assigning responsibility for outcomes along with the authority to do what is needed to produce the desired results. Delegation benefits managers, direct reports, and organizations and is a fundamental managerial trait…” (SHRM)
So, how can you better delegate to build team engagement and enjoy your vacations?
Three Steps to Better Delegation
Here are three important steps of assigning responsibility for outcomes for your peace of mind and your team’s engagement
- Identify the Goals and Scorecard. What work and financial metrics are being used to measure your department’s success (Goals) and how are you doing on meeting these metrics (Scorecard)?
- Link the roles and responsibilities to the goals. Each of your team members should be able to see the connection between their role and responsibilities and the team/department/company’s success. By creating this link, your employees will understand their relevance and purpose and, in turn, become more engaged.
- Connect SMART action items to each goal. Work with each team member to identify what actions steps are needed for their and the department’s success. Agree on the deadlines and milestones and make sure they know to turn to you for any questions if and when roadblocks appear. Employees are more fulfilled when they understand how their performance is being measured.
These are fairly easy steps to understand, however delegating takes time and mentoring. Start now and enjoy your next vacation with less stress!
As an Executive and Team Coach, Gerri is an accountability partner for leaders who want to create an outcome-based culture and increase productivity and engagement. If you’re ready to take you and your team to the next level, reply below or contact us today!