Stop the Delegation Boomerang for Good!

Master delegation to make your life easier

By Bron Stephens

For me, one of my pet hates is when I delegate something, and it comes back to me undone or half done (delegation boomerang!). Of course, I’m not a big fan of not knowing if somethings been done at all either. Turns out, when either of these happens it’s always my own fault. This is a short article to give you the basics and some food for thought in how you delegate and where your gaps are to ensure you delegate once and then get only the information you need.

Through our careers, delegation becomes more and more important and the adage what got you here, won’t get you there is true. When we first start out, we are usually in individual contributor roles doing everything for ourselves. As we progress and get more direct reports, and more senior direct reports, delegation becomes a given in our roles.

As we ‘grow up’ in leadership we rarely do any form of formal learning or understanding of delegation and how to do it effectively to get the best results. Without getting some basics in place we’re going to continue to have misaligned expectations no matter how effectively we have handed over accountability.

7 levels of delegation

Sometimes the easiest way to improve our delegation is to get really clear on what and how we’re delegating. To help you with this, let’s baseline the 7 levels of delegation. Until you’re clear on these, your delegation will continue to boomerang:

Tell: I will tell them what to do and how to do it (authoritarian) to get the outcome I need. This is good for quick tasks and with new/junior staff members, it should not be driven by you being time poor, rather by the type of task.
Sell: I will try and sell it to them by explaining all of the benefits and getting their buy-in to achieve the outcome.
Consult: I will consult for their input and then decide on what the task is and how it should be done to get the outcome
Agree: We will agree together what should be done and how it should be done
Advise: I will provide my input and advice but they decide what and how it should be done to get the outcome
Inquire: I will leave the decision making process to the other party and inquire after the decide what they are going to do and how they will do it.
Delegate: I will fully delegate the task and leave them to execute. I may or may not require them to update me on completion

If you start by thinking through what level of delegation you want use, then you’ll be able to communicate it more effectively to the other party. Use these reflection questions to consider your approach:

When you look at these do you have a preferred style that you use consistently?
What level is it and how is it working for you?
In your workplace, where is each level of delegation appropriate? How about your home life?

Once you have clarity of this the first step in delegating becomes much easier. If you don’t have clarity of how you’re handing over and what you want, it’s extremely hard for the other party to know either. Ensure you are clear on the level of delegation you are assigning to the other party, so they are clear on their level of ownership and autonomy and your expectations on updates and input. You may like to educate your team in these levels as well, there’s a great game available called “Delegation Poker” that you can use to educate those around you and enable a type of short-hand with your team. I’ve done this with a team of leaders in the past so we could easily get on the same page.

Other ways delegation boomerangs

Status updates

Sometimes status reports and updates turn into decision making sessions. This is a common danger zone when we delegate and ask for regular status updates throughout the process. Asking for updates is appropriate, jumping in and making decisions when you’re getting an update may be undermining your team and the level of delegation you have chosen. It might occur because you see an opportunity to jump in or it might be because the person asks for your opinion. Use this as an opportunity to create a growth opportunity for the other person by putting the decision making back in their court. Even if the delegation level is lower, this is still a great opportunity to get their input on the how. When we jump in with decisions during status updates we can signal to the other person that they can use less initiative.

Recommendations and Analysis

If you’ve delegated authority at an advise, inquire or delegate level it’s not uncommon for people to come back with recommendations and analysis instead of concrete decisions. In these cases, the team members might be indirectly asking to be relieved of their responsibility. Look for these opportunities to leave the ball in their court by reinforcing the delegation and providing coaching rather than advice.

Micromanagement

Delegating at levels 1 to 5 carries an increased risk of teams feeling micromanaged and inadvertently discourage initiative. When you become overly involved in deciding and monitoring progress, the team might assume that you don’t really want to delegate or trust the team and instead they will hand back to you to regain control. This is particularly dangerous as it can leave your team feeling disempowered and you frustrated that work keeps coming back to you to complete.

Making Delegation Stick

So, how can you ensure that delegated tasks stay where you’ve assigned them? Self-awareness is key. Reflect on how you feel about delegation. If you have mixed feelings about it, take some time to understand why and whether you can confidently delegate the task. Sometimes we lack competency in our team, sometimes we have control issues and sometimes it’s a combination of the two. By improving your ability to delegate and self-awareness of what is happening, your own reactions and responses you’ll be able to better understand which it is.

Most importantly, to avoid catching the “boomerang”, instead of immediately giving instructions when you receive a status report or recommendation, ask your team members about their plans. Express gratitude for their input and inquire about their next steps. Avoid the urge to micromanage.

If you clearly communicate your expectations when you delegate a task, explain whether you’re delegating authority or just the task itself and check if the person is comfortable with the level of delegation you have the foundations in place. Then ensure that both of you are on the same page regarding expectations. If someone tries to hand back a task reinforce your initial agreements and the level of delegation before exploring if there’s another reason work is coming back to you.

By following these steps, you can foster a culture of effective delegation and empower your team to take ownership of their responsibilities.

If you want to build on this, explore my article on accountability or book at discovery call with me to see how I can help you explore this further.