Don't Be Afraid to Delegate

Let's talk about delegation.

According to London Business School professor John Hunt, only 30% of managers (think business owners) believe they can delegate well. Secondly, if the person you are delegating to can complete the task at least 70% as well as you can, you should delegate it to them.

A great way to ensure you are correctly delegating and can be much more confident about delegation is using the Individual Readiness vs Task Importance/Urgency matrix and the acronym CORA. We'll get more into CORA in a moment, but first, let’s talk about this matrix.

• If the urgency/importance and readiness are high, delegate and monitor.
• If the urgency/importance is low and the readiness is high, delegate (no need to monitor).
• If the urgency/importance and readiness are low, you can still delegate (and monitor). This area is one of the critical areas to delegate to for skill and readiness growth. Don't neglect this category.
• But never delegate high importance/urgency to a low-readiness individual.

Here’s a graphic to help you visualize this concept.

Now we know what categories to delegate to people and when to monitor. CORA will help you with the how. Check it out.

• Communicate - Determine what needs to be communicated to whom and by when. Additionally, communicate expectations and desired outcomes.
• Obstacles - Discuss potential obstacles and strategies to overcome these obstacles.
• Resources - Share available resources the employee has access to and how to engage these resources
• Accountability - Determine a plan for follow-up and specific timelines employees will be accountable for.

When you apply both approaches to delegation, the likelihood of a successful outcome skyrockets. You are increasing your confidence and that of the employee you gave this new responsibility to.

Who doesn’t want that? If you’d like to learn more about empowering your team, check out Right Now Leadership and learn the five mindsets and habits of BLUE Shirt Leaders. What challenges do you face when you delegate to your team?