Many leaders find it difficult to delegate tasks to someone. It may not come naturally to even the most successful leaders because they feel a little stressed out in performing their duties while being at the helm of affairs. Many skilled individuals I know start with registering a sole proprietorship business and they are used to making decisions on their own. And when they grow, they would add more team members and eventually register private limited company only to realize that delegation is not their cup of tea.

Increasing workload will never result in a prospering business because as a key person, you will need to focus your efforts on making core business decisions. The more you democratize the decisions, the faster you will be able to move things. The key for any startup to grow is to move fast enough to beat the competition.

Start delegating tasks to your team members and feel the growing productivity in the department. If you are too stuck at where to begin from? Take a look at these 5 crucial ways to boost efficiency using the power of delegation.

1. Learning to let things go

Roping in other people to perform the tasks that are on your plate is not a bad idea especially if you are looking for efficient work management. Many managers and founders have a hard time allocating their tasks to someone else, because doing the tasks personally brings them a sense of fulfilment. Another reason is that they doubt whether the other person possesses enough skills and capabilities. It is a dilemma for key members of the business and they need to get over this indecision by just letting things go.

Best is to start with delegating small tasks and move on to bigger ones. Most people cannot put trust in others, so it is better to know the team and the person well enough before you choose one to assign the tasks and duties. The idea is to take baby steps in creating a successful delegation chain, grow it and form a hierarchy that evolves by itself.

2. Managing the Delegation

It is hard for managers to get out of the comfort zone. They always believe that they can do a better job than the hired experts – also it scares them to think about losing control. It is the reason why managing the delegation is important, to have a deliberate control and gauge the outcome of assigned delegation.

Here is how to plan and implement delegation in three easy steps:

I. Delegate Sooner

 Do not let the other person feel the burden of delegation by delegating the tasks sooner than the deadlines – this alleviates any performance pressure. It is a great way to give them time to plan things out and be accountable for the deliverables.

II. Choosing the right person

Most delegation blunders occur when you choose the wrong person at the right time or even the other way round. The person taking the responsibilities must also possess the necessary skills and expertise to pull off the task so it yields fruitful results. If you are not sure, then it is better to train them and gauge if they are worthy of the tasks. Only then you can demand results from them. It does not mean that the person is not useful to the organization, it just means that a particular individual is not meant for the tasks and responsibilities that you are assigning.

III. Communicating the benefits and the rationale

Most managers are not sure why a particular task is assigned to an individual. That is where the problem lies. Instead, make sure that the person assigned with the responsibility to carry out a certain task is aware of the organization’s goal and how collective efforts move in the same direction. Find out the motivation for an assigned person. Why would anyone do anything without the right motivation? Therefore, if you are really into making the workplace an ecosystem of efficiency, drive others in the team with the right motivation to carry out their assigned duties with utmost vigour and accountability.

3. Look for the Feedback

As someone in the business having higher authority, you must strive to delegate tasks efficiently to the team members. It should be done in a way that helps you measure your organizational efficiency as well. Therefore, getting feedback from your team after finishing the project is important. It can help you better the delegation process and taking the right calls for the next project. Including all the team members who are assigned with the task, responsibilities should participate in the feedback process.

4. Managing Cultural Change

New leaders are bound to emerge in instances where delegation is part of the process. There will always be a cultural change because the way new leader performs the task will be different than how you do it. Here is how you can infuse your originality and do things differently as a founder to tackle such a sensitive issue. Most leaders are prone to draw flak and create conflicts arising out of culture shift. It is up to you how you like to balance this double-edged situation and try to bring out the best for everyone involved in the process. Delegation is bound to bring about the cultural change and some personnel will not appreciate you for this. And, this is why I emphasize on choosing the right people is important because culture misfits may fail quickly.

Those who have been in the organization for quite some time, will know about the values and its mission. One way to avoid the cultural clash is by identifying individuals who can associate themselves with the company values, work culture, and priorities. 

5. Teaching New Skills

While this advice may seem a little tricky, it has helped a lot of managers and even new talent with especially the latter one being able to identify their niche. Do try to give the responsibility to those who may lack the ability but only after providing them with the necessary training for developing new skillsets. 

You can delegate certain work to the person after imparting the right knowledge, resources, and skills – as teaching new skills is also a part of the delegation. Many may argue that it may take much more time for someone to pick up skills to perform the tasks, but remember, it will eventually free you off from doing those tasks. Consider it as an investment that frees you from doing mundane tasks and instead, transfer the skills to pick up more critical tasks that drive organizational efficiencies. 

Summing Up:

Start inviting your teammates to generate ideas on delegation and find out what drives them crazy. Know what they seek so you can pump in individual motivation and blend their personal goals with delegation. Remember, a trust that boosts efficiency does not come easy. A lot depends on how to delegate the task and what level of expertise can the employees bring to the table to perform their job effectively.