The Art of Delegation for First-Time Managers

Stepping into a management role for the first time comes with its unique set of challenges and opportunities. Among the most crucial skills to hone is the ability to effectively delegate tasks. It's more than just assigning duties; it's about empowering your team, enhancing productivity, and building trust.

Choosing the Right Person

Effective delegation begins with identifying who in your team is best suited for the task at hand. This involves considering their skills, workload, and proven reliability. The right match between the task and the team member's abilities is the foundation of successful delegation.

Describing the Task Clearly

Clarity in communication is key. Once you've selected someone for the task, ensure they understand exactly what's expected. This means providing a detailed description of the task, setting clear goals, and being open to any questions they might have. A mutual understanding of the task's requirements is crucial for success.

Setting Clear Deadlines and Milestones

Specificity in deadlines and milestones eliminates confusion and sets a clear timeline for task completion. Rather than vague timeframes, provide precise deadlines to foster a structured and efficient work environment.

Establishing Trust and Expectations

Build a relationship of trust with your team by making it clear that you believe in their capabilities. Encourage autonomy and initiative, suggesting they come to you with solutions rather than just problems. This approach fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility.

Offering Support Without Micromanaging

While delegation involves handing off tasks, staying engaged and offering support is essential. However, it's important to avoid micromanaging. Offer guidance and assistance as needed, but allow your team members the space to work independently. This balance is key to encouraging growth and confidence.

Monitoring Progress and Providing Feedback

Keeping track of the progress of delegated tasks is important, but it should be done in a way that's empowering, not overbearing. Regular updates can help you stay informed without impeding autonomy. Once tasks are completed, provide constructive feedback to celebrate successes and discuss opportunities for improvement.

Recognizing and Rewarding Efforts

Acknowledgment and appreciation of your team's efforts go a long way in building morale and motivation. Simple gestures of recognition can significantly impact their sense of value and contribution to the team.

Bonus Tip: Using Tools to Stay Organized

Organizational tools like Trello can be incredibly helpful in managing delegated tasks. Creating a board with columns for each team member and their respective tasks allows you to monitor progress effectively without micromanaging.

Mastering the art of delegation is a journey that involves trust, clear communication, and support. As you grow into your managerial role, you'll find that empowering your team through effective delegation not only boosts productivity but also fosters a positive and collaborative work environment. Remember, the success of your team is a reflection of your leadership.

Video Transcript:

[00:00:00] Jens Heitland: In today's video, we are looking into Delegating Tasks for First Time Managers. 

My name is Jens Heitland, and I have been manager for more than 20 Years

in this channel, I help first time managers learn to lead with confidence. 

Let's jump right into delegating tasks. 

The first step in delegating tasks as a new manager is deciding whom to delegate the task to.

So finding the right person with the right skills, with the right work capacity. So a person that has free time and or can do this task on top of other tasks.

And if you stick around until end of this video, I will share a simple tool I use to delegate task and follow through with different team members. 

But let's get into step number 2, describing the task. Of course, you need to be able to describe the task to the other person so that you can clarify if the other person understands it.

So have a clear description of the task, have clear goals of the task, of what you want [00:01:00] to achieve with this task, but as well, ask clarifying questions to the person you delegate to if the person has understood the task itself. 

That gets us to step number 4. You need to have very clear deadlines And milestones agreed with the person you delegate the task to. 

So having a clear deadline, I want you to deliver this task By next Friday, 12 o'clock is a very clear deadline. I want you to deliver the task.

Next Friday It's kind of okay still. 

I want you to deliver this task by next week It's fluffy. 

Be very clear on when the person should deliver the tasks. 

And by the way, if you like this video, please give me a thumbs up, And that will help me to grow this channel. 

Which leads us to step number 5, set clear expectations. 

What do you want the other person to do?

In my case, I often give [00:02:00] the expectation of, hey. You don't need to come to me With every single step, with everything you're doing, I Trust you in doing the task. So involve me wherever you need me, But don't come every day to me and tell me what's going on. I trust you. And then important part of that is, if you have a question.

Don't just ask questions. Come back with what you think is the right step so that together we then can find out to choose what of your proposed steps we're going to take forward. 

And then, of course, you can align. So be clear on how you want to be updated so that the other person understands.

Okay. Jens requires me to send An email every Thursday morning to get update.

Step number 6, Offer your support. You are a manager. That doesn't mean you're not doing anything when you're delegating.

Delegating is not just Throwing a task over the fence and then running away. 

Delegating means you spend time with the other person and you Help where needed. 

But as said [00:03:00] in step number 5, be clear on what are you expecting from the other person. But when you're helping then go deeper into the topics, some people require a little bit more guidance, a little bit more depth, and some people just Need surveys information.

So that's something you, as a first time manager, need to understand and need to learn 

how much support is someone needing in that point in time? 

Important for you to learn and step away from is Micromanagement. 

Micromanagement is very dangerous if you go from an expert into a manager role because you know everything most of the time. And when you're delegating, then you might have the right answers. 

But it's not your job to fulfill the task.

Your job is to help the other person to fulfill the task. So stepping back and asking clarifying questions that helps the other person to achieve their task is very much Important. 

And before we go into the next step, if you want to be notified when I'm [00:04:00] posting a new video, please subscribe because this helps me to grow the channel and reach more people like you who want to learn to lead as the first time manager. 

Step number 7, provide training where necessary. 

Of course, as further you grow into your manager role, there might be training need.

And that's a question you need to ask the other person when you're delegating the task too. 

Do you need anything specific from me or from the organization? 

Is there any information missing? 

So by asking this clarifying questions, The person can look into this and then come back with, hey.

I need a specific training. I need specific access to something. I need To talk to someone, can you link me up to this person? 

So being open of what are the specific things the other person needs is very helpful. And doing this With questions and answers, we'll help you to empower the other person to take the right steps.

Step number 8, monitoring the progress. 

Of course, you are still [00:05:00] accountable when you delegate a task. 

That means you need to stay on top of the task that you're delegating. Because as a manager, you're not just delegating 1 task and then you're following 1 person. You most of the time have Several people that you work with and that you are delegating to us.

So you need to follow through 

what you do when you do your weekly touch base. That's when you do when you have specific reports sent to you when the other person is reporting back to you step by step. 

Step number 9, give feedback. So the task It's done. 

The task is delivered, which is your responsibility now to give feedback to the other person. 

Help this person to understand what worked well, What didn't work well and how would you expect it to be different in the future?

By having a small discussion and conversation around this topic, You will enable the other person to understand better how you'd want to have things in the future. And as more you do this, you grow together. And as less you need to follow through in the future [00:06:00] because the person knows how you want to have task delivered. 

Step number 10 is rewarding. 

This is super important.

When a person is finishing a task and you give the feedback, Give the reward. And sometimes it's as easy as saying, hey. This was very well done. Thank you very much.

Just Thanking the other person to deliver a specific task is 99 percent enough. 

But sometimes, there are possibilities where, someone is preparing a presentation for you. 

You can help the other person to Shine. 

So if you enable the person to be seen beyond what they would be able to do today, this is an awesome motivator for a person to do Future task. 

I give you an example.

1 of my previous managers took me to prepare a presentation. And in the end, he gave me the chance to present this to a wider audience in the management team where I was never invited before. This allowed me [00:07:00] to be visible. This allowed me to Be the expert in the topic I was preparing and as well gave me the boost of doing more tasks in the future. 

And I promised a bonus topic to you.

I use a Trello board, which you can see on screen right now. I have 1 column per person and then all the task that I'm delegating to that person in that column. And then I can, of course, set up reminders. I can set follow ups.

And I'm not sharing this task as a task management tool with the other person because it's my manager responsibility to follow through. So this is just an internal board for me to understand what task did I delegate to someone else. 

And I use Trello because it's free and it's a simple tool. Of course you can use whatever Suits best for you. I just personally use the Trello board because Trello works on the phone, Trello works on the Mac, Trello works on other platforms, and It is online, so I can always reach it. 

So this was [00:08:00] the topic delegating task as a first time manager. If you have Specific questions, Please let me know in the comments below so I can answer them, and I can build future videos that help you to be a better manager.

See you next time. And until then, let's lead to succeed together.