From spotting hidden talents, to handling high-stakes tasks, here’s how these business leaders approach the art of smart delegation.
Knowing what to hold on to and what to delegate can feel like walking a tightrope.
Too much on your plate? You risk burnout. Letting go of the wrong task? It could cost you. So, how do leaders strike that perfect balance?
Our experts share their insider strategies – from empowering their teams, identifying the hidden talents behind the titles, to handling the high-stakes stuff themselves.
Curious about how they keep everything running smoothly without losing their grip?
Let’s get into the art of smart delegation.
Lucy Best
Writer, Producer and Performer: Company Best Productions
Sometimes it’s hard to let go of things being done the way I feel is the best way. Other times it just feels easier to do things myself than to explain and delegate.
If a task is low stakes and going to be repeated, then it’s almost always worth investing the time to support someone else to learn how to do it. I need to value my time in the long term.
It’s much harder to delegate something creative or strategic, so I need to have a lot of confidence in the person I’m delegating to before I consider handing over the reins. If I want to cross check the output then I’m clear that it’s not a reflection on the other person, but on how important the task is and how much I value the work. I let the person know that this particular delegation is a vote of confidence, and I’m only double-checking for my own peace of mind. But if the stakes are high, and the time it will take to delegate and cross-check is onerous, then I’ll do it myself!
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Dr Ian Snape
CEO: Frontline Mind
Delegation can be mastered through an awareness of the Four C’s of delegation: Context, Competency, Consequences, and Capacity.
Context: In clear/obvious situations, delegation is straightforward, with tasks or goals easily defined and trained (aka directives and standard operating procedures). For complicated scenarios, expert analysis may be needed, and delegation requires experience and training in how to analyse (or follow a plan). In complex situations, delegation is at the level of intent (command or leaders’ intent), and decision-making principles are critical as uncertainty limits specific instruction. In chaotic environments, delegation must enable command-based decision-making to act, often with advice sought but accountability retained.
Competency: Competency includes the ability to navigate context, subject matter expertise, strong situational awareness, and appreciation of consequences and opportunities.
Consequences: The decision to delegate often hinges on potential downsides of risk. Trust builds over time through shared experience, starting with “Develop options, I’ll decide,” and progressing to “Decide and act” as trust grows.
Capacity: Lastly, delegation must consider the capacity of the person to act. If someone is overwhelmed, retaining accountability may be necessary, as adding to their plate could lead to failure – better it falls off your plate knowingly than theirs.
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Dave Jereb
Founder: MoveAbout Therapy Services
Ever feel like delegating just adds more work to your plate? If that’s true for you, it’s likely because you’re not actually delegating.
The 4D mix (Doing, Deciding, Delegating, Designing, a concept from Mike Michalowicz’s Clockwork) helps you figure out what should stay on your plate. It’s common for leaders to think they’re delegating when they’re still stuck in Deciding mode – doing all the mental heavy lifting while someone else gets the fun of Doing the task. To really break free, hand over the decisions, not just the tasks. Trust your team to make the call, and you’ll see the magic happen.
As an entrepreneur with a mind full of vision, figuring out what information to provide can be exhausting. Sound familiar? Here’s an easy fix: Have your team ask you the questions – what information and permissions they need and what the outcome should look like. Do it over a coffee or lunch. I’ll gladly answer if I don’t have to decide on the questions…and if there’s caffeine and food involved!
When you delegate well, you free yourself up to focus on the big picture: Designing the future of your business.
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Jeremy Taylor
Senior Financial Advisor: Proctor Major Wealth
When it comes to deciding what to delegate, I prioritise two key factors: the complexity of the task, and its long-term impact on the business. If a task requires my unique expertise, or if it has strategic importance that can directly shape the future direction of the business, it stays on my plate. However, inspired by Jocko Willink’s principle of decentralised command, I delegate operational or routine tasks to trusted team members who are empowered to make decisions within their areas of responsibility. This allows them to grow and take ownership, while ensuring that I remain focused on higher-level strategy and leadership.
It’s a system that I’ve found especially valuable when navigating the diverse financial needs of our clients. Delegating in this way frees me up to focus on delivering high-quality, personalised financial advice while building a strong, capable team.
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Agnes Carroll
Senior Product Designer & Educator
When it comes to delegating tasks, I think of myself as a conductor of an orchestra. Each player has their own unique talents, and I want to make sure they’re playing the right instrument at the right time.
So, I first make sure the task matches the person’s skills and experience. I also check if they’re already overloaded. I like to give my team members opportunities to grow and learn new things, so sometimes I’ll assign tasks that are a bit outside their comfort zone.
But at the end of the day, I’m the conductor. I need to make sure the overall performance is top-notch. So, I keep the really important stuff for myself, like setting the direction and making sure everyone’s on the same page.
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Mahommed Tilly
Senior Manager
Leaders today face a paradox. They must be intimately involved in the “micro” details of daily operations, yet also maintain a “macro” perspective, guiding their organisations toward strategic goals. This tension makes effective delegation crucial, but also increasingly difficult, as poor delegation can lead to disengaged workers and reduced productivity.
The confidence to delegate is intrinsically linked to a leader’s sense of trust. This trust extends beyond individual team members to encompass the organisation’s systems, processes, and technology. This is a symbiotic relationship: leaders rely on the organisation’s structures to function effectively, while the organisation depends on the leader’s vision and direction to succeed. When this trust is strong, delegation becomes an act of empowerment, not a relinquishing of control.
Leaders must understand that trust is built not through authority, but through collaboration. Your organisation and your people are intertwined in a coexisting relationship. Simply issuing orders or setting expectations in a silo is ineffective. Collaboration draws in resources and support, allows two-way trust to be built, and ultimately makes delegation easier.
Once trust is established, leaders delegate based on urgency and importance. Tasks requiring immediate attention should be handled by the leader and senior team. Those with more flexible timelines can be delegated to senior members with support from junior staff. Finally, routine tasks can be allocated to junior members to provide learning opportunities.
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Mandy Geddes
Director, Coach Education: Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership
I like the coaching approach to delegation. This involves looking at what I have on my plate, and thinking about what I can share that will help others to fulfil more of their own potential. Tempting as it is to just dump all the boring stuff on other (more junior) team members, that’s not going to help them to learn, grow and develop. If I ask others about their skills, strengths, preferences and interests in our business, I can then think about tasks or projects to get them involved with that will help them to grow and learn, or play to their current strengths.
Getting things off my plate that are of interest to others is a real win-win; I get freed up to do more of what I want to focus on, and someone else gets exposure to something new (and hopefully interesting) to them.
Of course all of this is how things operate in an ideal world and sometimes there’s boring stuff that really needs to be done; ideally that work is shared around fairly evenly.
The post Expert opinion: When it comes to task delegation, what stays on your plate…and how do you decide? appeared first on The Big Smoke.