Delegate from a Distance
If you’re relatively familiar with leadership topics, you likely already know that delegation is important in being an effective leader and having a healthy organization. Delegation is hard enough as it is during “normal” times — you have to trust others, communicate effectively, and have impeccable follow-through. So you can imagine how much harder delegating gets in a virtual, remote, and/or hybrid environment. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t delegate — just that you should be ready to think about it differently. Executive coach and leadership development coach Alisa Cohn has some good advice for us about how to effectively delegate in a virtual setting!
Before we jump right in, we have to acknowledge why delegation is so much harder in our current environment (where a lot of people are remote)? There are many reasons. First, it’s harder to get to know each other when we aren’t in the same physical location. Next, all of our formal interactions are formal (meetings), and we then lack the informal interactions (seeing each other in the hallway or on campus, catching up over coffee) that lead to stronger relationships and trust. And finally, we’re relying more on emails and texts for communication, which makes it very easy for miscommunication to happen. When all this happens, it’s no wonder why leaders these days just think it’s easier to just “do it [themselves]” rather than delegate in a remote world. But when you don’t delegate, you not only are overworking yourself, but you’re disempowering your group members. And that’s no fun at all!
If you want to start delegating, there’s a simply way to figure out what to delegate (in a way that both gives you more time and empowers individuals). Thankfully, the process for figuring out what exactly you should delegate still work in a virtual world!
Steps to Figure out What to Delegate
1. Track your activities for a week. These are specifically tasks related to your organization. Plot them on a calendar and show how long they take you.
2. Note which activities can be done by someone else. Think thoroughly about which tasks you should still do and which could possibly be done by someone else.
3. Look for development opportunities for other group members. Picture your group members and try to match the delegation items with those who may be looking for a chance to gain a new skill or learn more of a new area.
4. Decide what activities you will continue to do. Make a decision, and trust your gut! Keep doing the things that will lead to the success of your group.
Now that you’ve got your list, let’s talk about the steps to delegate. When you’re delegating virtually it’s important to be methodical and make sure you’re communicating clearly. It’s easy to misunderstand each other in instant message and emails, and even in video and phone calls. Don’t skip steps and make sure you allocate extra steps to communicate.
Steps to Virtually Delegate Effectively:
- Clarify what you are delegating. Don’t skip anything! Another way of thinking about it — If you can explain what “done” looks like, you’ll be able to explain the task effectively to others.
- Thing about the person you are delegating to, and consider their goals, skills, and interest. Does it fit into their goals for their time in school? Will it be exciting or tedious? Is this a stretch assignment, or something they’ve done before? Knowing this will help you figure out how much oversight from you they’ll need.
- Put the task in context. Communicate not just the task, but how the task fits into the bigger picture of success for the organization.
- Make sure you both agree on expectations (due date, ways to check in along the way). Virtually, it’s important to schedule check-ins, as you won’t necessarily bump into them on campus to ask how they’re doing.
Delegating might not always look the way it does not. As we (hopefully) become less remote and things get back to normal, let’s use our leadership skills to continue to empower those in our organizations to be successful!
