Last week, I wrote about the difference between delegating something and “passing it off”. JoLynn, over at The Fit Shack commented that she wants to start delegating but hasn’t gotten there yet. I don’t think JoLynn is alone on this one, and the question she’s hinting at is incredibly relevant to most small business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs.

Essentially, the question is “How do I learn to delegate?” or “How do I start delegating?”

While it may seem like something you’re either born with or you’re not, the ability to delegate effectively is a skill that can be learned and practiced by anyone in leadership. It’s not hard, and a little practice yields amazing results.

Here’s what to do, in easy to follow steps, to turn yourself into a masterful delegating machine!

The first set of steps describes the process of preparing to delegate a task. This is what you need to do before you delegate:

1. Choose one specific task that you would like to delegate. Start small. Pick something very simple and easy to to do.
2. Get very clear about the task you have in mind. Determine what steps are involved in performing the task effectively. Are the steps obvious or do they require explanation?
3. Determine what desired result the task allows for. What specific, measurable result is produced by completing the task?
4. Create a reporting system. This sounds technical, but it’s not at all. A reporting system is a tool that exists outside of your head, in physical reality, that tells you whether or not a specific task has been completed. A checklist makes a very effective reporting system.

The second set of steps describes the process of delegating to another person. Set aside some time to meet face to face with the person you’re delegating to. You need to have a conversation with that person, and the conversation needs to accomplish several things:

1. The conversation you have must clearly address the fundamental five W’s (Who, When, Where, What, and Why). For example:

   “Jack (who), I’d like you to start performing this task on a regular basis. It needs to get done every Tuesday and Thursday, between 1p and 4p (when). You’ll need to go to Jane’s office (where) and get the invoices, then sort them and bring them to Bob (what). I need you to do this so that Bob can start paying the invoices on time, every week, with no exceptions (why).

2. Make sure the person you’re delegating to understands exactly how to perform the task. What’s obvious to you may be completely hidden to Jack! After explaining the task, ask if the person has any questions about what to do or how to do it.
3. Tell the person what specific, measurable result you’ll be expecting to see as a function of this task getting done consistently and reliably.
4. Train the person how to use the reporting system to let you know each time they complete the task, so you can stop worrying about whether or not it’s getting done.
5. Ask the person, now that they understand the task and everything the task requires them to do, if you can count on them to get it done as you’ve asked them to. This is really, really important, because it marks a shift in the person’s relationship to the task. If they relate to the task as something they said they can be counted on to do, they experience a greater degree of ownership and accountability for getting it done.

The final step is not really a step, but a fundamental attitude toward the work you delegate. Even though you delegate the work, you’re still accountable for the results! Remember, it’s the tension on the kite string that keeps the kite aloft. Use your reporting system to make sure the task is getting done how and when it should be, over and over again. Immediately address any slips or mistakes you see, so that Jack knows you’re counting on him.

Remember that as leaders, whether we delegate or not, we’re always on the hook!

My colleague Tim Brownson over at A Daring Adventure recently got me onto the subject of asking ourselves the right questions.

Tim suggests (here) that the ability to question yourself on an ongoing basis is a fundamental key to personal development, so long as the questions are tough, thought provoking, and empowering.

In leadership, the kind of questions that really make a difference are the questions that allow us to deepen our sense of self-awareness and gain insight into why we see things the way we do, why we think the way we do, and why we act the way we do.

“What’s behind this habit of mine, or this habitual line of thinking?”
“What’s underneath this strong feeling I have?”
“What’s informing my point of view that has me respond in this particular way?”

As leaders, we have to try to understand our own internal machinery… the inner workings of our hearts and minds, so that we can recognize the patterns of thought and behavior that we rely on and depend on, as well as those patterns that fail to serve us, and that fail to serve others.

Why? Because leading people requires understanding how they think and feel, and our ability to understand how others think and feel is a function of how well we understand ourselves.

I fear this is now becoming woefully abstract. If you’re still with me, you’re either a brilliant leader, or you’re almost as crazy as I am. Let me try and say it again in a way that has some practical value…

Great leaders understand how people think and feel, and furthermore, what motivates them. In order to understand how other people think and feel, we have to be able to step outside of our own patterns of thought and behavior… our own ingrained filters and perceptions.

These patterns of thought and behavior exist so deeply within our subconscious minds that most of the time, we don’t even know they exist! We can only glimpse them by way of asking ourselves the right questions.

What are the right questions to ask yourself?

Any question that interrupts the way you normally think. Any question that challenges you to embrace a different point of view. Any question that forces you to look deep within yourself. Any question that leaves you in a better position to serve the people you lead.

As a manager, business owner, or entrepreneur, learning how to delegate effectively can make a profound difference in your level of productivity, your organization’s culture, and your experience of being at work.

One of the fundamental keys to delegating effectively is understanding the difference between delegating a task or responsibility, and simply “passing it off”.

The difference has to do with accountability, or more specifically, whether or not you continue to relate to the task or responsibility as something that belongs to you, even when you no longer perform that task or responsibility yourself.

“Passing it off” implies that you will no longer be responsible. The movement is lateral. The task was on your plate, but it’s not anymore. It’s on the plate next to yours… someone else’s plate. You don’t have to think about it anymore and you’re not at all concerned about the outcome. You’re not accountable anymore.

In contrast, when you delegate something, you remain accountable. You give away the task but not the responsibility for completing it. You don’t do the work yourself, but you have a reliable way of making sure it gets done, and you are both interested in and invested in the outcome.

Flying a kite is a good analogy for delegating. If I remember right (it’s been a while), you start off holding the kite in your hand. It’s not flying yet. You have to launch it, usually by throwing it up into the wind and running against the wind to create tension on the kite string.

It’s the tension that allows the kite to stay aloft, even though you’re no longer physically holding it up there. Delegating is the same way. The task itself is given over, much like the kite to the wind, but you have to keep tension on the string or else the kite will crash.

Working with managers, executives, and entrepreneurs, I come back to the difference between delegating and “passing it off” all the time. As a leader, I’d wager it’s way easier to hold 300 kite strings than to hold 300 kites, although I’ve never personally tested this theory.

The reason why this topic comes up so often, and why the distinction is so important, is because as business owners and leaders, what we WANT to do with stuff is pass it off. What we NEED to do is delegate it. In the moment, passing it off always seems easier and less time consuming. Passing it off is deeply seductive. The problem is that it’s unsustainable, and it ultimately causes more work for us.

The bottom line is, when you’re in a position of leadership, you’re never off the hook, so don’t act like you are! When YOU pass something off, it ends up affecting YOU more than anyone else. When YOU let go of the string, the kite is almost guaranteed to fall on YOUR head!

When you delegate effectively, you increase your capacity for producing results, you decrease your work load and stress level, and you provide an example of accountability and sustainability for those you lead and manage.

Learn how to “Delegate Like a Pro in 10 Easy Steps”

Here it is… the truth about procrastination!

Everyone I have ever asked has admitted procrastinating at some point in their life…most of them on a regular basis. If you ask people about their experience of procrastination, almost everyone will say it causes them stress, makes them nervous or fearful, or interferes with their ability to be effective, or to enjoy life.

If this is true, why is it that almost everyone still procrastinates? Why don’t we just stop? If we’re aware of the consequences, why is it so hard to correct the behavior?

The truth about procrastination is that it serves a purpose. The reason why people struggle to stop procrastinating is because they fail to see procrastination from the appropriate context. The truth is that the consequences of procrastination are hardly consequences at all, but perceiving them that way ensures that the real purpose of procrastination remains hidden deep within our subconscious minds. Read more

Leadership occurs in conversation.

In small business, getting the people you manage to perform at their very best is a function of having the right conversations with them.

Successful CEO’s, executives, managers and entrepreneurs know how to use the right conversations to inspire, motivate and compel the people they lead.

One way to engage people in the right conversations is by asking them the right questions.

Here are 3 great questions you can ask on a daily basis to improve the productivity and performance levels of the people you lead:

1. What are you out to accomplish today?

In addition to simply keeping you in the loop, asking people what they’re out to accomplish helps them focus on producing results. The thought process provoked by this question helps people clarify their own objectives and organize their work around those objectives. In addition, answering this question requires that the person take some degree of ownership over their work, and their results.

2. What specific results can I count on you to produce today?

While this question is admittedly similar to the first, the focus is a little bit different. In this case, ownership is paramount, and the answer is apt to be more conservative. Rather than tell you everything they might accomplish, a person responding to this question is likely to think carefully about what they say they will produce, knowing that they may be held accountable. This question helps the person focus on what absolutely must get done.

3. How will you know if you’ve had a successful day today?

The purpose of this question is to help people identify with success, and establish their own personal expectations for successful performance. Someone who answers this question is more likely to keep measuring their progress against their expectations. Since human beings are fundamentally endowed with the belief that success is desirable, someone who answers this question is more likely to adjust their own level of productivity to ensure that they meet their own expectations for a productive day.

What do all three questions have in common?

What makes all of these questions useful for improving performance is that they foster ownership and independent responsibility. The point is not that the answers to these questions will help you manage people more effectively. The answers are not the point at all.

What really makes a difference is that these questions create opportunities for people to distinguish, articulate and declare their own parameters for successful performance, which in turn provides personal motivation and fosters the desire to succeed.

After all, if you don’t know what game you’re playing, how can you win?