To delegate effectively , assign the right task to the right people. Know each team members strength and know which tasks you can entrust to them . And supervise, don’t micromanage .

Delegation makes some managers uneasy. Some don't like delegating because they fear they'll lose control of their direct reports and projects. Others see delegating as giving up responsibility. As a Managers if you are reluctant to delegate, try these tactics: - Keep a daily log of how you spend your time. After a week, look for patterns. You'll probably find that you're spending a lot of time on low-leverage activities that someone else could handle. - Make delegation part of your process for creating staff development plans. Make delegated tasks part of the performance review - Ask your people to hold you accountable for delegating. - Envision yourself as a leader by fostering a sense of ownership and accountability.

You must create an environment where your team know it’s OK to try and fail. They need to know that you trust them to do their best. That you are available to when they need something, but are expecting them to take that initiative to come to you. This is needed in addition to all the good suggestions about clear intent and expectations. People need the safety of knowing they are trusted and will not be punished for attempting new things.

Set clear expectations and objectives. Define the task, its purpose, and the desired outcome. Provide any necessary resources, tools, or information. Establish a timeline and milestones to track progress. One common mistake leaders make is not providing a clear timeline and milestones to track progress and efficiency.

One thing that I have found helpful for leaders when delegating tasks is to be specific in what success looks like, timeframe to completion, and availability to answer questions along the way. All too often a leader might have felt they communicated their expectations clearly although they failed to be specific with their team members which can cause confusion, lack of clarity, and an unsuccessful conclusion. Ensure you are clear on the expectations when you delegate, prepare in advance so that you can gather your thoughts and make sure to be clear in order to have a successful result.

A checklist I find helpful when delegating a task: 1. Handover. Have I shared all the relevant information? 2. Tools. Do they have all the tools they need to complete the task? 3. Access barriers. Do they have same level of access to relevant systems, people, and information as I do? 4. Challenges. Every task contains multiple challenges within itself - strategic, administrative, operational.. Are they confident with all of them or should I provide additional support with certain aspects of the task? 5. Regular check-ins. Is there a plan for regular check-ins to discuss issues and adjust approach? The extent of support needed for each of these points will vary, but it is a useful starting point to enable someone taking on a new task.

If you took the time to identify deliverables and deadlines, why not include check-ins as part of the plan? If you want to find that balance between trust, accountability, and support, you are going to need to have consistent and anticipated lines of communication. Consistency is a key component of great delegation. If you establish mutually agreed upon check-in dates, you won’t be creating stress or a perception of micro-management. When you check-in ask for updates and ideas as opposed to making suggestions and telling them how you want the task to be done. Remember, you want self-directed employees who anticipate the business needs. Delegation is how you develop these skills.

Micro-managers should be improved or removed because they are to an organization what cancer is to the body: toxic. Micro-managers believe delegating is simply telling people what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. You can lead an unlimited number of people. However, you can only micro-manage a small number of people. High impact leaders leverage delegation to grow and develop people. They don’t use delegation as a quick and easy way to hand off work they don’t want to do as micro-managers do. High impact delegation means others are recommending to the leader what they should do next. They don’t wait to be told, and they don’t ask. They take responsibility. They think. When they recommend, the leader learns how they think.

I agree, micromanaging is one of the quickest way to demotivate employees. If you have hired the right people for the different roles in your organisation, allow them the autonomy to make the right decisions. Give employees room to express their skills, experience and knowledge. Focus on the goal and give feedback at key milestones.

I found that ensuring the team to know when to ask for help is crucial to any delegation project. One of the repeated issues is needing to know when to ask for help and when to dig for the solution ourselves; especially if the team is very motivated to complete the project, they can easily get carried away into the rabbit hole. Leaders must keep checking the progress and ensure the team is aware of the support they can count on from the leader and the rest of the group. Educating the team is one of the quick solutions leaders can use by simply being the example, asking for help, and making it the norm in the group to do so.

Need to build a safe environment for the team. Aware that failure is a possibility where we could use it for learning. After that, try to understand the failure reason and define the next actions needed.

Challenges, errors, being stuck at a point, these are inevitable. Leaders should be open and approachable, which creates trust and confidence that they could learn from their leader. As leaders, instead of removing the obstacles, get to root cause and help employees, make them understand how to remove them or educate them how to deal with the challenges effectively.

Reviewing results is crucial in delegation, involving evaluation of outcomes, acknowledging successes, and pinpointing areas for improvement. Offering feedback, recognition, and rewards boosts the employee's morale and confidence, fostering a sense of value and motivation. Additionally, take time to self-reflect on your delegating abilities for future improvement.

It said that "an unexamined life is not worth leaving". In view of this, it is imperative to review results of the deligated task. Depending on the enormity of the task, the review could be done intermittently/progressively. However, care should taken not to micromanage in the process. The review will help measure performance and give the appropriate feedback. The sandwich approach of giving feedback can be used; talk about both the good and the downsides of the outcome by putting things in proper perspective. Give praise where necessary and admonition where appropriate. It is much better where there exist predetermined success criteria/performance indicators to which the outcome of the task can be compared.

Ensure the employee knows it's okay if delegation makes them less productive at first. It may take time to get the other employee up-to-speed on the delegated task. Sometimes you have to slow down in order to speed up. Investing time and energy in the new employee now will yield rewards as both employees will be more productive going forward.

Give them a voice. Ask them what they need. Sometimes we don't need more support or less micromanagement (although that is a pervasive issue!) Sometimes, we need a safe space to say what we need to thrive. Programs for employees that encourage their wellbeing are becoming increasingly paramount as we see burnout and attrition rates skyrocket! We need to ask employees and make sure they know they can safely speak up (hopefully that's true!) Provide the environment to thrive!