The five principles of delegating tasks remotely
I love basic stuff. One thing I see during my course of mentorship & consulting with others is that one of the biggest root-cause for all things chaos in remote team operations is the inability to delegate sharply.
You can't scale if you micromanage everything.
As a manager, you need to delegate tasks off your plate to others.
Delegation is an action. And as an action, it is the most common and fundamental one regarding collaboration.
It's basic. Everyone does it.
Yet, almost all problems start here. Everyone messes this up.
So today, I will focus on the basics and share how I delegate.
I keep five principles at all times with delegation.
1. Start with the what.
Define the task first. What do you want to delegate?
Keep it brief.
I've learned this from my advertising agency years, where we wrote briefs on creative tasks to each other.
Keep it very precise. Ignore the jargon and the bullshit.
Write it so your grandma will understand it.
Write it so it is possible to read it within a minute.
For example: I need help with a spreadsheet with all the details of this year's conferences for developers. I need at least 50 conferences with all their details marked on the sheet. The task involves sourcing, filling out the details, and, if needed, engaging with conference organizers to help fill out details not publicly available on the conference websites.
2. Bring context, the why.
Move forward with the why. It brings clarity, transparency, and alignment.
Keep this one short as well - reflect on strategic documents, goals, and larger task groups.
Context helps your team to put the task in the correct flow and understand the background. Even if this is a short and almost meaningless task, it contributes to a larger picture.
For example: We need the conference sheet to pitch ourselves as sponsors, speakers, or regular attendees. It is our operating sheet to increase brand awareness and one of the most important documents for our partnership team.
3. Define who's responsible.
Only one person is responsible all the time.
If everyone is responsible, no one is.
Yet, there can be others helping or contributing.
I use the simple RACI model to figure out who's who in the picture.
R = responsible, the person who's doing the task.
A = accountable, the person who's accountable for finishing the task.
C = consulted, the person(s) contributing or consulted for help.
I = informed, the person(s) who will be aware of this task.
Accountable people are the team leads, usually. Consulted people are other team members. Informed people are the whole team. But that's generic; figure it out based on your team structure.
For example: R = the marketing manager who's doing the task. A = the CMO who's accountable for finishing the task. C = partnership manager who can help with the task. I = the marketing & sales team.
4. Define the workflow.
As the manager, you have to define how this task gets completed.
Regular workflow has two things:
Check-in points, where you check in on the project to see if it has progressed.
Q&A options, defining when and how you can show support.
The more complex the task is, the more check-in points are required.
For example: We will check in on the sheet update next week at our weekly marketing meeting. The Q&A option is available on Slack. We can escalate support to a 1:1 meeting only if needed.
5. Lastly, use a written template.
I should have started these points with this one, which is the most important.
Most people mess up delegation because of one single reason: they delegate via meetings.
I had a saying, and I'm sure not the only one with it, that anything spoken is considered an event that never happened. I consider something happened if it is written down.
I can't count how many times I've heard this from leaders:
"But I told Jimmy what to do, yet, he does something different…"
"Ok, but how did you delegate?"
"Oh, we had a meeting last week where I told him what to do."
"Ok... I think I know what the problem is......"
Write it things down. Use a template so it forces you to write down precisely what you need. With that, there will be less clutter and more clarity.
I added a resource to our Hub, a delegation briefing template. It is generic but gives you an idea of using one for your needs. Find it here.
I hope this helps solve one of the most fundamental problems in operations.
How do you delegate tasks to your team?
Peter
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