Management In A Changing World

CHAPTER 3DELEGATING EFFECTIVELY

In Chapter 1, we talked about management as a practice. Delegation, or assigning work to others, is a building block of that practice—one of those fundamental skills we repeatedly use, like the two‐step in dance. Delegation is the primary way we get things done with and through others.

While we often talk about delegation in managerial relationships, delegation happens in all directions. Everybody delegates: managers to staff, staff to volunteers, project managers to team members, peers to peers, and executive directors to board members.

When we delegate effectively, we strengthen relationships, results, and equity. But effective delegation is much more than giving someone a to‐do list. It requires conspiring and aligning on what success will look like and how to achieve it.

For instance, do either of these scenarios sound familiar to you?

• You ask a staff person to plan a stakeholder meeting. They've never planned an event like this before, so you get nervous when they present you with an incomplete project plan. Unsure they'll pull it off, you decide to “help.” You give them a venue contact, tell them what to order from the caterer, and send a guest list. You write to‐do lists and send weekly reminder emails to complete the tasks. The staff person, who started off feeling excited about the assignment, is now frustrated that they're just implementing your ideas and constantly being checked on. “It feels like you don't trust me to handle this,” ...