Here's how you can conquer the fear of delegating important tasks.

Select competent individuals, provide clear instructions, and trust them to take the initiative. Begin with small tasks, celebrate successes, and observe as your team and productivity flourish.

Conquering the fear of delegating important tasks involves building trust in your team members' capabilities and communicating expectations clearly. Start by delegating smaller tasks and gradually increase the level of responsibility as trust develops. Provide support, feedback, and resources to empower your team, allowing them to succeed and relieving yourself of excessive workload, ultimately leading to greater efficiency and team cohesion.

Overcoming the fear of delegation starts with trust. By thoroughly understanding your team’s strengths, weaknesses, and work preferences, you can delegate tasks that aptly match their skills, enhancing the likelihood of their success. Demonstrate your trust by setting clear expectations and providing the necessary resources, but resist micromanaging. This not only empowers your team but also reinforces your leadership, as mutual trust ensures smoother project execution and enhances team morale.

1. Understand your team: By knowing their strengths and weaknesses, you can delegate tasks that set them up for success, fostering trust. 2. Empower, don't micromanage: Provide clear expectations and resources, then give your team the space to work. This shows trust in their judgment. 3. Learn from mistakes: When things go wrong, view them as opportunities for growth. Offer support and focus on solutions, demonstrating continued trust.

I think setting VERY clear expectations is critical here. You need to consider each of these as an opportunity to contract work. Be clear on WHO is expected to do the work WHAT are they expected to produce? With what resources? By WHEN? Because....? It's a simple who, what, when, where, why - but it is extremely helpful to provide clarity!

Be specific about whether you're delegating a task or authority to make decisions. Then, take it a step further by defining the outcome you expect in measurable terms. Follow that up with what "permission" you're giving the person you're delegating to, e.g., how much freedom they have in the process. Invite their feedback to ensure you have shared clarity about what was delegated. Then, ensure they have the resources needed to successfully achieve what you've delegated, be that tech, budget, or resources. Finally, follow up by "inspecting what you expect" during the process. Don't be a delegation seagull who dive bombs in with a fuzzy ask and then flies away without seeing where the ask has landed.

Just like Brene Brown says "shame hates words," fear hates words too. Fear feeds off ambiguity. Clear and contextual communication will allow for fears around delegation to naturally melt away. Be clear about your desired outcomes, the results you want to see, and the steps you want your team to take. Be bold, yet empathetic around any boundaries you need to see. Boundaries are a way to love yourself and for your team to love each other. Check-in with your team until you feel confident and comfortable in the delegation.

Suggest check-in points where you can receive updates or progress reports. This way, you can course correct if the task is not being completed as requested. Check-in points build in additional opportunities for clear communication.

I’m a firm believer of asking questions & for help if needed! Nothing wrong with seeking help and offering to be a resource in other ways to get the job done.

One of the biggest mistakes I've seen managers and leaders make (including myself) is thinking that people "should know how to do it" if we're delegating to them. Change your mindset to empower those you're delegating—and yourself. If you know people have the capability and integrity to be successful, commit to supporting their success by coaching them, encouraging them to seek solutions, and providing support in line with the nature of what you've delegated to them. For example, if you're delegating a straightforward task, you may review Maria's checklist to ensure she's thought through everything. Whereas if you're delegating a high-stakes project to Raul, you may want to set up regular check-ins and provide mentorship along the way.

Accepting errors and imperfection is the hardest part of this process. I struggled with this for some time - but I found that focusing in a few areas helped me delegate and allow for learning through mistakes. - Encourage a Blame-Free Culture - Provide Constructive Feedback - Set Realistic Expectations - Celebrate Efforts and Improvements - Create a Safe Learning Environment - Implement Regular Reflection Sessions - Provide Resources and Support - Encourage Peer Learning By using some of these practices, I have found that its possible to create a more accepting and growth-oriented team culture, which will ultimately improve overall team performance.

Embracing imperfection is crucial for effective delegation. Recognize that errors are integral to the learning process, providing opportunities for growth and improvement. When mistakes happen, focus on the lessons learned rather than assigning blame. This approach promotes a growth mindset within your team, alleviating the pressure associated with handling significant responsibilities and enabling you to manage the natural variability in outcomes more comfortably. It cultivates a resilient and adaptive team dynamic.

I have a term called "get to 80" which truly means get the quality of the deliverable to 80% then get other eyes on the deliverable. This allows co-authorship which then leads to ownership across the team!

First, clarify the expected outcome and ensure the person you delegate shares that understanding. Then, be content with 80% of that goal for the first time. Also, prepare yourself that someone might get the desired outcome but do it in their own way, not yours.

Be open to imperfection. We all learn through mistakes and errors. Create an environment where a growth mindset is prioritized over perfection. You never know what error may lead to a new method, new idea, or more efficient approach.

Following the Getting Things Done Framework: Create your "Waiting Folder". If you create a place where you clearly outline everything you delegated to others and you set a calendar reminder to review that list recurrently (daily or weekly), you will remember and thus will conquer your fear of delegating because you know that you have a system to ensure nothing "falls through the cracks"

What if a leader viewed delegation as an investment in someone else? Shifting that feeling of loss of control over something can be tough; if the leader can reflect on a time when someone else invested in them and the impact it made on their professional life, it might encourage them to look for more opportunities to “let go”, or hand things off to the capable, intelligent, resourceful people all around them.

If it is a task you find delegating often, consider creating a SOP. Even if the task is unique, chances are there are some baseline guidelines that can be a reference. This way, you memorialize those parts of the task that are second nature to you but may be missed when delegating.

Let us go back to when we started...if my boss had not delegated, I would not have risen to he position that I am in right now. Trust and help the team member develop. condone mistakes but no repetitive mistakes!