Want Motivated Teams or Drained Puppets?

The power of empowering delegation.

As a manager, you're under constant pressure to deliver more with less – less time, less budget, fewer people. Yet micromanaging and excessive control will only drain your team's potential and breed frustration. Empowering delegation is key to unlocking the energy and effort of your team members, and building resilience. 

The Cost of Micromanagement

It's understandable to want visibility and control when so much depends on tight deadlines and budgets. However, micromanagement comes at a high cost to engagement, innovation and growth. 

In a 2017 Gallup study of over 7,500 knowledge workers, just 13% reported feeling enabled vs. 34% who felt stifled in their daily work. Yet engaged employees are 21% more productive and collaborate far better. 

As one director of a 500-person IT team shared, "We were drowning in issues that dragged on for weeks due to lack of ownership. Empowering my new managers to make autonomous decisions cut resolution time in half."

The Benefits of Accountable Autonomy

Leading with an open hand means transferring real responsibility and authority to your team. Really! Engage them in planning and set clear expectations, then step back so that they can step up to the challenges and tasks you've given them. 

A Cisco VP shared that delegating more complex strategic tasks to competent reports boosted both skill development and motivation. "They delivered innovative solutions I'd never considered because I wasn't hamstrung by my own assumptions," she said. 

Autonomy also builds resilience through experiences of accountable independence. A Zendesk manager found that rotating greater leadership between direct reports generated a wider diversity of insights and a sharper support model during a stressful growth period.

Establish the Right Foundation

To empower delegation effectively, establish a foundation based on strong alignment, competence and trust from the start with these 4 pillars.

Clarity - Jointly map priorities and success metrics upfront. Lead with transparency.  

Competence - Only delegate to those with the expertise, curiosity, and judgment to handle responsibilities independently. Use your 1:1s to probe and assess. Provide training where gaps exist.

Accountability - Agree how progress updates and challenges will be managed to ensure reasonable oversight without micromanaging. Agreeing to check ins and milestones upfront establishes clear expectations which allows both you and your direct report to grow.

Trust - Make clear your confidence so your team feels safe to experiment, learn through failures, and bring forward new ideas without fear of reprisal. 

With these four relationship pillars established, you will be prepared to unlock the potential of your people through empowering delegation.

The Lessons of Delegation

In reflecting on a delegation approach, leaders with similar responsibilities and ambitious to advance in their companies discovered the hard but rewarding path of team development through effective delegation:

⇒ "I had to surrender control and accept that not every decision would match my style. Seeing the motivation and insights it unlocked in others was well worth the learning curve." – Sr. Director, 1,200-person cloud computing company

⇒ "It was humbling when initial delegations missed the mark. But from discussions of ‘what went wrong?’ we refined our processes in ways that boosted performance far more than my directives ever could."  – Sr. Engineering Manager, series C startup

Step Up to Empowering Delegation

While old habits die hard, it starts with you making a decision and taking action.  Make a choice today to start transferring greater responsibility through empowering delegation. Resist pulling decisions back and instead allow your team to learn through experiences, both wins and losses. 

The growth of members of your team, department, or company is the deliberate result of empowering delegation. Engagement, innovation and stronger outcomes will follow as their potential is unlocked.

The rewards are well worth learning to loosen your grip and set clear expectations. It is not simple, but  which do you want – motivated talent expanding their potential or drained puppets relying on your every word? 

When you choose to delegate effectively, you are choosing to lead.

Discussion questions:

--> What's the biggest challenge you've had with effective delegation?

--> Have you found a better way to give more real responsibility and autonomy?

--> What's a tip on delegating effectively that you'd like others to know?

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