It was the end of the first week at my first job after college. I was winding down from a busy day when my supervisor knocked on my office door. I invited him in and he asked how my first week was as he sat down on a chair. He inquired about what I was enjoying most so far, if there was anything I needed, and what my next week looked like. It was a very casual conversation that lasted about fifteen minutes, and he showed a genuine interest in making sure I had what I needed and offering support. I did not think any more about it until the next Friday afternoon when it happened again. Only this time I was more tuned in to my surroundings and heard him going from office to office, sitting down with each person, and having a similar conversation before he got to mine. He did this every Friday afternoon for as long as I worked there.

One anticipated benefit of delegation is that when you assign a task or decision to someone and entrust them with its responsibility, you no longer have to be involved. However, as mentioned in the previous blog, Delegating with Details, check-in meetings can provide support to those you have delegated to, and helps ensure tasks go as planned. Another key—yet often overlooked—component of effective delegation is the debrief.

In my previous blog, Delegation: The Power of Letting Go, you read two stories about Director Brittany, who delegated the Harvest Day Festival to lead teachers Sabrina and Iliana. One strategy that may have helped Brittany and the lead teachers in this transfer of power might have been some written details to guide the festival’s planning process. Providing instructions on paper gives people a document they can revisit when questions arise, reducing the need to ask the director for answers they have already received.

The previous blog, Delegating with Purpose: Linking Tasks and Goals, focused on the importance of delegating in a way that supports staff in achieving their goals. This blog addresses the same concept as well as risks that sometimes accompany delegation.

If delegation were easy, we would all be doing it. Unfortunately, for some, delegation is a risky business.

Delegation is an essential function of leadership, and yet I find that many leaders perceive it in a negative light. This seems reasonable to me because, at one point, I too perceived it negatively. Perhaps this was because I had experiences where supervisors had given me tasks that seemed mundane and irrelevant to my work. Delegating appeared to be a way for them to lessen their load by taking tasks off their plate and putting them on mine. It seemed to benefit them, not me. And so, when I became a supervisor, I avoided delegation to prevent my colleagues from feeling the same way. My tactic of avoiding delegation was wrong.