Jahnvi was responsible for projects, coordinating resources, and liaising with her team. She had a huge responsibility of creating a healthy and productive workplace that attracts, retains, engages, develops, and supports top talent. She wanted to maintain a holistic approach as a first-time manager and her attempt to do that was leaving her sapped. Seeing her running on fumes, her superior suggested upskilling herself.
On her journey to unwrap the layers of being a first-time manager, Jahnvi came a long way. She started her journey with understanding the requisites of becoming a first-time manager, her values, locus of control, setting goals and achieving them, her learnings from The Strangest Secret, how to handle the missed goals, an overview of feedback, the gateway to discovering the blind spot, frameworks of feedback, the concepts of feedforward, the overview of the interpersonal skills, the techniques to enhance interpersonal skills, better team management using people reading guide, techniques to effectively manage a team, an overview of time management, the time management matrix, and the techniques to manage time effectively, and she exhaustively explores the art of delegation at present.
The snag in her way was that she was clueless about utilizing the capabilities of her team to the fullest and empowering them.
“A simple mindset shift can change your life as a leader.”
Instead of struggling to complete the work on her own, she had to change her mindset toward delegating tasks. She has a team to extend her load to and she can empower them to take that load.
In the previous article, she went through the art of delegation abstractly. Now she intends to learn ways to delegate tasks to different people in her team.
Consider Capabilities While Delegating
Individual capabilities are the intangible, strategic assets of employees that a leader draws from to get the work done. These capabilities include information, expertise, process, skills, activities, knowledge, or unique adaptive features of the team members. The strength and alignment of such capabilities define and differentiate an organization as it is an indispensable part of the development process. A leader can delegate based on the capabilities of their team like this –
Aces – The Experienced Employees
They have a long list of accomplishments, have navigated turbulent waters at times, have learned to work through bureaucratic processes, bring team building and management expertise, and have weathered the peaks and valleys of dynamic business environments.
When it comes to delegating tasks to them, they should be left alone unless help is required.
The Kings and Queens – Fairly Experienced Employees
They are entering the workforce to gain skills and experience as well as embark on a self-discovery journey. They are the employees who can be shaped and taught as they are zealous and eager to thrive.
When it comes to delegating tasks to them, they require support from time to time.
The Jacks – Raw Talent
They are talented and productive employees who will offer great value to the organization. They are keen to learn and develop and they have a vigor to accept new ideas and incorporate them into their repertoire much more readily.
When it comes to delegating tasks to them, they need to learn how to perform the tasks initially. They need direction and support through and through as they are inexperienced and lack the ability to make decisions on their own.
The Jokers – Expert Advice or Consulting from Outside the Organization
When you want your team to excel in the work they do, you will seek outside expert consulting every now and then. As technology continues to evolve with time, there are ample ways to help your team sharpen their skills with the help of someone maybe outside your team or organization.
Jokers are the training and consulting organizations or a learning and development team in your own organization who can help your team to find the right direction in their journey. They help you accelerate your problem-solving skills, and get better results. They have more industry experience and provide an objective perspective. They guide your team through agile approaches, facilitating creative and new ways of doing things.
Jahnvi was placing her team according to the category by considering their capabilities to perform a task. This categorization helped her to put the right person in the right role. Now, she is onto matching the tasks to her team members.
How To Match Tasks To People?
A team is successful when it relies on the skills of each team member. Putting the right person in the right task can be a game changer. It is crucial to identify team members’ strengths and weaknesses and match tasks based on their skill sets.
Jacks should do the low-risk tasks
As described in the previous article, the low-risk tasks must be assigned to Jacks in the team. They should be entrusted with the tasks that they can handle without assistance. When you delegate a task to them, you need to be specific in terms of structure, what is to be done when, and how often they have to do a periodic review. You can delegate such tasks and free up your time in performing more strategic tasks.
Kings and Queens should do the tasks that already have a set process
Kings and queens are professionally matured people who can be entrusted with the tasks you are proficient at. You can always come to their rescue if something goes wrong. They can be handed over with tasks that require a certain amount of thinking while you create the structure for them, also giving them the freedom to put their thoughts in the process. You do not control them, instead you empower them with your support.
Aces can take up the tasks as well as you or better than you
Aces are the experts in the team who do not require much monitoring from your end. They can be entrusted with the tasks that only you can perform. The aces in your team can do the task better than you and they deem fit to learn the process and have the capability to become a better version of themselves.
Jokers help you excel in your current role and make you future-ready
They work hands-on with you to create a strategic plan and then deep dive into the process. They bring team-building and role-playing activities to handle challenging scenarios at work to the table. They come along with a fresh perspective and provide valuable insight into inefficiencies within the team to enhance productivity and profitability.
Once you match tasks to your team members, you have to follow up and provide guidance frequently. Delegating does not mean abandoning your people, you have to be there for the queries and help resolve resistance from others. You don’t have to hover over their shoulder, however, provide periodic reviews to reinforce the tasks completed to date. You have to help them learn from their mistakes and confront the problems and resolve them.
Jahnvi is getting a clearer picture of her role as a leader with every new topic. The delegation has made her understand to see her team through the lens of their roles in a team. She is positive about assigning different tasks to her team considering their capabilities. In the next article, she will track down various steps in delegation and how to delegate effectively.
What Are The Skills Required To Delegate?
Delegation skills explain your capacity to delegate responsibilities to team members for which you are accountable. They often entail delegating task responsibility to individuals you lead and directing them through the execution process. Delegation can take various forms depending on the task at hand and the team members engaged, including:
- Delegating research for decision-making entails assigning team member-only research activities. As a manager, you can use research findings from reports to make decisions or fulfill tasks.
- Delegating with approval rights entails delegating tasks to team members while keeping the ability to approve them. This type of delegation ensures that you keep control over the outcomes of the work.
- Delegating through instructions entails instructing a team member on how to execute a task. While the individual may be in charge of the task, you, as their supervisor or manager, make the final decisions.
- Delegating full responsibility entails totally passing accountability and decision-making for a task to a team member. It might demonstrate entire faith in a person’s capacity to do a task correctly.
- Delegating with reporting the outcomes entails giving responsibilities to team members and demanding that they report their findings upon completion. While preserving communication, this type of delegation empowers team members and exhibits trust.
- Delegating with intervention rights entails allowing team members to perform work while retaining the ability to amend or reverse outcomes. It can help to clarify why you may need to intervene while using this type of delegation.
Jahnvi came across this powerful tool to help achieve her goals, empower her team, and optimize their time and resources. In her understanding, with delegation, she can focus on her core responsibilities and priorities while developing the confidence, autonomy, and skills of her team. She can foster a culture of trust, feedback, collaboration, and enhance the efficiency, diversity, and quality of their outputs.
https://prosperix.com/blog/fundamental-benefits-of-hiring-experienced-employees
https://www.vettanna.com/post/2019/04/03/changing-you-mindset-on-delegation-can-change-your-life
https://resources.workable.com/hr-terms/people-team-definition
https://www.aihr.com/blog/organizational-capabilities/
https://atlassianblog.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/download.png
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-outside-trainers-employees-21939.html
https://www.consultingsuccess.com/advantages-of-using-external-consultants
Written By: Jimmy Jain
Edited By: Afreen Fatima
Society of Design Thinking Professionals
