A good manager is a manager who knows how to delegate. Indeed, it is very important for the manager to be able to delegate and empower his or her employees. He or she will thus be able to concentrate on tasks with high added value, and his teams will be all the more motivated and valued. But delegating and empowering, how does it work? In this article, we explain the key steps to make your teams autonomous.
Delegate and empower: define a delegation contract
Even if it is not always written in a formal way, a delegation remains a contract between two people. It includes a request and expectations of results.
When you decide to delegate a project or a mission, it is extremely important (we insist on this) to clearly establish the terms of the delegation. Who should do what? How do we assess? Who controls?
For this purpose, we can then conduct a delegation interview during which we will write a contract. This is the best way to avoid any misunderstanding. This is also the perfect time to answer any questions that may remain, and talk about the tools and resources that will be useful to the delegate. Of course, this is about giving him all the means to fulfill his responsibilities and succeed.
In order to empower the delegate, it may be necessary to insist on the reasons why this task is important: its repercussions for the company, the impact for the customers and/or society… It is also important to integrate the delegate in the construction of objectives and to make them measurable.
Trust and provide balanced supervision
If you choose to delegate, you agree to let go of full control over the project. This is about developing a relationship of trust and autonomy. But that does not prevent establishing a sufficient framework for this management to be long-term.
You will need to agree to remain open-minded in order to welcome innovative ideas and different ways of working. Your role is to remain attentive, to provide the resources necessary for the success of the project, and to direct and/or readjust if necessary.
Planning deadlines and making regular updates can also allow you to be present for your collaborator. You can then discuss together during the project and make sure that everything is going in the right direction.
Delegation Review
Since you determined measurable objectives at the beginning of the delegation, it is time, at the end of the project, to analyze the results. Following the conduct of a project, it is always beneficial to discuss together what went well and the aspects to be improved.
The delegation review interview reinforces the accountability of employees. We then highlight the ways of working and the behaviors that have enabled the success of the project, while addressing the points of friction as well as the ways to improve them. This ensures continuous improvement of everyone’s work techniques and skills.
