Making the Assignment

For your delegation to be successful, you must thoroughly describe the job and your expectations to the person who will be taking on the work. Take this employee’s point of view as you communicate the scope and authority of the assignment to make sure you’re transferring all the necessary information. Equally important to the success of your delegated work is how well you communicate the scope and authority of the assignment to the other members of your team.

Discuss the work with your staff member

Spend some time going over the details of the job, ideally in a face-to-face meeting. To gain trust and avoid misunderstandings, discuss all aspects of the assignment. Clarify your specific expectations, and get the employee’s commitment to the project.

In this important meeting, you’ll:

• Describe the task, project, or function. Clearly state the purpose of the work. Explain how it fits into the big picture for your team, your unit, and your organization. This may be obvious to you, from your place in the hierarchy, but it may not be obvious to your employee.

• Introduce background material. Review any reading, spreadsheets, data, or other materials or content that the employee will need to complete the work.

• Identify the resources and support available. Determine what support the employee will require from you. If special training or coaching is needed, discuss how it will take place. Explore the need for additional materials and/or staff to meet the goals of the assignment.

• Establish a feasible timeline with agreed-upon deadlines. Get your employee’s buy-in to make sure the timeline is achievable. Consult the schedules and availability of other key players and factor in your employee’s existing responsibilities.

• Explain the level of authority you’re granting. Use examples to establish clear guidelines for when the employee can act independently and when consultation with you is required.

• Agree upon standards of performance, measures of success, and levels of accountability. Set firm metrics for quality, time, cost, and other variables. Underscore the employee’s accountability in meeting these standards.

• Determine a process for follow-up and feedback. Establish a protocol for regular progress reports, including their frequency (weekly or monthly) and method (e-mail, staff meeting, or one-on-one with you). Set up parameters for your ongoing feedback.

• Discuss your possible involvement. Specify how and when you will become involved if the expected goals of the task, project, or function are at risk or if other major problems arise.

Outlining the details of the work to be done and how and when you’ll communicate about the assignment will set your delegation up for success. Talking with your staff member ahead of time about how you’ll monitor the project and deliver any feedback will make your role seem less intrusive once the work is under way.

Follow up your meeting with a memo outlining the key points of the discussion. Better yet, ask your employee to prepare a summary memo. This will give you an idea of how well your employee understands the assignment.

Communicate with your team

Take the lead in communicating to your team the scope of the delegated assignment, plus any other relevant information. Your clear and transparent message will deflect resentment and competitiveness on the part of other staff members. Your forthright attitude and openness to discussion will help build their trust in you.

Consider this example: To support your projections for long-term office space requirements, you’ve assigned Michael, a friendly and outgoing junior employee on your team, the task of collecting information on the work preferences of each person in your group. If you fail to communicate Michael’s role in this project before Michael begins asking everyone personal questions—such as whether they like to work on-site or off-site, whether they work more productively with scheduled hours or with flextime, and if they feel the need for scheduled staff meetings—you could inadvertently cause unfounded rumors and disruption within your team.

With the assignment made and communicated to the team, it’s time to monitor the work. You’ll need to give support and feedback without micromanaging—a fine line you’ll learn to walk in the next chapter.