We are often advised that delegation helps us create more leaders in the group and we can conveniently free up some of our time to create things strategically. But as things start rolling, we start becoming overwhelmed and frustrated at things that start falling apart. Then the same advice that was supposed to help us begins to harm us.

One of the most common ways to handle this situation is to do what other managers do, blame teammates. Carrying on in the same cycle keeps you in the same bucket. Very often, the problem is obligatory to managers’ understanding of delegation. There are majorly two types of delegation that I usually come across; first is delegating the task to your team mates and then completely forgetting about it as you start trusting your team mates. This is abdication. Secondly, you delegate and constantly keep a check on what tasks are being done. This is micromanagement.

You abdicate because you don’t want to come across as a micro manager. You have heard quotes that great managers always trust their teams one hundred percent and you don’t want to release an impression of doubt on your teammates’ capabilities.

You micromanage due to so many reasons. You genuinely can’t trust your teammates or you have an image of the perfect execution of the tasks in your head and you want that to come right; or perhaps you are a perfectionist.

Both these options render delegation ineffective and produce negative outcomes. The most effective way to delegate is to share the what, skip the how, and then at a periodic and pre committed basis, assess progress.

Simple and effective techniques, if executed well, can help elevate your teammates, your group, and your organization as a whole. Ecube Training & Consulting defines success strategies and helps in laying stronger foundations for corporates across the globe.