The First Skill of a Performance Coach – Delegate Well!

By Michael J Griffin

Delegating well is crucial for any coach. When we delegate well, the task, job or project is more likely to be accomplished properly and on time. When we delegate well, it sets the stage for giving respectful performance feedback – recognition or constructive feedback.

I learned this skill the hard way as I had a tendency to over delegate and under instruct!  On the other end of the spectrum, there are leaders who under delegate and micro-manage? Which style are you? Or do you delegate well using a process that leads to success? Let’s look at the delegation process and the skill steps that support it.

The Skill of Effective Delegation

Set the stage.

• Introduce the assignment (what and why).

You state what is the assignment, the reason it needs to be done.

• Explain why you’ve selected the employee.

This step reveals your intent for choosing the employee or team to do this assignment.

Describe the assignment and goals.

• Explain what’s expected and set goals.

Outline the work or assignment using SMART goal setting or my method of stating the work, project, goal in terms of these specs:

Quantity, Quality, Timeline, Resources, and Process. 

• State how you’ll support the assignment.

Be clear how you will be available to help or give guidelines as the employee works on the assignment or project. This step checks your urge to over delegate or micromanage.

• Specify how you plan to monitor the assignment.

Set up milestones to meet or check in with the employee or team on the progress of the work.

Ask for a summary.

• Ask the employee or team members to restate the assignment.

This can minimize any miscommunication or perceptions of the assignment you delegated. I usually ask for an email summary of our meeting as well. At this skill step the employee may voice concerns over completing the assignment. If so, do the next optional skill step.

Discuss any employee concerns.

• Confirm the concern.

Ask questions to clarify the concern, then confirm what you have heard.

• Identify acceptable solutions.

Collaborate with the employee or team to identify solutions or adjustments to the assignment. You may ask for solutions or suggest solutions or assignment adjustments. Here it may be good to ask to restate the assignment again.

To support your Delegating Skill practice, I have a PDF “Communicating Work Assignments” applications sheet that you can use to plan out, practice and implement your delegation skill. Download it here.

Set you and your team member up for success – delegate effectively!

Michael J Griffin
ELAvate Founder
6E Master Coach
John Maxwell Team Founder and Coach