Day 10 of F.O.O.D. – Using WILD RICE to focus on your delegation skills
It’s day 10 of my FOOD (Fixing the Out of Office Dilemma) Advent Calendar and I’m using WILDRICE to help you delegate better. It’s so easy to think I’ll do it myself as it will be quicker, better etc. But then we can’t do everything without eventually feeling stressed out! Here are some great ingredients to help you.
First of all the What? What is it you want to achieve from delegating this activity and why? Have clarity on the jobs you must do and those that others can learn and be involved
Consider the individual, their strengths and what they will bring to the task
Remember it’s about delegating the authority whilst retaining responsibility, so think about what you need to have in place to be able to let go and allow the person to get on with it!
Delegating something to someone else because of your poor time management only sets someone else up to fail. Make sure you both set an achievable deadline for the task to be completed with regular updates along the way
For the person to do the job well, what resources do they need? This could be time, support, training etc – I often find it best to ask the person what they think some of the challenges so that we can plan the support
You will get the best results through giving clear instruction. I don’t necessarily think it’s about the ‘how’, but links back to the ‘what’ you want to see achieved and to what standard. I often ask the question, ‘how do you think you’ll approach this?’ to find out whether I’ve missed any vital information
Check-in and coach. At our meeting I ask the person to set the check-in dates so that we can review progress. It helps with the letting go element as the person feels more in control of the process. However if their dates are too close to the deadline I’ll suggest we meet sooner!
Finally when the activity has been completed always get together to review. Understanding the education of what’s gone well and what could be improved makes it a conscious thought process for the next time