What do you do if your team members struggle to delegate tasks for improved productivity?

Assessing skills is crucial for effective delegation. In my insurance team, I conducted individual assessments to understand each member's strengths and weaknesses. This allowed us to create targeted development plans, making delegation more comfortable and efficient. Understanding your team is the first step to improved productivity.

In my experience, part of assessing skills needs to be not only to find strengths and weaknesses, but to understand what makes the person “tick”, what are they passionate about. I know from a personal experience that it’s much harder to delegate tasks you are passionate about as you want to ensure they will be completed in the best possible way.

If you are the one that decides whom the tasks should be delegated to, I find that it helps to share why do you think the other person is fit to handle the task delegated to them. I personally much prefer having the employee tell me what tasks they are willing to delegate and to whom, having them explain to me why and go from there. It is very important to set very clear SMART goals. It needs to be clear how much time needs to be freed up, ideally also what tasks need to be deleted, by when and if it’s something permanent or not. In my experience it’s not a good approach to introduce ad hoc task delegations too often as it becomes confusing for the team members. Make sure there’s a clear plan.

Tactical approach: Sit down and talk through it with the Manager/ Supervisor. Why the reluctance to delegate? Understand first, then task them with delegating 3 items that you both agree upon that week. Repeat in Week 2. Week 3 & 4, have them report out with how many items they have delegated and their success in getting those items over the line. Reasons people don't delegate: A. Trust issues/ they feel the job will not done "right" B. That if they hand it off the company doesn't need them anymore or C. It takes too long /they can do it quicker. Reassure their position in the company is stable as long as they perform and that delegation is part of successful performance in that role. By delegating they can focus on higher value activities.

I find that managers struggle with two things when it comes to delegating: Letting Go Setting Priorities Managers - especially new managers - often feel they need to do everything themselves. I talk to them about the limited hours in a day. Delegating allows them to free up time for higher-level tasks. Some things like a special project from your CEO cannot be delegated. I encourage managers to start the habit by delegating tasks that are small and that they can effectively teach to someone else. Once they get comfortable with small tasks, they can move to more complex topics. Effective delegation allows managers to focus on high-impact tasks. It also is part of the coaching that helps team members learn.

In my experience people who are not ready to delegate or don’t know how/which tasks often simply throw more hours on the project. This results in them having less time either for other work that they consider less important, or in spending more time working, accumulated overtime. It is important that all employees understand that they need to work within their working time and that they learn not to sacrifice their work-life balance. Working longer hours might feel easy and natural for some people, but on the long run leads to burnout. Always make sure to complete the work within the working hours and communicate if you are often not able to do so. Apply the knowledge you gained from training and coaching.

Look to the leader examples set. Is delegating celebrated - ever? Are those who did the work celebrated? Delegation is as much culture as it is a process or management skill. The leaders set the tone. To be fair, there is a time when the pressure is on and delegation may be less, but again, leaders see the tone and example.

rust is the foundation of delegation. We fostered a culture of trust in my team through team-building exercises and shared projects. This not only built confidence in each other's abilities but also ensured everyone felt supported. Trusting your colleagues makes delegation seamless and effective.

Flexibility in delegation can drive success. In a challenging period, we rotated tasks among team members to ensure everyone was comfortable with various responsibilities. This not only improved skills but also increased mutual understanding and support. Being flexible in delegation strategies can enhance team resilience.