Assessing your delegation skills is the first step in becoming an effective delegator.

This section will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses and determine areas for improvement.

Understanding your strengths and weaknesses

To assess your delegation skills, you need to have a clear understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Some of the questions you can ask yourself include:

• What tasks do I enjoy doing the most? These are likely your strengths and the tasks you should keep for yourself.
• What tasks do I struggle with or procrastinate on? These are likely your weaknesses and the tasks you should consider delegating.
• Do I have any biases or assumptions that are preventing me from delegating effectively? For example, you may assume that only you can do a task correctly or that it’s faster to do it yourself.

By understanding your strengths and weaknesses, you can identify the tasks that you should delegate and those that you should keep for yourself.

Identifying areas for improvement

Once you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses, it’s time to identify areas for improvement. Some common areas for improvement include:

• Delegation decision-making: You may struggle with determining which tasks to delegate and to whom.
• Effective communication: You may have difficulty communicating tasks clearly and ensuring that team members understand their responsibilities.
• Overcoming control issues: You may have a hard time letting go of control and trusting others to complete tasks.

By identifying areas for improvement, you can focus on developing the skills you need to become a successful delegator.

Self-reflection and feedback

Self-reflection is a key component of assessing your delegation skills. Take time to reflect on your experiences with delegation and consider the following questions:

• What tasks have I delegated in the past? Consider the successes and challenges you’ve experienced.
• How did I communicate tasks to team members? Did you provide clear instructions and expectations?
• How did I monitor progress and provide feedback? Did you stay involved in the process and provide support as needed?

In addition to self-reflection, it’s important to seek feedback from others. Ask team members for their input on your delegation skills, and be open to constructive criticism.

Examples

Let’s take a look at an example to see how assessing delegation skills can improve a team’s productivity.

Case Study:

John is a new manager who has just taken over a team of six employees. John is a natural leader, but he struggles with delegation. He feels that he needs to do everything himself to ensure that it gets done correctly. As a result, he is working long hours and is constantly stressed.

To assess his delegation skills, John starts by identifying his strengths and weaknesses. He realizes that he enjoys tasks that involve strategy and planning, but he struggles with administrative tasks. He also realizes that he has a hard time letting go of control and trusting others.

John decides to focus on improving his delegation decision-making and effective communication skills. He begins by identifying tasks that he can delegate, such as data entry and scheduling. He chooses team members who have the necessary skills and experience to complete the tasks.

To improve his communication skills, John provides clear instructions and sets expectations for the team members. He also establishes a feedback loop and provides support as needed. As a result, the team’s productivity increases, and John is able to focus on more strategic tasks.

Download Free Worksheet on Assessing your Delegation Skills