What’s the key to empowering your team to get their work done? That’s simple – it’s delegating work.But it’s about more than just getting work done and sharing the load. It’s also about creating an environment where employees are proud of work and take ownership – which are critical to learning how to effectively delegate work.Unfortunately, some leaders struggle with delegating work. What holds them back from delegating? And what can companies do to teach their leaders how to delegate work?It comes down to truly understanding what constitutes delegating. In short, delegating is allocating the right work to the right people. How to delegate work is both about sharing a task and decision-making responsibilities to increase others’ commitment, accelerate results, and build capability. The delegating leadership style, which is one of the four leadership styles covered in the situational leadership model, is all about managers sharing authority and responsibility with their employees. Seems easy enough, right? But what holds leaders back from delegating?It might seem like this question has an obvious answer: Leaders can’t possibly do all the work themselves. That’s why they have a team to complete it.Many leaders are reluctant to delegate, especially if they’re new to their role. What holds leaders back from delegating can be a whole host of things. Sometimes they are leading a team of former peers and they feel uncomfortable telling their friends what to do.In other cases, they may simply be used to being the team workhorse. Many leaders are promoted to their roles because they are high performers. They are willing to take on any job and always help out a team member. As a result, they feel like they are shirking their responsibility by passing the work to someone else.They may also simply not trust their team. High-performing leaders can sometimes be perfectionists who struggle to let go of operational-level tasks so they can focus on the big-picture vision instead. Surprisingly, this is a common stumbling block at every level from first-time managers up to the C-suite.This reluctance to delegate carries a steep cost. As leaders take on more work, they get overwhelmed and stressed. They may even burn out completely and quit.At the same time, their team is likely also frustrated. They don’t feel like they’re contributing enough, nor do they have the authority to do their work as they see fit. They’ll likely end up disengaged or start polishing up their resumes for another role.

How Leaders Can Empower Others with Delegation

Leaders who know how to delegate work see beyond just getting a task done. They are empowering others to grow, learn, and do their very best work. And there are some major positive outcomes:· Team members are more creative and are 3.9 times more likely to produce innovative/creative outcomes.· Team members take more initiative and are 4.2 times more likely to go above their job description.· Team members perform better and are 2.2 times more likely to be considered high performers.· The team has higher standards and is 1.9 times more likely to have high performance standards.

Employees often feel more satisfied in their role when they have more authority, which means they’ll be less likely to leave. Most employees thrive in an environment where they have more freedom to grow. This type of environment can propel them to grow in their careers faster, which can also be highly satisfying.Of course, there’s a risk that leaders can potentially delegate too much. How can you tell that you’re delegating too much? You might see an exhausted and confused team that may push back on assigned work. You’ll also notice that people are missing deadlines to complete work. Or they may have so many questions about their projects that they just stall out and lack all motivation to finish. If leaders start to see any of these signs appearing, they should talk to their team about their concerns and consider re-allocating projects or securing more resources.For more, including when leaders should delegate, what to consider before delegating work and what leaders do wrong when delegating, visit DDI’s blog.