Delegation _ The Keys of Communication
At some point, it's quite likely life will put you into a position where you will have to delegate something to someone and tell them how to do it. If you are like most people, you might feel like you're not up to the task initially. This blog starts with the keys to communication. It will also explore different delegation styles.
Let's begin.
The Keys of Communication
Who are we without communication? Here is the key: When we keep to ourselves, nobody knows what we have to offer the world. We need to be able to share our thoughts, our dreams, our ambitions, and most important of all: The things we've learned along the way. Communication is how we get these ideas across to somebody else. In this chapter, we're going to share some key communication tips. Let's look at a few of these skills in detail.
Emotional Skills
At first glance, you might think delegation has only to do with what you do and say. But truly, the ability to guide someone else in a new skill has to start with you and where you are emotionally at the time you are called to lead. This is why emotional skills are so important.
A Genuine Desire to Teach, Share or Lead
If you have no desire to lead in the first place, you cannot possibly succeed. Therefore, your state of mind must come first. You cannot fake or falsify this skill. You must genuinely feel it for yourself. That said, you can encourage a desire to teach, share or lead by reminding yourself of the importance of what you're doing. Find a reason you can believe in, and the rest will follow.
Emotional Distance
You would think an emotional distance could not possibly help when it comes to delegation. The truth is, there will come times when you need to say hard things. You will need to point out mistakes and flaws as part of giving honest feedback. You must be able to step back and not allow your emotions to get in the way of what must be done. If the person you're mentoring or leading becomes frustrated, you must guard yourself against experiencing their frustration for yourself. This is not the time to get drawn into their emotions either.
Empathy
Even though you might have set yourself back away from the other person emotionally, this does not mean you should lose empathy for what they are going through. Understanding and even feeling what the other person is going through will help you guide them through frustrations and difficulties. Empathy will also guide you to see when it's time for a break or when to try a different approach entirely.
Being Relatable / Open
If you think back to when you were being led by someone else, you might remember a feeling of intimidation - especially regarding certain leaders. This is why being relatable or open is so important. The person you are leading needs to feel comfortable enough to ask you questions and confident enough to listen to what you have to say.
Honesty
We mentioned honesty before, and it's important enough to talk about it again. Unless you are prepared to be honest with how your team is performing, you should not be leading at all. No one can learn if they are told every effort is “just fine the way it is.” You must be able to be truthful about questions, concerns, and especially with feedback.
Creativity
Sometimes, the standard procedures are not going to work. Having a creative mind is crucial to coming up with a new approach when the old ones fail. If you don't feel like creativity is one of your skills, there are many online activities to help you learn how to think more creatively. This is something you can learn very easily with a little bit of practice.
Being Coachable
Lastly, the leader does not always know everything. There will come moments your team will guide you. Accepting new knowledge is one of the most important parts of being a leader or mentor.
Verbal Skills
Once you have the emotional skills out of the way, it's time to work on your verbal skills. What you say and how you say it is crucial to be able to communicate well.
Framing
Framing has to do with how you pose a statement or question. It's putting your thoughts into a proper context and expressing them in a way that makes sense. When trying to lead someone else, you must coherently express your thoughts, which makes understanding easy. Sometimes we don't frame things well out loud. If this is the case for you, write out what you want to say and practice it, so when the time comes to delegate, it is all a matter of just following the script.
Questioning
Sometimes, the best delegation doesn't come in a lecture, but in the questions we ask. Questions encourage your team to find the answers for themselves. Being skilled at drawing out these answers is simply a matter of asking the right questions. Again, you might want to work on this before your session with the individual you're trying to lead. Have some questions in mind already before the start of the delegation.
Active Listening
Active listening involves asking open-ended questions and then sitting back to hear what the other person has to say. From this point forward, the only questions you should ask would be to clarify or help the other person explore their thoughts more deeply.
Feedback
Feedback can seem tricky at first. When you’re working to give guidance to someone else, they already might be unsure of themselves and in a place emotionally where they might become easily discouraged. This is why you should present the best feedback in the “sandwich” method. If you think of sandwiches as two slices of bread with something between them, then think of feedback as two positives presented with your deeper thoughts carefully placed between them. So, you might want to start with a compliment, move on to what your student needs to work on next, and end with something positive you saw that they were doing.
Storytelling
People have used storytelling for centuries as a means of communication. By using an example, you can better demonstrate the concept and your way of thinking. A good story pertains to the topic at hand and is presented in an interesting enough format the team can't help but see the point you were trying to make.
Humor
Never underestimate the power of humor. Use humor sparingly, though, for the impact to remain strong.
Physical Skills
Not every form of communication involves words. You can do several things to get your point across to another individual without saying a word at all.
Smiling
Did you know a smile is universal? Everyone knows what a smile means. Being able to smile when trying to teach someone reminds them you are there for them. The smile is the simplest method to convey this in a way they will easily understand.
Body Language
Body language includes everything from gestures to how you hold your body and even what you do with your hands. When delegating your body language needs to be open and non-threatening. You cannot convey superiority or anything adversarial if you want them to listen. If you are not sure what your body language is telling the world around you, ask a friend to give you some feedback. Use this feedback to practice using body language to your best advantage.
Delegation Styles
Direct Instruction
By far, most people are taught in school is through direct instruction. Direct instruction involves listening and following directions from the instructor. Think of a lecture class as an example of direct instruction.
If the person you are trying to teach favors direct instruction, here are some ideas you can use when it comes to working with them.
Demonstration Style
Of course, not everyone thrives under direct instruction. Sometimes it helps to see what the other person is talking about. In the demonstration style (also talked about in many circles as being the kinesthetic style of learning), you use a combination of lectures and examples.
The demonstration aspect tends to be more hands-on. This combination has proven so successful that more and more schools strive to find ways to put this into practice in recent years.
Discussion Style
If you've ever studied Socrates, then you already understand the discussion style. If not, here's the situation: Socrates was a Greek philosopher born around 470 BCE. He is known for having taught his students in a format that included back and forth discussion to encourage critical thinking.
Socrates liked asking a lot of questions and then sitting back and seeing how his students would answer. Students who learn best in this format thrive when they're given questions that make them think.
Delegation Style
This is delegation through empowerment. This style is especially effective. How do you lead through delegation?
Start with the Right Attitude
Nobody can succeed using this style unless they first have confidence in their ability to lead.
Discuss Expectations
How often does the individual need to check in with you? What kind of benchmarks are you looking for in a performance? By setting out guidelines right at the start, everyone understands what's expected of them. Keep in mind the usefulness of an open-door policy. When people work independently, they frequently have questions or concerns that they might want to bring up with their mentor or teacher. Discuss your availability and reassure them you are there to guide them when they need help.
Set Goals
Because your team will be working on their own, it is extremely important to include them when setting goals. Ask what they would like to accomplish out of the task while at the same time being mindful of what it is you need them to execute. Using this information, set goals together, which will satisfy both desired outcomes. This is especially important when mentoring.
Check-In
Don't always wait for the other person to come to you. Although the team will be guiding themselves when using this style, for the most part, it's always good to see how things are going. Having regular check-ins establishes progress is being made. It also will reveal areas of difficulty before the team goes too far off track.
Use Feedback Effectively
When using this style of leading, feedback becomes more important than ever. Not only do you need to offer feedback to the person you are trying to help, but you will need their feedback as well. Find out from your team how the experience was for them. Discuss areas of difficulty or frustration, but also focus on what went right. This will help you formulate new goals as you move forward.
Celebrate Victories
Before we leave the topic of delegation, one final point needs to be made. As with everything, people do best when they are rewarded. Regardless of your leadership style and your delegation style, it is always important to celebrate the victories. The person you are leading needs to know when they're doing the right thing. With this in mind, always take time for words of praise.
Conclusion
Be patient with yourself as you set out to become a leader or mentor. All your team needs from you is a genuine desire to lead and delegate. The rest will flow naturally the more you work with your team. As you set out on your delegation journey, always be prepared to learn something new.
How to delegate is part of my 90-day program MOVE UP! the first 90 days for leaders (first-time leaders and when changing roles). This program is as well beneficial when you want to prepare yourself for your next leadership transition. Feel free to join the waitlist to learn more about the program. Join my newsletter here for weekly career inspiration or buy me a coffee if you like my work.
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