When we empower people to think and take action and we expect them to put that empowerment to good use, what sort of action are we trying to delegate?

Are we empowering a person to take action to perform:

• tasks?
• roles?
• responsibilities?
• decision-making?
• acts of power?

Here's the simplest way to look at delegation...

We delegate Processes performed by People and those Processes are strings of Tasks, some routine tasks and some not-Routine tasks.

So...

When we delegate, our intent is to delegate the performance of Tasks.

Those Tasks may be performed by the person we delegate them to or they may be done by others who are under the authority of that person. Regardless of who will perform the Tasks, when we delegate it is our intent that the person we delegate them to accepts responsibility for the performance of the Tasks. It is also our intent that the person we delegate them to becomes accountable for the performance of the Tasks.

Responsibility for Tasks: that means the person understands the Task is part of his or her role.

Accountability for Tasks: that means the person not only understands the Task is part of his or her role but also accepts the responsibility as an obligation to perform the Tasks.

One dictionary definition of Delegation is: 'empowering another to act'.

Another dictionary defines Delegation as: 'appointing someone else to act on your behalf'.

Delegation isn't just about taking action. I hope the dictionary writers really mean empowering another to think and act...and do the two in that order: 

• If they don't mean thinking and acting - no wonder so many people have so much trouble with delegation. 
• If they do mean thinking and acting then they ought to say it clearly so dictionary readers have a better opportunity to understand delegation.

Let's set the dictionaries aside - when you boil it down what do you think delegation is about?

Do you think the words 'empowering people' covers the whole story?

Do you think 'empowering people' captures the concept of delegation?

Certainly, that seems to be a common way of looking at delegation.

Maybe that's why so many people have so much trouble with delegation.

What do I mean by 'trouble with delegation'?

Here's what I mean. The trouble with delegation: in the history of business, never have so many owed so much to so few...under so much confusion. 

Yes, 'empowering' is a component of delegation, but, delegation has another major component: 'expecting'.

Expectation is embedded in delegation. In business, when we empower a person to [think and] take action we blend that empowering with things like paycheques and role descriptions. When we do that blending the delegation automatically takes on a flavour of expectation. Those who delegate expect results...most of them expect only positive results. Delegators expect the work they delegate to get done...and, the majority of them want the work to be performed well.

Expectation: that's the thing dictionaries are missing when they define the word 'Delegation'.

Let's not make that same mistake.

1. You believe “This task needs to be done perfectly and no one can do it as well as I can.” [perfectionism]
2. You lack confidence in the employee's ability to do the task. [specific lack of trust in an individual's talents and skills]
3. You lack the desire to take risks. [fear of failure]
4. You are reluctant to delegate tasks you enjoy. [hoarding the good stuff, selfishness]
5. You think "If the current process ain't broken then there's no need to fix it." [fear of change]
6. You think, "Maybe they will not like me if I ask them to do this task?" [fear of criticism]
7. You are afraid the employee will do it better than you can do it. [scarcity mentality, low self-confidence]
8. You are concerned about sharing company systems or methods. [pervasive lack of trust, paranoia]
9. When it comes to delegation, you have a lousy track record...many times burned, now shy. [still there, but resigned]
10. Delegation - you know you've heard that word before...but, who wants to waste precious work-time exploring those sorts of things? [asleep at the wheel]