10 Steps to Delegating Like a Pro

It’s not uncommon for every moment of a 24-hour day to be spoken for. This is why time management is so important.

While time management is a simple enough term, forming healthy time management habits can be tricky. That’s why our featured guest on CLIMB last month, Emily Cannata, shared her secrets for creating the best, healthiest time management habits. If you haven’t tuned into the talk yet, now’s the time to check it out.

If you were looking to feel a little less harried at the end of every day, you might find that one essential step to managing your time better is delegation. A step that’s a whole subject all by itself, and one that can be difficult because it often means giving up control.

So, we asked our favorite pharmacy consultant back for round two with a deep dive into the critical leadership skill of delegation. You can watch the session here or keep reading for some of the highlights from Emily’s talk.

First, let’s talk about what delegation is and isn’t. Is delegation a style of management? A reward for high achieving employees? An artform? In truth, it’s all of those things and more. Delegation is the assignment of authority to another person to carry out specific activities. It's the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person, and therefore one of the core concepts of management leadership.

When you delegate to an employee, that person can then act and initiate independently. They assume responsibility for the assigned task or project. Effective delegation takes time, training and patience. And, in the end, you can’t forget that the buck stops with you.

Delegating is good for so many reasons. You can get more done and reduce your overwhelm. You can lean into your strengths and be a better leader for your team. And you give your team opportunities to shine.

Now that we’ve discussed the what and the why, let’s take a look at the how.

10 Steps to Delegation Success

1. Prepare

Make a list of all the things you do and choose what to delegate. Remember that you want to practice at the very top of your license and do the things you are the best at. Choose 1 thing at a time to delegate and choose who to delegate to based on their strengths.

2. Vision

Help the employee taking charge to understand what you’re trying to accomplish.

3. Resources

Collect everything the employee will need to be successful. This might be a login to a site, access to new info in your point-of-sale system, knowledge and training, etc.

4. Overview Tasks

Lay out all the tasks/activities that need to be completed. Have the employee recap their plans to you to verify understanding.

5. Timeline

Set expectations for when a project needs to be completed.

6. Authority

Define the level of authority the employee gets to use. Share with everyone on the team, too.

7. Set Up Checkpoints

Schedule time to touch base for verification of delivering expectations and course correction if necessary, as well as time for questions from the employee.

8. Definition of Done

Make sure you define and share what "done" looks like. Is it a project that has a completion, or is it ongoing?

9. Debrief

If the activity is project-based, check in at completion to recap, provide feedback, etc. If it's an ongoing task, make sure you set regular checkpoints.

10. Celebrate

Acknowledge and celebrate success. A simple thank you note goes a long way.  

Resources

Ready to start delegating? Here are some resources to get you started.

• Time Analysis Log: Use this document to track what you're doing each day for a couple of weeks. It will help you determine what to delegate. Click here to download!
  
  
• Delegation Quiz: This quiz will help you assess your delegation skills and identify areas for improvement. Take the quiz here!