In my previous blog post, we talked about steps of delegation. I have also discussed extensively, both in my book and in this blog, the need for trust in organizations and human relationships. Having provided the steps for successful delegation last week, it is clear that a leader’s ability to delegate will ultimately be based on their ability to trust. Micromanagers do not trust; macromanagers do.
Below is a list of 10 levels of delegation based on trust. If you are a leader in an organization, try to identify what level of delegation you use most. Also, try to identify at what level your people would like to be. Finally, try to identify what creates that gap between you and those you lead.
Levels of Delegation Based on Trust
These examples of different progressive delegation levels offer, encourage, and enable increasing delegated freedom as trust is earned. Level 1 is the lowest level of delegated freedom (basically none). Level 10 is the highest level typically and rarely found in organizations.
1. "Wait to be told" or "Do exactly what I say" or "Follow these instructions precisely."Level 1 is instruction. There is no delegated freedom at all.
2. "Look into this and tell me the situation. I'll decide."Level 2 asks for investigation and analysis but no recommendation. The person delegating retains responsibility for assessing options prior to making the decision.
3. "Look into this and tell me the situation. We'll decide together."Level 3 encourages and enables the analysis and decision to be a shared process. This is helpful in coaching and development.
4. "Tell me the situation and what help you need from me in assessing and handling it. Then we'll decide."Level 4 opens the possibility of greater freedom for analysis and decision making. This is subject to both people agreeing this is appropriate and helpful in growing and defining coaching and development relationships.
5. "Give me your analysis of the situation (reasons, options, pros, and cons) and recommendation. I'll let you know whether you can go ahead."Level 5 asks for analysis and recommendation. As a manager, you will check the thinking before deciding.
6. "Decide and let me know your decision, and wait for my go-ahead before proceeding."At Level 6, the other person is trusted to assess the situation and options and is probably competent enough to do so. For reasons of task importance, or competence, or perhaps externally changing factors, the boss prefers to keep control of timing.
This level of delegation can be frustrating for people if used too often or for too long. Always explain the reason for keeping people waiting, particularly after they've inevitably invested time and effort.
7. "Decide and let me know your decision, then go ahead unless I say not to."Level 7 is the first time other person begins to control the action. Subtle increases in responsibility save time. The default is now positive rather than negative and this level can be a very liberating change in delegated freedom.
This level can also be used very effectively when seeking responsibility from above or elsewhere in an organization, especially one which is strangled by indecision and bureaucracy. For example: "Here is my analysis and recommendation; I will proceed unless you tell me otherwise by (date)."
8. "Decide and take action - let me know what you did (and what happened)."Level 8 saves more time and enables a degree of follow up by the manager (AKA closing the loop). It also allows assessment of the effectiveness of the delegated responsibility, which is necessary when people are being managed from a greater distance, or more "hands-off." Finally, it invites positive feedback by the manager, which is helpful in coaching and development.
9. "Decide and take action. You need not check back with me."Level 9 is the most freedom that you can give to another person when you still need to retain responsibility for the activity.
A high level of trust is necessary and you would normally assess the quality of the activity after the event according to overall results, potentially weeks or months later. At this level, feedback and review still remain helpful and important, although the relationship is more likely one of mentoring rather than coaching.
10. "Decide where action needs to be taken and manage the situation accordingly. It's your area of responsibility now."Level 10 is the most freedom that you can give to the other person and is not generally used without formal change of a person's job role.
This is the delegation of a strategic responsibility. Level 10 gives the other person responsibility for defining what changes projects, tasks, analysis, and decisions are necessary for the management of a particular area of responsibility, as well as the task or project or change itself and how the initiative or change is to be implemented and measured, etc.
This amounts to delegating part of your job responsibility, not just a task or project. For example, you'd use this utmost level of delegation when developing a successor, or as part of an intentional and agreed plan to devolve some of your job accountability in a formal sense.
Putting It All Together
I hope these levels of delegation inspired self-refection about how you delegate projects and tasks to your employees in your organization. Going forward, consider ways to apply higher levels of delegation to your organization and it's potential positive impact.Recalling from Part 1: One of the biggest obstacles to a self-sustaining, performance-based culture is often its manager. Don't be that obstacle -- be a manager who empowers his or her employees.
