The document discusses how managers can effectively delegate work to employees. It outlines that managers should (1) delegate responsibility for results and authority to make decisions, (2) define what success looks like using metrics, and (3) develop a reporting process so managers know if results are being achieved. Effective delegation requires managers to clearly communicate expectations through tools like job descriptions and to provide frequent feedback to employees. When done correctly, delegation allows managers to get work done through others and advance by taking on new challenges.

1. Job Design and Delegation
January 2016
material minds

2. What is expected of them How they’re doing How they can improve
In order to execute strategy effectively, you need to connect that strategy with the daily action of
all employees. In order to connect strategy to action employees need to know three key things:
The rest of this document outlines how you can enable employees to know what is expected of
them, the first key to connecting strategy with action.
Connecting Strategy With Action

3. Your job is to get work
done through other
people.
It is not to do the work
yourself
And if you’re doing
something repeatedly it
means that you aren’t
getting work done through
other people.
You’ll know when you’ve
succeeded as a
manager when you
have nothing to do.
And the key to being
able to get work done
through other people is
effective delegation.
A manager’s job is significantly different than that of an individual
contributor.
Your job as a manager

4. Letting go of decisions and
activities can be difficult, especially
the first time you do it. As a result
many first time managers end up
micro-managing; watching work
closely, controlling decisions, and
re-doing work.
The first time you delegate something, it takes time. In fact
it takes more time to delegate than to do the job yourself.
But if you don’t delegate, you’ll always spend that same
amount of time. So delegating is an investment that
rewards you in the long run.
And there is ego involved in many cases as people are
unwilling to think that someone may be able to do
something better than they can. If they define themselves
by the work they do then giving up that work is giving up a
bit of oneself.
Finally, delegating something is changing the way you work
and many people are naturally reluctant to change.
There is risk to delegating. Your subordinate may screw up
and you’ll end up looking bad. But this shouldn’t happen
too often if you’ve hired the right people.
Why managers don’t delegate

5. The Opportunity
Failure to delegate means that you’ll end up doing the same job time and time again as delegating
work is the only way to be able to get new and interesting work to do.
In the long run, if you want to advance as a manager, the only way to do it is to become good at
delegating.

6. The first step in delegating is to know
when to do it.
• There should be an experienced
person available.
• That person should be in need of
and looking for growth
opportunities.
• The task you delegate should be
a recurring one.
• The person to whom you
delegate should have enough
time available to learn and
accomplish the task on a regular
basis.
• The task you delegate should be
low risk, not something that bears
a lot of ongoing risks.
Know when to delegate

7. You can’t delegate something just to anyone. That person
needs to have:
• The right experience and skills.
• the right attitudes and work styles.
• An existing workload that allows them to take on a
new set of responsibilities.
To whom should you delegate?

8. What to delegate
Just as you can’t delegate anything to anyone, it is important to understand what things are appropriate
to delegate. This isn’t about what tasks but what you make someone responsible for but what level of
responsibility and authority you give them.
Delegate Responsibility for Results
When you delegate just the process and not
responsibility for results, then the person can hide
behind poor results.
When you delegate the responsibility for getting results,
you ensure that the person must then figure out the
best way of doing something to get those results.
Delegate Authority
When you don’t delegate authority then the
person doesn’t have the ability to change a
process to ensure that results are obtained.
When you delegate authority for making
decisions, you truly make someone
responsible for getting results.

9. An individual who is responsible for doing something must understand what success is. This is the first
step in helping understand what truly is expected of them, the first in our three steps in effective
leadership.
Define success
All productive employees want to be successful and they want their employer to be successful. In
using metrics, you’ll first need to define what success is by measuring employee results.

10. Measure Success
In each of these cases, there are
three things you can measure:
• Quality (many dimensions of
quality)
• Cost (Revenue, Time, Profit)
• Speed (Elapsed Time)
Results can come in the form of:
• Payment
• Election to proceed
• Milestone reached
• Approval
• Measure of satisfaction
These results need to be
externally validated by
• A customer
• Supplier,
• Another team
• Or a boss.
If employees need to know what is expected of them, how they are doing and how they can improve,
the most effective and unambiguous way to communicate those three things is by using metrics.

11. Define Activities that lead to success
Figure out what causes
success, which activities
that you undertake
directly cause the results
you’re looking for.
Then you’ve got a
formula for success in
that you know exactly
what activities you have
to complete and at what
level of volume to be
successful.

12. The reporting should include :
Result Metrics
Comments on results
Future plans
Develop a reporting process
You can’t just abdicate
something. When you
delegate, you need to develop
a reporting process so that
you know that the results you
delegated are being achieved..

13. Amend the job description
Your expectations must
be clearly defined for
someone to know what
is expected of them.
This can be done in a job
description or
performance plan.
Use metrics to outline
the results you expect
and the limits of
authority.
Make sure the employee
is responsible for results
and can alter a process
to acieve those results.

14. Communicate frequently
Get frequent feedback on results.
Be available to solve problems.
Ask them how things are going.
Challenge them to improve.

15. Putting it All Together

16. material minds
Helping companies execute
strategy better by connecting
strategy with the daily action
of all employees.
Charles Plant
416 458 4850
cplant (at)
materialminds.com
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This is a five part series on Strategy Execution and is comprised of:
1. Strategy Execution
2. Using Metrics to Define Success
3. Job Design and Delegation
4. Performance Management and Communication
5. Coaching and Motivation