When I try to delegate a job to people, I mostly consider their skills, where they want to go, the timeline of the work, the risk of the person failing, and how mature I am at that piece of work so I can help the person. I know there are more systematic ways and more things to consider. I mostly leaned on my biases in these delegation decisions and failed. I researched and asked my mentor and a few other leaders around me. Most of the time, the result was what I was already doing. I couldn’t find any systematic way that can apply to my position as an engineering manager. Whenever my quick internet research doesn’t give satisfying answers, I turn to my small library. This time, I found a great set of questions (in Management 3.0 book) to use as a framework. Answering these questions before delegating a piece of work should eliminate all my biases and give me the right mindset.
- Is the risk factor of delegating this work adequately addressed?
- Do the people have the right empowerment skills and discipline?
- Have you considered and selected the right level of authority?
- Have you considered the question of delegating to individuals or teams?
- Is what you are delegating a discrete chunk of work?
- Do the people have the skills to do this particular kind of work?
- Do the people have the right format for the work products to use?
- Do the people have the tools necessary to be successful?
- Do the people know what the results should look like?
- Did you set the boundary conditions for the work (for example, budget, time, resources, and quality)?
- Do the people know when the work is due?
- Do the people know what progress looks like?
- Do the people know how often to report to you on progress (adhering to interim milestones)?
- Is someone available (you or another person) to coach or mentor the people in case they need help?
- Related Note(s):
- Source(s): Management 3.0 Book by Jurgen Appelo
