When you delegate work, who are you most likely to give the task to?

Our reader poll today asks: When you delegate work, who are you most likely to give the task to?

• A high-performer — I know they’ll get it done 54.30%
• A low-performer — it’s a good chance for them to step up 3.79%
• Someone with a development need around that task 36.76%
• I don’t delegate 5.15%

Rethinking where you delegate. Let’s challenge how you think about delegation. For those of you who go straight to your high-performers, ask yourself if you’re overburdening them or taking advantage of their nature. You may risk burning them out by piling on too much work. They may also find that work uninteresting which could decrease their job satisfaction. For those not delegating, ask yourself why not? What are you afraid of? Ask if the work you’re not delegating is the best use of your time. Would you pay someone else what you’re being paid to perform that task? If your immediate reaction is “I would never pay that much to have that task completed” then it’s a pretty clear indicator you should delegate it. For those who aren’t delegating to low-performers, what opportunities are you missing and what messages are you sending? You’re telling them you don’t trust them to get the work done (remember: everything communicates – even unspoken actions). And they might be a low-performer because they don’t feel trusted or valued. They might not feel challenged by or interested in the work they’re doing. Start small. Be sure to tell them  you trust them to get it done. Involve them in the process of selecting which work to delegate to them. If they have a voice in the decision, you might see dramatically different behavior. Use delegation as a tool for efficiency, engagement, and development whenever you can.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.