What You Need To Do To Delegate Effectively

I had a team of people who wanted to work with me, I just wasn’t utilizing them. Every week they’d tell me, “Chris, is there something you want us to do?” Or “Can I help you with anything?” I’d get excited about their enthusiasm, the problem was I didn’t know how to answer their questions. Of course I had something for them to do I just didn’t know how to give it to them.

The problem was that I didn’t have the time to show them. Or, I was scarred from past experiences where I gave someone a task and they would let me down at the last minute. I wanted people to help me, some even offered to assist but beyond wishes and hopes nothing happened.

The art of delegation is difficult. It’s not just unloading a task on another individual, it’s designating ownership. So, what stands in the way? Sometimes

• Lack of trust and confidence in the person’s ability to follow through.
• Guilt from asking someone else to do something we either hate doing ourselves or feel obligated to do on our own
• Not having the the patience to teach, train and equip someone else to take the task

All logical, but not legitimate excuses to hold us back from delegating. If you are tired of doing everything on your own, and you have people willing to help this what you can do:

Name the obstacle or fear

Get realistic with the voices that are telling you delegation is dumb. Don’t be afraid to write it down or have a conversation with that voice. Remember that while there is a short-term investment it will have a long-term payout. That delegation takes work at first but it will increase your capacity which is what we all want.

Make clarity the primary goal of delegation

The place we usually get stuck is not clearly communicating the task, role or responsibility. Even if what needs to be done is crystal clear in our own minds we can’t overstate the:

• Goal/purpose of the task
• Known obstacles or challenges
• Expectations for what it looks like to complete the task

That doesn’t mean micromanaging, but inviting the person you’ve assigned the task to ask questions and additional guidance. Again, at first it’ll seem like more work but overtime they’ll be able to jump right in because they are clear on what should get accomplished.

Give them some space to fail and thrive

The tendency is to micromanage. When this happens we end up getting frustrated because we’re more involved than we should be. Plus, we handicap the efforts of the leader we’re trying to develop. While you want to clarify what it is you want them to do, give them room to figure it out even if it means failing. Your goal is to create leadership independent of your oversight.

Create a follow up process and review the progress

Whether there is success or failure in a task it’s important to review. This is where you begin to create clarity for future tasks. Talk about what went well, and what didn’t. Ask them questions like:

• What is something I did or didn’t do that wasn’t helpful or got in the way?
• What did you learn through this process about yourself?
• If you were to go back and do it differently what would you do?

By reviewing the process you not only analyze your work but your delegation skills. It’ll help you see where you need to get more involved and where you might need to back up.

You might push back and say, “Chris, I really don’t have the time.” but the truth is that you can’t afford to keep doing everything on your own. There are people in your church who are willing to help and even if they don’t ask you, don’t be afraid to ask them.

Being a leader in the church means identifying other leaders and sometimes getting out of their way. Empower people to own what you’ve been asked to shepherd because the church will be better for it.

What’s the biggest challenge you face when it comes to delegating tasks to other people in your ministry?

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