2023.04.19

---

As a manager you strive to create the right balance of giving direction and autonomy to your team.

In the fast-pace of the workweek, it’s easy to forget that you are responsible for fostering the conditions conducive to them working autonomously.

---

Are you making any of these 5 mistakes?

You delegate without first preparing.

Delegating is not the same as assigning work and stepping back.

While delegating ultimately gets some work off of your plate, you do need to do some upfront thinking before that.

At a minimum, think through the following and then clearly communicate it to the delegee. This really shouldn’t take you longer than 5 minutes to sketch out. During your delegation conversation you can add details if needed.

• What is the general scope of work? Describe the deliverable and any success criteria.
• What is the timeline? Are the deadline(s) hard or soft?
• What is the budget? Include both time and resources.
• Are there any internal or external contingencies to be aware of?
• Is there anything that can’t happen or needs to be avoided?
• Are there any guiding principles you want to set?
• What, if anything, requires your sign-off along the way?
• What kind of updates do you want and with what frequency?
• Do you want to be made aware of potential problems as they are identified or only when a problem has been encountered and solved?
• How will you handle mistakes?

And one additional question for you to consider in advance:

• does the delegee have the organizational authority to do what you’re tasking them with or do you need to set expectations with other teams/parties in advance?

During the delegation conversation, you should also ask:

• do you have the tools, knowledge/experience, etc. to accomplish this work or is there something else you need to be successful?

---

You’ve fostered a risk-averse culture.

No one does this on purpose, rather it emerges based on how certain types of behaviors are treated.

For autonomy to have the desired positive effects on your team of increased engagement, job satisfaction, and productivity, staff have to feel psychologically safe.

Safe to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and offer insights.

And above all, safe to make mistakes.

A culture where failure is not an option or new/different ideas are dismissed is unhealthy and stifles innovation and creativity.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Check your own mindset. Is it rigid or one oriented toward growth?
• Do you give your team overt permission to solve problems without you?
• Have you enabled staff to make mistakes, accept accountability, and take initiative to improve?

---

You interfere.

Autonomy isn’t autonomy if you reinsert yourself into the work.

It’s tempting to do something yourself if it isn’t being done fast enough but this is counterproductive in the long run.

If for some reason you really do need to take something back, clearly communicate to all involved that it is for a truly extenuating circumstance and why you taking it on is absolutely necessary.

A more subtle form of interference comes from you sharing your perspective on decisions or approaches that others are taking instead of reaffirming your support of the employee who is doing/leading the work.

Don’t share how you’d have done something differently or have a different opinion on it. “Elizabeth is overseeing [issue X] so I support her discretion/approach/handling of it.”

---

You are a bottleneck or are hovering.

Staying apprised of progress is important but it can hamper productivity if you are too involved.

This can look like asking for too many updates or too many details.

Be judicious with what actually requires your review, feedback, or approval and at what stage. Maybe you want to see a first draft of something to check it is going in the right direction (that your delegation instructions were clear) and then you don’t need to see it again until it is a final draft.

---

Are you making any of the mistakes above? No judgement if you are.

In fact, this can be a great opportunity to model to your team what it looks like to be a leader who is reflective and intentionally grows. You could share that you’ve realized you’re not doing as well as you want to be regarding fostering their autonomy and you are making a change.

---