Folks are working remotely. Folks are working in person.
What are they doing? What are they authorized to do?
Does your delegation — roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities — shift as conditions change, as trust in each other grows?
Wondering who is making what decisions?
Now is a great time to dust off the Decision Tree exercise. Here it is: Decision Tree Exercise.
Invite a colleague to complete the form. Complete your own separately.
You might find:
- Erroneous thinking by the colleague (or yourself) about the four levels of delegation.
- Differences of opinion about where various decisions belong.
- And, due to the current situation or the growth of trust between you, big changes in how you are collaborating.
After the colleague writes a first draft, review both your document together. You might relocate items from one part of the tree to another. In making each of those moves, discuss why that particular item belongs where it belongs. Express your opinion about the proper level of delegation for that particular item. And stay open to the greater wisdom from the colleague, potentially changing your mind about where it belongs. So, both of you learn some things by working through this together. Furthermore, you will both have greater confidence that you are in sync on these topics.
As trust grows, decisions move through the tree. Be open to growth!
Another thought about delegation.
Dr. Alok Kalia says there are two types of delegation:
- Supplemental: when you delegate something you know how to do because you need more capacity. The most common error: competing with the other person.
- Complementary: when you delegate something you do not know how to do because you, well, don’t know how to do it. The most common error: telling them how to do it.
Credit: this Delegation Tree idea came from the Vistage group YES AND, where Mark Schuetz introduced the idea and Becca Apfelstadt had a designer at treetree improve the graphic.