• I use delegation all the time, regardless of how motivated a participant might be. I just spell it D-U-M-P sometimes.
• I've tried to use delegation in the past, but after giving the participant a brief description of his/her duties, I usually see a shift from motivated to confused to frustrated to demoralized.
• I know I don't know how to use delegation, so I don't.
• I never take a chance with a participant who, no matter how motivated, can't do the work at the outset. The development potential is never worth the risk.

Why You Should

You make the best use of your time by not 'over-managing' someone who can learn what's needed to succeed without your coaching.

You protect the participant's self-esteem (by not dumping them and by not providing what might be viewed as 'remedial instruction') as you give them the chance to both learn a new skill and make a project contribution.

You minimize confusion and the chance of failure by delegating specific, intermediate results that are part of a carefully planned project.

By anticipating the participant's 'can't but would' status, you've got enough lead time to start the delegation before the effects of their having to learn how to contribute threaten your schedule.

 

Some Tips On How To

Don't let an underperforming but motivated participant languish too long. If they are left to twist in the wind, you can easily end up with an underperforming and unmotivated participant.

Try to hit the following topics with the participant learner during your delegation meeting;

• The specific results that the learner/participant is expected to produce in order to meet his/her milestone commitment(s). If there is latitude, make the minimum acceptable and the best case outcomes clear.
• The date and time upon which the milestone results are due and either the person who should receive the results or the location where the results should be delivered. You may want to distinguish between the deadline (as in "It really ought to be there by then.") versus the DEADline (as in "If it isn't there by then, just let me know where to forward your check.").
• The help, resources and/or work tools that the learner/participant can and should use to produce the milestone and the limits, if any, of that help.
• The 'Big Picture' impact of the project (i.e. its relationship to organizational objectives and strategy). This 'Big Picture' element isn't always necessary, but it does promote the type of team identification and the sense of mission that winning organizations tend to foster.
• How often the learner/participant should expect someone, like you, to check in on his/her progress. Of course, this monitoring schedule should be more frequent for (a) less capable learners/participants (b) those who are learning more difficult tasks and/or (c) those whose failure would spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.
• Discuss the importance of (meaning the time to be devoted to) this project task as compared to their other work.
• Explain what the learner/participant should do if s/he becomes completely lost and can't figure out what to do next. Typically this is just an escape valve so s/he doesn't waste time spinning wheels in the hope that s/he can avoid looking less capable.