Despite these benefits, many managers struggle with delegation. In the Mindtools Building Better Managers report, 13 percent of managers list delegation as a challenge (the fourth highest item in a list of challenges). The primary barrier? Knowing what to delegate and what to retain. This is where discernment becomes critical.

What Should You Delegate?

Effective delegation starts with asking the right questions. Consider these three to evaluate whether a task should land on your desk – or someone else’s.

Is it Repetitive or Routine?

Tasks that are repetitive, administrative or operational in nature are prime candidates for delegation. These tasks consume time but don’t necessarily require managerial oversight. Examples include:

• data entry or reporting
• scheduling meetings
• basic customer inquiries.

Delegating such tasks allows managers to reclaim valuable hours for strategic thinking and decision making. For instance, if you’re spending three hours a week compiling reports, delegating this to a team member with clear instructions could save you over 150 hours annually.

Does it Benefit Your Team Member?

Delegation isn’t just about getting things off your plate; it’s an opportunity to build your team’s capacity. Look for tasks that align with individual team members’ skills or areas for growth.

• For strengths: If a team member excels in analytics, delegate a data-heavy project to them. They’ll likely complete it faster and with greater precision than you would.
• For growth: If someone is working on developing leadership skills, assign them a task that involves coordinating with multiple stakeholders.

Do You Need to Do It?

Managers should focus on tasks that specifically benefit from their experience or strategic insight. If a task doesn’t require your expertise, it’s likely a strong candidate for delegation. Examples include:

• drafting routine emails or memos
• coordinating logistics for team events
• reviewing work that doesn’t need final approval.

By focusing on what only you can do, you position yourself to lead more effectively and drive greater organizational value.

What Shouldn't You Delegate?

While delegation is vital, certain tasks should stay within your purview. These include:

1. Strategic decision making. Tasks involving high-stakes decisions or long-term planning should remain with you, as they require a deep understanding of organizational goals and contexts.
2. Sensitive issues. Performance reviews, conflict resolution, and disciplinary actions are best handled by the manager to maintain authority and trust.
3. Tasks with legal or compliance implications. Delegating tasks that involve regulatory compliance or critical approvals can lead to errors and liabilities.

The Delegation Log: A Practical Tool

To systematically evaluate what to delegate, consider using a delegation log. This tool helps track your tasks, analyze their value, and identify delegation opportunities.

Here’s how it works:

1. List your tasks. Over the course of a week, jot down everything you do.
2. Categorize tasks. Divide tasks into three categories according to how much you can delegate: none (requires your expertise), some (parts can be delegated), and all (someone else can take this on).
3. Assess each task. Ask: a. Does this task align with my role’s core responsibilities? b. Is there someone on my team who could do this as well – or better? c. Would delegating this task free up time for high-value activities?
4. Assign tasks. Gradually delegate tasks in the “some” and “all” categories, ensuring team members have clear instructions and the resources they need.

For example, let’s say you spend 90 minutes weekly updating a project dashboard. By delegating this task to an analytical team member, you not only free up your time but also give them an opportunity to gain visibility within your organization.

Exercise: Apply Delegation in Your Work

Want to put this into practice? Try this simple exercise:

1. Reflect. Think about your workload over the past month. What tasks felt draining or routine? What tasks excited or energized you?
2. Identify candidates for delegation. Choose one low-priority task and one task that could help a team member to grow.
3. Plan. Create a delegation plan. Outline the task, the desired outcome, and the timeline. Schedule a meeting to discuss expectations with the team member you’ve chosen.
4. Evaluate. After delegating, reflect on the process. Was the task completed to your satisfaction? Did the team member grow from the experience?

Repeat this process regularly, and you’ll notice your workload easing and your team’s engagement and skills improving.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

As you begin delegating, watch out for these common mistakes:

1. Micromanaging. Resist the urge to control every step. Set clear expectations, then step back and trust your team.
2. Overloading top performers. Don’t rely exclusively on your strongest team members. Look for opportunities to delegate to less experienced employees as a developmental tool.
3. Unclear instructions. Ambiguity can derail even the best intentions. Be specific about the task, timeline and deliverables.

Delegation isn’t just a managerial task; it’s a leadership strategy. By discerning what to delegate, you empower your team, improve efficiency, and create space for strategic contributions. Start small, stay consistent, and watch your team – and yourself – thrive.

Remember, delegation isn’t about relinquishing control; it’s about fostering collaboration and shared success. So, ask yourself: what should I delegate today?

What's Next?

To dive straight into building your delegation skills, why not sign up to our Delegation Skill Bite? Or if you want more detail on the when, what, how, and who of delegation, there’s our article Delegation: The Power of Sharing Work Successfully. And if the very idea of delegation fills you with horror, maybe you should try Overcoming Barriers to Delegation, to help you to take your first steps.

Tip of the Week

Finding Your Team's Meaning, Pleasure and Strengths

By Melanie Bell, Mindtools Writer and Editor

Following a recent Mindtools workshop, I led my project team through the MPS process, a framework for aligning work to team members’ motivations. It can help to customize work tasks and make everyone’s jobs more rewarding.

The MPS Process was developed by Harvard professor and author Dr Tal Ben-Shahar. The acronym stands for meaning, pleasure and strengths.

You can try it on your own, or with your team, as I did. Ask these three questions to yourself or others:

1. What gives me meaning?
2. What gives me pleasure?
3. What are my strengths?

When leading the process with a team, share your answers and talk about them openly. Then discuss what you can do to job craft so all team members get to do more of what’s meaningful, fun or feels natural to them.

Leading this process resulted in useful insights on my project team that influenced our work going forward. Perhaps it will be equally useful for your team!

Pain Points Podcast

How do Gen Z plan their careers, in this rapidly changing, tech-driven world of work? And how will their ambitions, priorities and needs affect everyone else?

Erifili Gounari is the CEO and Founder of The Z Link, a global marketing agency and consultancy that connects brands to Gen Z. And she's included plenty of personal insights about "Gen Z thinking" in her latest book, "Design Your Life" – which she shares with us on this week's Pain Points podcast.

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News Roundup

This Week's Global Workplace Insights

Is Your Team Suffering From Toxic Productivity?

Harvard Business Review recently reported on toxic productivity, the “unhealthy compulsion to be productive at all times.” This feeling can tax our wellbeing, mentally and physically. It’s also dangerously common in the workplace.

There are several reasons for its prevalence:

• Cultural environments that view hard work as good and rest as bad
• Social media exacerbating a sense of competition
• The pandemic leading individuals to focus on work as a way of staying in control (and this push hasn’t stopped)
• Generative AI allowing workers to get more done faster – so shouldn’t they?

As Slack’s Workforce Index found, employees who feel like they need to work extra hours had 20 percent lower productivity scores. So, this scramble to be productive isn’t paying off.

The article encourages people to take time off, and managers to model this behavior, along with showing empathy into the lives of their team members and reducing workloads where they can.

Some Diversity Trainings Are Better Than Others

As an article in The Conversation found, workplace training programs focused on diversity can have widely different effects.

Research in the U.S. showed they often had a limited positive impact on demographics and sometimes brought backlash or misunderstanding. Many programs focused on the needs of a specific marginalized demographic, rather than “educating people about the value of our differences.” Brief interventions aimed at changing judgment of those who are different proved particularly unsuccessful.

The most effective programs used role-playing, skills training, and conflict management courses. They also worked best in collaboration with other initiatives against intolerance, such as recruitment and mentorship programs. Successful programs reduced harassment and resulted in better productivity and commitment to the organization.

See you next week for more member-exclusive content and insight from the Mindtools team!