The Case for Delegating: Because Faster Isn't Always Better

“We haven’t trained Jake on that yet, so I’m handling it.”

“I don’t have time to explain it right now. It’s faster if I just do it myself.”

“Sarah has so much going on already. I feel bad putting more on her plate.”

I have heard managers give all kinds of reasons for why they aren’t delegating, but it usually comes down to this: I know I should delegate more, but it’s faster if I just do it myself.

It’s one of the most dangerous leadership traps out there, and here’s why: You’re probably right.

Actually, that’s not quite true. You’re probably right… for today.

The Bank of Tomorrow

When I speak to leaders, the biggest factor that keeps them from delegating more often is time. If I had a nickel for every time I heard something to the effect of “It’s just faster if I do it myself,” I would be writing this article from atop a throne of nickels. This challenge is especially strong for front-line managers, who are often tasked with managing work they used to do themselves and are still subject matter experts.

I like to use the following metaphor to help my clients reconsider the cost of not delegating: Every time you choose to do a task yourself instead of delegating or teaching an employee to handle it, you are taking out a loan from the Bank of Tomorrow. You may save time today by not having to teach a concept or explain a process, but the bill will always come due later on.

To complicate matters, the Bank of Tomorrow calls in its debts on the most inconvenient days: while you are prepping for a vacation, or suddenly out sick, or when an unexpected emergency - or opportunity - crops up and you literally don’t have time to stop and delegate properly.

Instead of taking out loan after loan, I encourage leaders to make deposits in the Bank of Tomorrow, by investing time now to buy more flexibility later on. You can do this today - find a crucial process in your work, and schedule 30-60 minutes to teach someone else how to do it. Even if they don’t master it in a single sitting (and they almost certainly won’t), they’ll be a few steps ahead for that time when you do have to call on them in a critical moment.

Delegation Creates Resilient Teams

The best leaders I know use delegation as more than a time management strategy. Instead, they are proactively thinking about how they can make their team more capable and resilient.

They deliberately talk to their team members about their professional interests and career aspirations and look for stretch assignments to support learning and development. They cross-train on key processes so that no single employee is an irreplaceable expert. And, perhaps most crucially, they create leaders who are capable of taking their place if they want to go on vacation or pursue a promotion.

Share the Why

There is one more key element to effective delegation: remember to delegate the outcome, not just the task.

In practice, this means sharing key details that will determine the success or failure of the work to be delegated. When people understand what you are looking to accomplish, and why it is important (to you, the team, the company, the customer, etc.), they can make better decisions when circumstances change.

The military has a concept called Commander’s Intent, which is a practice of sharing the purpose and desired end state of key operations. In essence, it calls on leaders to give their people enough context to understand the goal, and then trust them to determine the best way to achieve it.

You may not need to tell someone how to complete every single step. Instead, tell them what success looks like, why it matters, and any constraints they should know about. I like this approach because it transfers ownership, and not just a to-do list.

Make the Deposit

Great leadership means seeing past the immediacy of the present and readying the whole team for those days when the Bank of Tomorrow comes calling. The goal is not to simply get work done faster - it’s to build stronger, more capable teams for the long run.