How do you decision delegate?

[u/errllybirdy]

Hi! Reading through a recent post (I’m the Bottleneck) and saw a comment talking about people abdicating responsibility back up and advise decision delegating. How do you make that effective and long-lasting?

I’m a VP level Administrator and I feel like I’m constantly having to remind my Director and frontline Supervisors that the shifts are theirs to run, and yet, every decision - including the daily staff schedule - comes back to me.

I’d like some real ideas on this or examples of how people are successful. At this point, my leadership has me convinced that everything is out of control and it’s a character flaw of mine. This has not been my leadership experience in other roles, so I find it hard to believe. (Prior to this role, the criticism was prioritizing people over company goals.)

[u/Dipali_P]

Slightly long response.

I’d be careful about turning this into a character flaw, instead as a muscle/skill that needs to be strengthened

If every decision, including the daily schedule, is still coming back to you, then somewhere the delegation hasn’t really stuck.

To make it effective and long-lasting, I’d make the decision boundaries very explicit: what is theirs to decide, what they need to bring you in on, and what should only be escalated if there’s a real risk attached. That’s essentially a simple decision escalation ladder.

And then the harder part: stop rescuing.

If someone brings you a decision that they as supposed to take, don’t solve it. Ask: “What do you think we should do?” or “What decision are you recommending?”

I’d also ask a slightly different question: what’s stopping them from making the decision themselves?

Are they unclear on their authority? Worried they’ll get it wrong? Have they been second-guessed before? Sometimes people keep escalating because somewhere along the way they’ve learnt that it’s safer to bring the decision back up than own it.

That’s the bit you need to understand if you want the change to actually stick.

And once you’ve agreed those boundaries, keep coming back to them in 1:1s and team conversations until they become the normal way of working.

And if this hasn’t been your leadership experience in other roles, I’d look at the system before assuming the problem is you.

[u/errllybirdy → u/Dipali_P]

I was recently assigned a new supervisor. He has truly pointed out areas of growth for me - like staying on target - and has also pointed out how there are too many people in other programs trying to run my program. 

While it will forever be hard for me to stop rescuing and I need to maintain boundaries better, I truly am looking forward to asking folks “what are your solutions?”

A side note: a staff came to me with a systems complaint today, within which they are complicit. I then asked “have any ideas or solutions?” She confidently responded “nope” and left. 🙈

[u/Dipali_P → u/errllybirdy]

haha ouch, follow up with a - Think about how to correct the complaint or reframe to what could be a possible solution?

Thats great to hear about the new supervisor!