The Key to Delegating Tasks and Ownership to Teams

Are you wasting time managing and controlling your team instead of empowering them?

This past week I attended a team meeting of a large private organization as an observer to provide feedback to the COO about his team.

His team is leading a large project to transform the organization.

The meeting was being led by two of his senior direct reports with a clear agenda to create specific actions on next steps that the entire team will be responsible for.

► 10 minutes into the meeting the COO began speaking. 
► 30 minutes later he was still speaking.
► At the end of the hour, he was still speaking AND nothing was accomplished.

His direct reports attempted to redirect him to no avail.

What was intended to be an observation of his team turned into an observation of him.  He didn’t allow his team to:

► Take the lead
► Create the plan
► Collaborate
► Make mistakes
► Work as a team
► Accomplish the task at hand

If you want your team to 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 full ownership and responsibility of executing on crucial projects, You must:

► Trust your team
► Empower them to accomplish what they intended to
► Ask questions
► Engage them in the conversation
► Provide thoughtful insight while still allowing them to take the lead.

Ultimately, you must 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 them full ownership and responsibility to do just that.

Even for the most tenured executives, it can be the most uncomfortable thing to do but when your team delivers, it’s the most rewarding.