Nothing can deflate people’s confidence faster than telling them they are not doing something right and then doing it yourself. Conversely, when you provide support to get the job done, you build people’s sense of ownership for the task well as the confidence that they can accomplish it. 

When encouraging responsibility remember to:

• Help others think and do the work.
• Resist the temptation to take over – keep responsibility where it belongs (with the task doer).
• Be realistic and keep your commitments.
• Supply the resources people need to do their jobs and work to remove barriers.
• Explain the background/context and the why. Don’t just tell someone what to do without checking they understand why that task needs to be completed. You may even want to explain why you’ve selected that individual for the job.  Give the job context in the bigger picture of your operation.
• Let them choose how to do it. Whenever possible, let your employees decide how to achieve the task you’ve assigned. Agree upon what constitutes a successful outcome; what does ‘done’ look like and what quality standards they are working to. 
• Delegate authority, not just work. Give employees a leadership role in some of the meetings they attend.  Leadership skills develop over time, and they require practice.
• Trust them before you need to. Trust builds over time, know that sometimes it’s worth the risk to trust them before a crisis point to make a decision or step into a role that stretched their abilities. Your trust in them will give them confidence, and that confidence is important to their personal development.

What you might say:

•      “I know this is unfamiliar to you. What would help you become more familiar with the process?”

•      “Would it be helpful if…”

•      “What do you need to be able to….”

•      “What kind of support do you need……”

And finally

Encourage your team members to solve their own problems; listen to their problems but don’t immediately provide the solution. Try asking probing questions that will lead them to work out the right answer.

For help with delegation and encouraging responsibility contact Carol@onedaytraining.co.nz