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​The Class Missing from Business School​

I remember my graduate classes well : marketing, operations research, statistics, macroeconomics, strategy, & negotiation.

But having worked for about twenty years, there’s a class missing from business school for a skill used as frequently as public speaking & negotiation : Delegation.

After starting in the working world, at some point we start managing others. Perhaps just for a project. Perhaps a small team. Or an entire business unit. Or working with an executive assistant.

There are different components to delegation:

1. Shifting mindset from “How do I accomplish this?” to “Who should be the right person to accomplish this task & how would it fit into their goals?”
2. The emotions surrounding assigning a task to someone else. It’s not uncommon to feel a sense of anxiety around assigning work.
3. Providing the context surrounding the task & the structure of the task : description, due date, other expectations, resources necessary to complete the task, intermediate check points for iteration.
4. The feedback delivered after the task is completed.
5. Acceptance that the task will likely be completed in a different way or to a different degree.
6. Mapping delegated tasks into the broader goals of the organization.

Most of that list is straightforward & covered in books like The Great CEO Within & Deep & Deliberate Delegation. But there was something missing. For me, it was Loom.

Learning about delegation, I watched Sam Corcos’ interview where argues Loom is the most important tool for delegation. So I tried it. Then I tried dictating & it’s addictive because it works.

My workflow with email is to narrate the thoughts I have about each one while recording the audio. I talk through the context, the action items, & share it with my chief of staff. Please move this meeting to next Thursday. Prioritize this call. Create a reminder to send flowers for this event.

With Loom, I’ll record my screen stepping through a workflow to add a company into our CRM. First, create the entry in the CRM. Next, verify data is syncing from our data provider. Then capture the contact information & validate it.

I don’t know if this is the best way to delegate work. I wish I had spent time in grad school practicing as much as public speaking & negotiation.

I’m curious if you have delegation best-practices. If so, write back!

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