Delegating Outcomes

A long time ago, in my first role as a people manager, I felt - as many people do - an overwhelming pressure to make sure everything was perfect. If a deliverable was late or not quite right, I believed it was on me. I wasn’t just worried about the big stuff, every little detail mattered. At the same time, my team looked to me for direction and I felt like I had to have the right answer for every question.

So, like many new managers, I ended up trying to stay involved in pretty much everything. I delegated tasks, but usually one at a time. I even kept a Gantt chart tracking every task for every person, every single day. It did not go well.

By providing clarity on what success looks like and trusting your people to work toward those goals, you foster independence, motivation and collaboration.

One day, I was discussing this with a mentor and he kept pushing me to delegate more. I felt like I was delegating as quickly as I could! I didn't know how to do it differently, but my need to be the "master planner" was holding me back, it just didn't scale.

Fortunately, during that conversation, something finally clicked for me. Instead of delegating tasks, I needed to delegate something big enough, something tangible enough that we could talk about what successful outcomes look like, not just if something was done. I had already had a sense of that, but I hadn't been able to wrap my head around how.

"Delegate more" is well worn leadership advice, but it is a lot more complicated than that. The most common advice focuses on task level delegation, which is fine if you're only dealing with a few junior people. However, if your team is any bigger or you are working with people who are bit more senior, you have to think in terms of outcomes, not tasks.

So I started pulling together small groups of people around specific features we were building. These weren’t formal teams with a manager, just a few people united around shared goals. I made it clear what a successful feature team would look like, then stepped back and let them figure out how to get there. Feature teams are a well-known idea now, but at the time they were a new idea to me, one that gave me a framework I could use to delegate and hold people accountable.

The impact was immediate. The team was both energized and inspired. Rather than waiting on me for direction, feature teams made decisions and moved forward. Bottlenecks disappeared and momentum built.

Not only that, people were incredibly proud of their work. Ownership created a real connection to the results. Delegating outcomes wasn’t just good for productivity; it was good for morale.

The new structure also sparked healthy competition. When one team showed off a great demo or nailed their planning, others wanted to step up their game too.

Practical Delegation

Feature teams worked well on that team because - in addition to the ownership it gave everyone - it structured roles and responsibilities in a way that made collaboration happen naturally. There are other ways to structure delegation - sometimes it is enough to hand out goals - but as a manager, here are the key ideas to keep in mind:

• Delegate outcomes, not tasks. Set clear goals and limits, but let your team decide how to get there.


• Put your effort into creating clarity around what successful outcomes look like.


• Accept the idea that your team will make mistakes. As a manager, your job is not to ensure perfect deliverables, it is to create an environment where your team can do their best work.


• Use a framework for delegation that is sustainable. When you are handing out tasks, you have to keep handing out tasks, but when you delegate scope they will figure out the tasks for themselves.


• Next level, think about how to delegate work in a way that creates the right incentives around how your employees and teams collaborate with each other.

On a related note, there is an idea in management called situational leadership. Some employees, especially those early in their careers, require more structure, direction and hands-on coaching. Others, particularly experienced professionals, thrive when given space to make decisions and take ownership of their work. Truly effective leaders adjust their approach accordingly, providing prescriptive guidance when necessary, offering support when appropriate, and stepping back when their people are ready to take the lead. You should tailor your approach to delegation to employees with this in mind.

Effective delegation is less about assigning tasks and more about empowering your team to own meaningful outcomes. By providing clarity on what success looks like and trusting your people to work toward those goals, you foster independence, motivation and collaboration.

While delegation requires a thoughtful approach tailored to each individual's experience and needs, it ultimately transforms your team’s capability and morale. Embrace delegation as a leadership tool that scales your impact and enables your team to shine.

How might you start delegating outcomes rather than tasks in your own team today?

---

Our mission is to empower organizations by fostering cultures of clarity and transparency, engagement and collaboration. Through innovative tools, best practices, and partnership with leaders, we strive to unlock the competitive advantages inherent in healthy organizations.