Hassan Osman, a project management office leader at Cisco and author of 'Effective Delegation of Authority,' shares his insights on mastering delegation. He discusses the importance of defining the desired outcomes before delegating tasks and emphasizes the need for setting clear expectations and goals. Osman also highlights how effective delegation can serve as a development opportunity for team members. By utilizing structured follow-ups and fostering trust, managers can turn delegation into a powerful tool for growth and engagement.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Prepare Before Delegating
Define what you need your employee to accomplish before delegating.
Phrase it as "I need my employee to [outcome]".
insights INSIGHT
Brainstorming vs. Directing
Managers often "brainstorm" delegation tasks during discussions, causing confusion.
Employees hesitate to question managers, exacerbating the issue.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Choosing the Right Person
Consider "person-role fit": match individual strengths to task types.
Seek "natural leaders" who proactively take action and go above and beyond.
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Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever
Michael Bungay Stanier
In 'The Coaching Habit,' Michael Bungay Stanier provides a straightforward and effective approach to coaching. Drawing on his extensive experience training managers worldwide, he introduces seven essential coaching questions designed to help managers unlock their team's potential. These questions include the Kickstart Question, the AWE Question, the Lazy Question, the Strategic Question, the Focus Question, the Foundation Question, and the Learning Question. The book emphasizes the importance of saying less and asking more, fostering a collaborative and empowering work environment. It combines practical advice with research in neuroscience and behavioral economics, making coaching a daily, informal part of managerial work rather than a formal event.
Effective Delegation of Authority
Hassan Osman
This book provides a step-by-step guide for new managers to improve their delegation skills. It covers what to delegate, how to choose the right person, and how to avoid common mistakes like micromanaging. The book is divided into three sections: before, during, and after delegation, offering practical tips and tools for effective task delegation.
Hassan Osman: Effective Delegation of Authority
Hassan is a project management office leader at Cisco, where he leads a team of over 150 project and program managers on delivering complex projects across the world. He’s also served as a management consultant at Ernst & Young (now EY), where he led projects and programs for the largest enterprises.
He’s the author of Effective Delegation of Authority: A (Really) Short Book for New Managers About How to Delegate Work Using a Simple Delegation Process. In this episode, Hassan and I discuss the three stages of delegation, the critical importance of planning, and how to leverage delegation as a development opportunity.
Also impressive is the ten books Hassan has published while working full-time as a manager at a Fortune 100 company. He teaches others how to do it on his Writer on the Side podcast.
Key Points
Before you begin the delegation process, decide on the outcomes you need and the right person to get you there.
Set expectations for goals, not actions.
Use checkpoints to ensure progress and adjust frequency for experience and visibility.
Summarize delegation meetings in writing after they occur.
The real work of managers is to define the work, before it starts.
Resources Mentioned
Effective Delegation of Authority: A (Really) Short Book for New Managers About How to Delegate Work Using a Simple Delegation Process* by Hassan Osman
Writer on the Side podcast
Book Notes
Download my highlights from Effective Delegation of Authority in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes
Start Influencing Virtual Teams, with Hassan Osman (episode 234)
The Way to Stop Rescuing People From Their Problems, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 284)
Five Steps to Hold People Accountable, with Jonathan Raymond (episode 306)
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