3 Types of Delegating Styles
Delegation is one of the most powerful leadership skills — yet also one of the most misunderstood. How you delegate can determine whether your team thrives or struggles. Not all delegation is created equal; different situations and people require different approaches.
Which approach do you resonate with both as the delegator or the delegatee?
(DD) Directive Delegation: “Here’s exactly how to do it.”
Directive delegation is hands-on and specific. You assign a task, outline the steps, and set clear expectations for how and when it should be completed.
(CD) Collaborative Delegation: “Let’s figure this out together.”
Collaborative delegation involves open communication and shared decision-making. You assign the task but work alongside your team member to plan the process and set milestones.
(ED) Empowered Delegation: “You’ve got this — run with it.”
Empowered delegation gives your team full responsibility for the outcome. You define the what and why, but they decide the how. You trust them to make decisions and only step in when needed.
If you have new team members who are still learning, high-risk or time-sensitive projects or tasks that require strict adherence to a process you may need to use directive delegation techniques to minimize errors and give less experienced team members the opportunity to build confidence. Be careful with this technique as it can limit creativity and ownership by giving the feeling of being micromanaged.
With more experienced employees collaborative delegation can help them in developing new skills with projects or tasks that benefit from brainstorming and creativity. Most importantly it gives the opportunity to build trust and engagement within your team. While this delegation style can take more time upfront it can build team cohesion by encouraging input and innovation, just be sure not to blur the lines of accountability by clearly defining everyone’s role in the collaboration.
For those superstar, highly skilled or motivated team members focused on long-term projects that benefit from ownership while developing leadership potential empowered delegation is the way to get them going. Building autonomy and accountability, it frees leaders to focus on higher-level strategy without getting stuck in the weeds. Be sure that expectations are clearly given and know the leader's part in this requires strong trust and communication.
Great leaders know when to shift between these styles. Early in a relationship or project, you might start with a directive approach, move to collaborative as confidence grows, and eventually adopt an empowered style once the person has mastered the skill.
The goal isn’t to delegate less — it’s to delegate smarter. Matching your style to the situation not only improves results but also develops a stronger, more capable team.
