Avoid Blind Delegation as a Manager
- Ibrahim Albuainain
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Blind delegation is the trigger to workplace frustration
AUTHOR Ibrahim Albuainain - APRIL 2025
Delegation is a critical skill for every manager, leader, or team supervisor. When done correctly, it empowers teams, boosts productivity, and builds trust.
However, when done poorly or "blindly," it can lead to frustration, inefficiency, and even burnout.
In this blog post, I'll highlight three common mistakes managers make when delegating tasks and explain why delegation is truly a form of art that requires thoughtfulness and strategy.
Mistake 1: Delegating Without Understanding Your Team's Capabilities
Delegation isn't about simply offloading tasks onto others. It's about assigning the right task to the right person based on their skills, abilities, and bandwidth.
A common mistake many managers make is blindly allocating tasks without considering whether the individual has the expertise or capacity to handle them.
What impact would this have?
It's going to slow down progress by overwhelming your team members or setting them up for failure.
Imagine handing a complex financial analysis to someone who specializes in creative design; it's not only inefficient but also demoralizing for the employee who feels ill-equipped to succeed.
What can you do instead?
Take the time to understand your team's strengths, weaknesses, and current workload.
Match tasks with individuals whose skills align with the requirements of the job and always remember that delegation is about empowering your team, not burying them under mismatched responsibilities.
Mistake 2: Assigning Tasks but Holding onto Control
Another common issue is assigning a task but then micromanaging or attempting to do it yourself.
This undermines your team's confidence and sends a clear message: "I don't trust you to handle this."
It's not only about wasting resources, but it also demotivates employees who feel their efforts are undervalued.
Even if you as a manager think you could produce better work, you still need to live with what the employees come up with.
Otherwise, you will be depriving them of opportunities and damaging their career development journey.
Delegation means letting go. It's about entrusting someone else with the responsibility and giving them the autonomy to complete the task in their own way.
Hovering over their shoulder or redoing their work defeats the purpose entirely.
What can you do instead?
Once you delegate a task, step back and allow your team members to take ownership of it. Offer guidance if needed but resist the urge to micromanage. Trust is extremely hard to build, so when you show faith in your team's abilities, they're more likely to rise to the occasion.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Timing and Team Well-Being
Delegation isn't just about what you delegate; it's also about "when" you delegate and how it impacts your team's overall workload and morale.
A skilled manager understands that timing is everything. Blindly piling on tasks without assessing how employees are feeling or what other responsibilities they're juggling can lead to burnout and resentment.
Prioritizing productivity over well-being is a short-sighted approach that can have long-term consequences for team morale and retention.
Happy employees are productive employees so never forget that.
What can you do instead?
Before delegating, assess your team's current workload and emotional state. Have open conversations with your staff about their capacity and stress levels. Balance productivity with well-being by ensuring that no one feels overburdened or undervalued.
Delegation Is an Art
Effective delegation requires a mix of strategy, empathy, communication, and a deep understanding of what the team can produce as a whole.
Sometimes, managers forget that delegation means one task per employee, but the reality is that you can delegate one task to more than one employee, depending on the expectations and how critical the task is.
Also, some managers require some tasks to be done quickly; therefore, they would give a very tight deadline which will pressure the employee.
Instead, allocate the task to two or three who could achieve it quicker with higher quality.
It's still the manager's job to identify employees who prefer to work independently and deliver quality results.
At the end of the day, knowing the capabilities of the team members is the key to successful delegation.
Just remember that delegation isn't just a managerial duty; it's an opportunity to empower your team and help them shine. When done right, everyone wins."
We would love to hear your comments about this blog post in the comment section.
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