Many leaders may find it tempting to try to do it all, but an important part of being an effective healthcare leader is to learn how to successfully delegate responsibilities to others.
Given the gravity of situations faced in the healthcare, delegation is “quite good” in the healthcare industry, said Stephen Ronstrom, a senior consultant at Western Healthcare Development.
However, it’s not all roses.
CFOs, physicians, and at times, the creative management roles in fundraising, marketing and quality improvement, are the folks most likely to become bottlenecks, Ronstrom said.
Delegation struggles
So why do some delegation attempts sour? In Ronstrom’s view it is usually a matter of patience – or lack thereof – on an individual’s part. “Delegation requires a proper time commitment and investment of energy in supporting others,” he said.
Writing recently at Emerging RN Leader, healthcare staffing expert Rose O. Sherman noted that “It is not uncommon to hear a nurse say that they could finish the task themselves in the time it takes to explain it to someone else. While this may be true, it is shortsighted.”
There is no question that the medical profession encourages delegation, Sherman notes. In the United States the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) has a position paper that clearly outlines how and with whom delegation should be carried out.
According to the NCSBN, successful delegation begins with proper assessment: “Give the right task under the right circumstances to the right person.”
Some questions the NCSBN recommends asking when considering delegation:
What is the potential for adverse outcomes associated with the delegated performance of tasks and functions? What are the cognitive and technical abilities needed to perform the activity/function or task? Which team member has the skills, competencies and experience to perform the task needed? What is the context of the situation and the environment?Creating the right culture for delegation
In an organization where delegation has not been the norm, managers can change that culture to encourage delegation by building trust and demonstrating the value of delegation, said Ronstrom. That can be achieved by selecting top performers who have good staff rapport and properly empowering them, and then sharing the outcomes with top leadership.
“Get some quick wins with low hanging fruit and take care of your area of responsibility through delegation, rather than attempting change at a higher level,” Ronstrom advised. “You must be a successful role model in creating improvement through attraction rather than promotion.”
If targeted managers and supervisors have not been good at delegating in the past, use a formal corrective action plan, Ronstrom recommended. Make sure the expectations of the delegation experience are clear, and that those having responsibilities delegated to them have proper training and resources. And set metrics in advance.
And finally, “we need to be generous with pay and training and have honest and robust feedback on the relationship between the manager and the professional,” Ronstrom said.