Framework library · Leadership, teams and culture
Delegation matrix
Delegation goes wrong in two ways: handing a task to someone who cannot or will not do it yet, and keeping tasks that someone else could do as well. The skill/will matrix places each person on each task by skill and by will, which says whether to direct, guide, excite or delegate. Choosing a level of authority, from telling to full delegation, then makes the hand-over explicit.
Use it when
- You are spending time on tasks someone in the team could do, and need to decide which to hand over and to whom.
- A launch or a new team has more tasks than the leader can hold, and work is queuing behind them.
- People are unsure how much they can decide on their own, and decisions keep coming back to you.
- You want to plan development through work: tasks that stretch someone, with the right support.
Avoid it when
- The question is who is accountable across several teams. Use a RACI matrix, which handles many roles and many decisions at once.
- You want to adjust how you lead one person over months. Situational leadership looks at the person across their tasks; this tool starts from the tasks.
- The task may not need doing at all. Sort it with an Eisenhower matrix before delegating work that is neither urgent nor important.
How to run it
List the tasks you could hand over
Start with where your time goes, and note the hours a month each task takes you now. The bubbles show where handing over frees the most time.
Name the person who would take each one
One row per task and person. List a task twice if two people could take it, and compare.
Rate skill and will for that task
Skill is whether they can do it now; will is whether they want to and feel confident. Rate each from 1 to 10 for this task. Six or above counts as high.
Read the quadrant
Low skill and low will: direct, with clear instructions and close follow-up. Low skill, high will: guide, by teaching and coaching. High skill, low will: excite, by finding out why and reconnecting the task to what they care about. High skill and high will: delegate.
Choose the level of authority
From 1 to 7: tell (you decide), sell (you decide and explain), consult (you ask, then decide), agree (you decide together), advise (they decide after hearing you), inquire (they decide and tell you after) and delegate (they decide and you need not know). Say the level out loud.
Agree how you will check in
Lower levels need frequent check-ins; higher levels need only the result. Raise the level as skill and will grow.
Work through it
Answer the questions below, or load the worked example to see a finished one. The drawing updates as you type. Export the result as a PowerPoint deck, a Word document, an Excel workbook, a PDF or plain text.
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Mistakes to avoid
- Delegating the task but not the authority. If every decision still comes back to you, the task has not been handed over.
- Handing a task to someone with high skill and low will without asking why their will is low. It gets done late or badly.
- Only delegating tasks you dislike. People notice, and will falls across the team.
- Leaving the level of authority unsaid. Each side assumes a different level and both end up disappointed.
Where it comes from
The skill/will matrix is from Max Landsberg, The Tao of Coaching (HarperCollins, 1996), and builds on Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership. The levels of authority are the seven in Jurgen Appelo, Management 3.0: Leading Agile Developers, Developing Agile Leaders (Addison-Wesley, 2010): tell, sell, consult, agree, advise, inquire and delegate. Source.
Management 3.0 is a trademark of Management 3.0 B.V. This page describes the levels of authority independently and is not endorsed by Management 3.0 B.V.
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