DREAM Delegation

Published: Jan 24, 2019

If you have difficulty delegating, you may want to practice DREAM Delegation, a systematic way to organize your thoughts prior to assigning someone a project, suggests Nannette Rundle Carroll in her book The Communication Problem Solver.

The more important the project to be assigned, the more important is Dream Delegation.  

Decide What and Who
• What task/project or portion of a project are you delegating?
• To whom are you selecting to delegate and why?
• What will you tell the delegate about her skills and experience as they relate to the delegated works? 

Resources
• What help will you provide the delegate to do the assignment?
• What access to subject-matter experts, budget, equipment, staff or temporary staff, and materials will be available?
• What will you do to ensure employee gets those resources?
• How and when will you give feedback on progress?
• What kind of coaching and support will you provide?

Expectations
• What is the goal of the work?
• What exactly does a successful outcome look like?
• What will a high-quality job look like in terms of quality, quantity, timeliness, and behaviors that contribute to teamwork?
• Are there other desired results, such as innovation and creativity?
• What will the evaluation criteria for success be?
• What is the budget and specified criteria?
• What is the deadline?
• What happens if critical performance standards are not met on time, within budget, and according to specified criteria?

Authority Level
• What level of authority does the delegate have on this task or project? 
• How much discretion does the delegate have about how to do the task or project?

Monitor with Milestone Reporting
• What are the milestones or check-in points along the way?
• What events or dates will the check-in be?
• Is there a computer system the employee must update?
• What feedback do you want to receive in between check-ins?