“Workers can often make better decisions than managers if there is trust in the system.”

The 7 Levels of Delegation help to enable and grow this trust.

1. Tell: You make the decision for others and tell them about it. A discussion is neither desired nor assumed
2. Sell: You make the decision for others but try and convince them that you made the right choice and help them feel involved.
3. Consult: You ask for input first, and then take that into consideration, before you make the decision that respects people’s opinions.
4. Agree: You discuss things with everyone involved and trust they will listen to your wise words. As a group, you then reach consensus about the decision.
5. Advise: You offer your opinion and trust they will listen, but you decide that the final decision is the teams and not yours.
6. Inquire: You leave it to the team to decide, and then ask them afterwards to convince you of the wisdom of their decision.
7. Delegate: You leave the decision to the team and don’t worry about the details.