Mike Lyons explains Delegation Poker, a tool that aligns managers and teams on who decides what. The technique ranks decisions on seven levels from Tell to Delegate, then uses voting and discussion to move decisions toward the target level.
Jurgen Apello, the author of Management 3.0, said, I don't empower people to please them. I empower people to make better decisions than me. Most leaders recognize that teams that are empowered are more effective. But does empowerment mean that every decision has to be completely decentralized? Does it mean that no decisions should be made by a manager? Well, certainly not. So how then do we reason through which decisions should be delegated and and to what degree? Delegation Poker offers a practical, effective and dare I say, fun approach to answering these questions. Let's start by looking at the seven delegation levels. Level one is tell the manager makes the decision and explains the rationale, but no discussion is required or requested. Level two, sell the manager makes a decision, but then tries to persuade the team on the direction so that they feel involved and bought in on the decision. Level three is consult the manager, solicits input from the team and then makes the decision considering that input. Level four is agree the manager and the team will discuss the decision and we will make a consensus based decision before we move on. Level 5 is advise the manager offers their opinion and hope they listen. But the decision is ultimately made by the team. Level six is inquire. The decision is left to be made by the team, but afterward the manager will ask for some explanation of the decision. And level seven, the last one is delegate. The decision is fully left to the team. There is no manager involvement in any way, shape or form. So now that we know the seven delegation levels, let's play some Delegation Poker. Delegation Poker begins by compiling a list of decisions to be analyzed. Each of these items is then placed on the Delegation Poker board. Now you'll want to note that these should be recurring decisions. Things that happen over and over again that need to be decided, not point in time, things that need to have a decision made on them. Right then. Next, the team and managers will convene online or in person and begin discussing the first item. Once everyone has had time to reflect on that recurring decision, they pick the delegation card that most closely represents how those decisions are being made today, the current state, and then on the count of three, everyone exposes their chosen card and a discussion follows. Now, there's often a disconnect between what the team generally thinks the delegation level is and what the manager thinks it is. And this first step in the process gets everyone on the same page about the current delegation level. Now, once there's consensus, you mark that current delegation level with the check mark on the delegation Poker board and we start the next step. The next step is to determine if the current delegation level is the right one or if it needs to be changed. And we do that by voting again. This time, team members and managers will pick a delegation card that represents where they think the delegation level should be, not what it currently is, but what it should be. On the count of three, everyone shows the new card. And just like in planning poker, the outliers are discussed and you get some insight into the thought process behind the card that they chose, and the group eventually comes to a consensus about what the new delegation level should be. Once that's been decided, we'll mark the new target on the delegation board and then capture any relevant actions that need to be taken to move toward this new delegation level. And then we repeat this process for all of the remaining decisions. So that's it, guys. That is delegation poker. A practical and effective technique for empowering teams. If you guys liked what you saw here, head on over to Kairise.com and check out Agile Foundations. It's the world's first on demand IC Agile Certified Professional Course.
