In teams, departments, or projects, it’s often unclear how much responsibility is actually being delegated, leading to confusion: one person wants to be more informed, while another thinks they have a lot of leeway. Some employees may prefer not to make decisions out of caution. Meanwhile, managers may complain about employees who seem to shirk responsibility. Delegation Poker playfully creates transparency and clarity regarding decision-making autonomy and responsibilities.
Empower Employees, relieve Leaders
Many companies are heavily influenced by hierarchies. As a result, not all employees feel comfortable asking for clarification on what freedoms they have in completing a task. It can be surprising to see how much responsibility employees feel capable of taking on and how eager they are for independent action and decision-making. Delegation Poker makes this visible.
Support Self Organisation
The common belief about delegation is often: either I do it, or you do it. But between strict instruction and full delegation, there are many shades of grey. Delegation Poker helps you and your team become more aware of these nuances in delegating responsibility. It supports self-organisation within the team. When there’s clarity about the level of responsibility, everyone feels more confident in execution. This shared understanding reduces hesitation and creates more space for action.
This is how #Delegation Poker works
Delegation Poker is about making the scope of responsibility for a task or project discussable. Using a set of cards, participants "bet" on the level of delegation or responsibility being taken on. When discrepancies arise between the task giver and the task taker, that’s actually a good thing – because without the poker exercise, these discrepancies would still exist, but neither party would be aware of them, leading to unvoiced expectations that one party fails to meet. When discrepancies are identified, they are discussed, and a second round of poker is played. The goal is to reach a unanimous agreement. After a mutually agreed-upon time, the team reflects on how the distribution of responsibilities is functioning.
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ShareMany companies are heavily influenced by hierarchies. As a result, not all employees feel comfortable asking for clarification on what freedoms they have in completing a task. It can be surprising to see how much responsibility employees feel capable of taking on and how eager they are for independent action and decision-making. Delegation Poker makes this visible.
The common belief about delegation is often: either I do it, or you do it. But between strict instruction and full delegation, there are many shades of grey. Delegation Poker helps you and your team become more aware of these nuances in delegating responsibility. It supports self-organisation within the team. When there’s clarity about the level of responsibility, everyone feels more confident in execution. This shared understanding reduces hesitation and creates more space for action.
Delegation Poker is about making the scope of responsibility for a task or project discussable. Using a set of cards, participants "bet" on the level of delegation or responsibility being taken on. When discrepancies arise between the task giver and the task taker, that’s actually a good thing – because without the poker exercise, these discrepancies would still exist, but neither party would be aware of them, leading to unvoiced expectations that one party fails to meet. When discrepancies are identified, they are discussed, and a second round of poker is played. The goal is to reach a unanimous agreement. After a mutually agreed-upon time, the team reflects on how the distribution of responsibilities is functioning.
Know someone who’d love this hack?
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