7 TIPS TO DELEGATE MORE EFFECTIVELY
I just went through a recent post on LinkedIn : “To Delegate or not to Delegate : that is the question”.
I am not really sure this is where resides the question, but rather think that the challenge is delegating the right things, and not delegating the wrong things. If you don’t get it right, you are too busy, AND finally working on the wrong things. Assigning work to others is an integral part of getting things done efficiently, however many people feel uncomfortable with delegating.
How good is your delegation ?
Business organizations and teams exist for one reason only: to do jobs that are too large, too complex or too fast-changing for any one individual to do on his or her own. So why do so many managers within these organizations still try to do everything themselves?
“I will do the best job here, so I will do it myself.”
“He will resent being asked, thinking I should do the work myself.”
“It’s a boring job, so I will lead by example and do it myself.”
“It will be quicker if I do the job myself.”
These are all common reactions to thinking about delegation. For only a few managers (the real leaders?), delegating comes easily, maybe too easy. For others, and most of them seems to be the so called “perfectionists”, letting go of even the most trivial task is almost impossible.
So in which category do you fall? Don’t be afraid with your honest answer : only 30 percent of managers think they can delegate well, and of those, only one in three is considered a good delegator by his or her subordinates. This means only about one manager in ten really knows how to empower others.
7 Tips for Delegating Effectively…
Here a 7 tips to join those leaders and make sure delegating is done the proper way:
- Delegate the right tasks: There are tasks that only can do. That’s why you’re in that job, in that position. You should be using your time on the most critical tasks for the business, and the tasks that only you can do. Delegate what you can’t do. Also let help people to help you.
- Choose the right person to delegate to: give the work to people who deliver, not the people who are the least busy. This requires hiring people with the right skills. There are some good reason why you people in your team whom reports to you!
- Trust those to whom you delegate: Give the chance to prove you what they can do. You lead them, help them, but let them accomplish and achieve what they have to do. There might be other ways than yours to achieve things.
- Be crystal clear with what needs to be done. Give clear assignments and instructions. Pay attention to balancing between explaining to much details (micro-managing?), and being to vague, not explaining enough and leaving gaps. Think about yourself when you had to learn a few years back…
- Give deadlines and check milestones. This might be a long way. The goal is well define and you will regularly ensure that both of you are on track.
- Give public and written credit. It will inspire loyalty, provide real satisfaction for work done, and become the basis for mentoring and performance reviews.
- Delegate responsibility, authority under accountability. Do not delegate just the task. You also should delegate responsibility and the authority that is tied to, in addition to the specific tasks.
If you do it right, as outlined above, every task will likely be done better than you could do it.
Delegating is an integral key to success !
Delegation doesn’t come naturally to most of us, and we can often think it’s easier and safer to do everything ourselves. Unfortunately, this approach often leads to more stress and less time to work on our priorities.
Delegation is a time management strategy that you must practice. Delegating will challenge your skills in communicating, listening, planning, decision making, and problem solving. It will teach you to build rapport and create productive relationships. You can’t do everything – so decide what you must do yourself and what you can delegate to others. When you learn to delegate effectively, you’ll be rewarded with more time and a more empowered and satisfied staff. Once you get used to delegating and your confidence builds, you can use proactive delegation as an empowerment tool. Plan to delegate larger projects and more decisions. That’s a win-win!
I just want to conclude with the old adage: “Giving a man a fish, feeds him for the day, teaching a man to fish, feeds him for a lifetime.”
Eric LAMBERT
