The first rule of management is delegation. Don’t try and do everything yourself because you can’t.–Anthea Turner
Is delegating work part of your role as a leader? We hope so. Effective leaders are effective delegators. Why?
**Delegation frees time and provides an opportunity to develop others**
As leaders, we frequently spend too much time doing tasks; we are working in the business instead of on the business. As leaders we need to step back from the tactical work and spend more time on strategic thinking and innovation, and more time coaching and developing others.
There are numerous reasons for not effectively delegating.
The most common are not trusting that the job will get done to our satisfaction, discomfort with assigning a boring task, or feeling guilty that the workload will be too great.
Here are some tips to help:
Plan your delegations – Assess the strengths of your delegate, match the assignment accordingly.
Provide clear, documented instructions and due dates.This prevents misunderstandings and if the task is new to your delegate, they can refer back to your instructions.
The best delegators provide the “what and when”, and leave the “how” to the individual which is more empowering and motivating.
Assess how long the task would take you and build in extra time for your delegate; obtain buy-in that the deliverable date is realistic.
Ensure your delegate has the appropriate resources they need to be successful. Inform staff, co-workers, business partners, etc of your delegated role.
Follow-up and monitor the progress; you may be needed to add clarity to the task or be nothing more than a sounding board.
Acknowledge the contributions of your delegate and provide constructive feedback for areas of growth.
Effective delegation increases morale, builds your talent pool, and strengthens trust within your organization.
Are you an effective delegator?
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If you delegate authority, you will build leaders.–Craig Groeschel