Good managers delegate. They realise that they are not able to do everything themselves so decide which jobs can be handed to other members of their team.Often people feel like they have failed if they need to ask for help, but this is not the case at all. To recognise your limits shows you know yourself well and can recognise when and where help is needed.
Delegating to other people requires trust in the people working in your team. You need to be confident that the person you choose for the job will be able to complete it without being watched over. It’s no good delegating if you then feel you’ve got to check what they are doing every two minutes!
However, failing to delegate could leave you feeling pressured, leading to feelings of stress and unhappiness.
So how do you learn to delegate? Well, it’s not that hard really, you just need to recognise which jobs can be given to someone else and then give them – simple!
When to Delegate
There are, of course, some jobs that can be delegated and some that can’t. To help you decide which jobs you can pass on to others, read through the list of questions below. If you can answer ‘yes’ to at least three of them, it’s a task that you should consider delegating:
Is this a job that should be delegated? Not all jobs, even though they can be delegated, should be – important tasks should really remain your responsibility.
Is there someone else who has the expertise, or could be given the relevant information, to carry out the job? If there is, why not ask them to take over from you, they might even be able to take on the job permanently.
Does the job offer someone else the chance to improve their skills? If you have the time to teach someone else the skills they’ll need to do the job, it’ll benefit you in the long run as, again, you might be able to get that job off your desk for good.
Do you have time to delegate? Do you have the time to give detailed instructions or training to the person you’ve chosen for the job. If you just expect them to get on with it, they may end up doing it wrong and you’ll have to put it right. So, be sure you dedicate enough time to teaching the essentials.
Other Factors That Could Affect Your Decision
But these are not the only factors you should take into consideration, you also need to think about:
How long you’ve got to complete the task – would there be time for the work to be re-done if it’s not right? How essential is it that the work is finished on time and what are the consequences of not completing within the set time scale?
How important is it for the work to be of high quality? It may be that the other person is not able to carry out the work to the same high standards as you.
So, next time you feel pressured and want to reduce that pile of work on your desk, stop, think and decide to delegate!
