Someone once said about delegation:
‘Even “Super You” needs help and support. There is no shame in asking for assistance. Push aside the pride and show respect for the talent others can bring to the table.
And, remember that there is no such thing as a single-handed success: when you include and acknowledge all those in your corner, you propel yourself, your teammates and your supporters to greater heights.’
Anonymous
This quote pretty much sums up how we feel about delegation at Business Training – you should never, ever be afraid of asking for help. Especially if you are starting to feel overwhelmed by the pressure of the work you’ve been assigned. Getting into this situation will only make it harder – the stress will make it difficult for you to concentrate and produce your best work, adding to your worries. Delegation is a way to ease the pressure.
When is it appropriate to delegate?
Learning when it’s appropriate to delegate is a key part of getting into this useful habit. And, if you are having trouble working out when it is and isn’t appropriate, these five questions, taken from his Mindtools article should help:
• Is there someone else who has (or can be given) the necessary information or expertise to complete the task? Essentially, is this a task that someone else can do, or is it critical that you do it yourself?
• Does the task provide an opportunity to grow and develop another person’s skills?
• Is this a task that will recur, in a similar form, in the future?
• Do you have enough time to delegate the job effectively? Time must be available for adequate training, for questions and answers, for opportunities to check progress, and for rework if that is necessary.
• Is this a task that I should delegate? Tasks critical for long-term success (for example, recruiting the right people for your team) genuinely do need your attention.
If you can answer ‘yes’ to some of the questions above – it doesn’t have to be all of them – then you should consider delegating the job to someone else. However, you must think carefully about who you’ll delegate to, as choosing the wrong person could end up in you having to do the work again!
Some other factors you need to consider when delegating are:
• When is the deadline for completion of the work?
• Do you have the time to teach the chosen delegate what they need to know to perform the job adequately?
• Will you have time to re-do the job if the person you delegate it to messes up?
• What happens if the job is not completed by the stated deadline?
There are also some things you need to think carefully about when choosing the person you want to delegate to. First and foremost you need to think about whether they are the most suitable candidate. Ask yourself:
• Do they have the skills needed to complete the job or will you need to spend hours training them?
• If you need to train them, do you have the time to do it?
• Are you able to leave that person to work by themselves or will you need to supervise?
• Does the person you are thinking of delegating to have time to do the work?
Once you’ve chosen the right person for the job you need to learn how to delegate in the right way – we’ll cover that next week.
Written by Shelley Bowers
