Effective Delegation Skills is a Leadership requirement that Organizations looks for in able leaders of today. The perks of having this skill - it saves time, develops people, grooms down-line and successors, and motivates to perform thus fetching the desired results. When the opposite happens, which is poor delegation or ineffective delegation, it demotivates the team, makes them directionless, causes frustration and confusion leading to undesirable consequences.
But is delegation as easy as it seems? The answer is NO. Most people will agree that although effective delegation is an important leadership skill, delegating to others is not only time-consuming and stressful, sometimes it is not even worth the effort, until one learns the art of delegation.
Delegation is a management skill that's worth improving. But it takes time, patience and a deep understanding of people to make it successful in the long run. When a leader learns to delegate tasks in the right manner, with the right person, then delegation can not only be a powerful tool for workplace efficiency, but one that is necessary for keeping up with the kind of competition we have today. Successes are always a Team Effort.
If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate ……John C. Maxwell. Leaders become successful leaders when they learn to successfully delegate.
What is Delegation?
Delegation is using the power of other people’s expertise. If we work on our own, there’s only that much we can do. However, if we’re good at our job, people will want much more from us which can lead to work pressure and work overload: However much we try, we cannot do everything that everyone wants, and this can leave us stressed, unhappy, and feeling that we’re letting people down.
That’s not a good feeling, right? However, if we can find a way around this situation, we can be genuinely successful! And the way round this situation is to ask for help…. TO DELEGATE!!
For a manager, deciding what not to do is as important as knowing what and how much should be done by himself and how much, who and what to delegate. Delegating responsibilities, increases productivity, morale, and commitment of the team, all of which impact company culture.
Before we learn how to delegate, we will first understand why people don’t delegate
It’s quite simply because initially it takes a lot of effort to do so. After all, what is easier: delegating or doing the job ourselves?? We know the requirement, inside-out. Let me tell you, that is not true. We think we can do all the jobs ourselves and better but there are two key reasons why it is probably better to delegate the task to someone else:
First, our skills are better used for other priorities, other projects. By doing all the work ourselves, we’re failing to make the best use of our time and skills.
Second, by involving other people in the project, we develop our team-member’s skills and abilities. By doing this, we are only making ourselves stronger, our team stronger. Next time we get a similar project, we can delegate the task with a higher degree of confidence, knowing that our team will do a good job.
Delegation is a win-win situation when done appropriately. However, that does not mean that we can delegate just about anything.
For example:
We cannot delegate a task which is critical or confidential. We do it ourselves
We cannot delegate a task which does not provide the other person an opportunity to grow and develop their skills?
What must we delegate?
Delegating some of your routine tasks may not only give you some relief, it immensely helps business/organisations in the long run.
Although delegation of tasks can vary as per positions, departments, organisations and businesses, here we show some daily tasks a business owner/manager might consider delegating.
Accounting: delegate daily tasks, such as making and sending out invoices, creating a database of daily financial information, managing payroll and maintaining records
Administrative/Secretarial tasks: Managing calendars, travel bookings, scheduling appointments, making phone calls, sorting out physical mail and emails
Customer Care: As business grows so does customers and customer queries and complaints. Obviously a business owner or manager cannot attend to all the calls. Hence it would make sense to delegate this task to an employee
Database Management: Data entry is still required for some tasks, especially for business development. Nowadays, there are various software that can help out in this area and make this work simpler
Sales & Marketing: Even though the overall marketing strategy and plans would be decided by you, to carry out the activities will need a good amount of delegation. Delegate the daily aspects of the job to able marketers and salesmen
Apart from these daily tasks and more, as per relevant businesses, you could also delegate tasks which involve packaging and shipping, taking orders, production, managing your digital space, and so on.
Now the next step is ‘How must we Delegate?’
Delegation is an art. When we delegate…
Clearly articulate the desired outcome. Begin with the end in mind
Delegate to the people who are best suited for the task. This also increases efficiency
Empower them. Match the amount of responsibility with the amount of authority
Provide adequate support, and be available to answer questions. You cannot wash our hands off and say ‘now it’s their baby’ or ‘now the ball is in your court’.
Focus on results - good quality, fully-complete work. Build motivation and commitment. Recognize a job well done
But understand one thing…when you delegate, establish and maintain control.
Although the work has been delegated, ultimate responsibility of getting the desired result is yours
Follow these few simple steps while delegating and you will be able to delegate with ease and get more work done in the process.
Delegation is a skill which can be adopted anywhere, be it our home, workplace, for some social cause, anywhere. We all need help and support and there is no shame in asking for assistance. Remember that there is no such thing as single-handed success. Every success is a Team Effort. To grow and help others grow - delegate.
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