Successful Delegation: How, When, Why

Newsletter 30 - 31 August 2005 This is the newsletter for www.mindtools.com. You have received it because you have subscribed to our double opt-in newsletter. This newsletter is published by James Manktelow of Mind Tools Ltd, Hardwick House, Prospect Place, Swindon, SN1 3LJ, United Kingdom. To contact us, please email us from this page.

Contents: In This Issue... Successful Delegation: How, When, Why How to Lead Preview Mind Tools Store Improve Your Workplace A Final Note

In this issue, we look at delegation, an important skill that anyone in a management or leadership role needs to understand and master for career growth and success. As well as freeing up managers' and leaders' time, delegation allows them to develop members of their team, something that is crucial for success - for managers themselves, for team members and for the team as a whole.

Next, we include a short article which shows how improving your workspace can improve your attitude and your performance. This article contains some basic, easy-to-implement points that are sure to help you un-clutter your office and your professional life.

And, as we look to the Sept. 15 launch date of "How to Lead," we give you a sneak peak at what's to come, including a look at the various modules included within the course, all aimed at further identifying and developing the leader within you!

Just another reminder: We encourage you to share the information in these newsletters with anyone in your organization who you think would benefit from it. We also hope you will let us know if there is any topic you would like to see covered, or any applicable service or product you would like to read more about. We remain committed to providing you with tools that help you reach new heights of success and to do this, we rely on your feedback.

Best wishes, and enjoy this issue!

James & Kellie

Successful Delegation: How, When and Why
By Kellie Fowler

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.
                                                                – Author Unknown

The most effective, respected, successful leaders realize early on that, just as they themselves must continue to grow, they must help their team members to reach their fullest potential.

As we explain in “How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You,” (scheduled for a Sept. 15 launch) this requires ongoing coaching and delegation.

Delegate to Take Control of Your Time
Because of this, we take a closer look at delegation in this newsletter. Delegation helps you by freeing you up to focus on the matters that really do require your attention (this is where it’s important for good time and stress management). And it helps you develop your people by freeing them up to use their abilities to the greatest extent (this is where it’s important for effective leadership).

And Delegate to Build Your People
As you probably already know, delegation means giving a certain amount of power to make decisions and complete activities to someone else. What you may not know is that by sharing this responsibility, you enable individuals to grow and to further develop their knowledge, skills and abilities.

Sure, there will be times when, as a leader, you feel that you may save time or effort by simply completing a task or project on your own. After all, by delegating it, you know you’ll have to set aside the time to monitor progress, offer support, communicate, and so on. But, as any successful leader knows, you must resist the urge to do this, for it will thwart even your best leadership efforts and in the long run is sure to spell F-A-I-L-U-R-E!

In the Develop Your Team section (Module 7) of “How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You,” we explain the need to develop your team members and look at how to do this in a way that best suits the learning needs of each individual. And we share with readers the foundation for successful coaching and look at specific delegation strategies that ensure your success and your team’s success. So, let’s devote this newsletter article to discussing the nuts and bolts of delegation, or the How, When and Why behind this strong leadership tool.

Perhaps it is best to start by explaining that good delegation (which takes a certain amount of know-how and practice) stimulates your team members, while allowing you to focus on the high value issues that only you can deal with. This is what we are referring to when we say delegation is a strong win-win tool, without which no leader can be truly successful.

Prepare to Delegate Effectively
Prior to delegating, you need to think some important things through:

1. The specifics of the task or job to be delegated.
   
   
2. The experience, knowledge and skills of the individual as they apply to the delegated task.
   
   
3. How this person works best (including what he or she wants from his or her job, how he or she views the work, and so on.)
   
   
4. The current workload of this person.
   
   
5. The project’s timelines/deadlines, including:
   a) How much time is there available to do the job?
   b) Is there time to redo the job if it’s not done properly the first time?
   c) What are the consequences of not completing the job on time?
   
   
6. Resources for this person as he/she works to complete the task.
   
   
7. Your expectations or goals for the project or task(s), including:
   a) How important is it that the results are of the highest possible quality?
   b) Is an “adequate” result good enough?
   c) Would a failure be crucial?
   d) How much would failure impact other things?
   
   
8. The role you play as the person who is delegating in ensuring the project’s success, through ongoing monitoring, support, coaching, the providing of resources, and so on.
   
   
9. Appropriate mechanisms for controlling the project: For example, precisely when should you set checkpoints and report-backs to make sure that things are going smoothly?

In thoroughly considering these key points prior to delegating, you will find that you will delegate more successfully.

Keeping Effective Controlbr> Now, once you have worked through the above steps, make sure you brief your team member appropriately. Take time to explain why they were chosen for the job, what’s expected from them during the project, the goals you have for the project, all timelines and deadlines and the resources on which they can draw. And agree a schedule for checking-in with progress updates.

Lastly, make sure that the team member knows that you want to know if any problems occur, and that you are available for any questions or guidance needed as the work progresses.

We all know that as managers, we shouldn’t micro manage. However, this doesn’t mean we must abdicate control altogether: In delegating effectively, we have to find the sometimes-difficult balance between giving enough space for people to use their abilities to best effect, while still monitoring and supporting closely enough to ensure that the job is done correctly and effectively.

Providing that you stick to the checkpoints agreed, you should find out early on, for example, if tasks you are delegating to Team Member A would be better delegated to Team Member B. Alternatively, you may find that the deadlines set for the delegated project are not realistic: This means you have plenty of time either to accelerate the project (for example by allocating more effort to it) or to manage the expectations of the customer of the project to expect a later delivery.

The Importance of Full Acceptance
When delegated work is delivered back to you, set aside enough time to review it thoroughly.

If possible, only accept good quality, fully-complete work. If you accept work you are not satisfied with, your team member does not learn to do the job properly.

Worse than this, you accept a whole new tranche of work that you will probably need to complete yourself. Not only does this overload you, it means that you don’t have the time to do your own job properly.

Of course, when good work is returned to you, make sure to both recognize and reward the effort.

As a leader, you should get in the practice of complimenting members of your team every time you are impressed by what they have done. This effort on your part will go a long way toward building team member’s self-confidence and efficiency, both of which will be improved on the next delegated task; hence, you both win.

Just a word of caution: When you first start to delegate, you may notice that people take longer than you do to complete tasks. This is because you are an expert in the field and the person you have delegated to is still learning. Be patient, for if you have chosen the right person to delegate to, and you are delegating correctly, you will find that he or she quickly becomes competent and reliable.

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How to Lead: Newsletter Readers - The First to Know!
Over the last few weeks, we have shared with newsletter readers news of the soon-to-be released Mind Tools course, “How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You.”

By now, you’ve undoubtedly guessed that this project is one we are very excited about. It draws on years of research and has involved nearly a full year of work from a truly global team. As a result, we hope you’ll find it to be a simple but well-balanced and comprehensive course in the essential skills that make you an effective leader.

With the launch scheduled for 15 September, we thought that you would appreciate a quick look at the modules that make up this exceptional course.

The course opens with Module One, “The Meaning of Leadership.” This module helps you understand the meaning of leadership, and corrects many of the misunderstandings that can otherwise undermine it. It emphasizes that if you really want to become a leader, you can. And it helps participants to learn exactly what is needed to become a respected and effective leader in today’s world.

Module Two, or “Get To Know Yourself,” is a self-assessment module. First, it discusses the attributes and behaviors of an effective leader. Then, it gives you five self-assessment tools that help you identify your own leadership strengths and weaknesses. This helps you build self-confidence in areas where you are strong, while simultaneously alerting you to areas where future development is needed.

The “Get to Know Yourself” module is followed by Module 3, which is titled “Get 'The Right Stuff.’” This module shows how effective leaders are characterized by a burning desire to lead, showing how most possess drive and self-confidence. Furthermore, as pointed out in Module 3, most effective leaders are positive, exhibit good self-control, and have a real knack for connecting with people. This important Module shows you how to acquire these essential leadership attributes.

“Generate Winning Ideas,” is the title of Module 4. It shows leaders how to tap into their own creative vision and provides cutting-edge information on how to read trends and react to them. By the end of this Module, readers will be well on the way to constructing their own winning ideas: Ones that will come to inspire their teams.

Module 5, “Get the Power to Rouse,” shows participants how to translate winning ideas into a winning vision, relying on the “right” kind of power and the “right” kind of influence tactics to inspire their teams. This module shows you how to avoid the traps of manipulation and autocratic behavior that cause the downfall of so many leaders. And it shows you how to develop an honest and authentic leadership style that works for the good of the entire team.

Next, Module 6, or “Getting Things Done,” provides the key "execution" skills for turning vision into reality. For, as pointed out in this Module, leadership, vision and motivation are empty without good execution.

And in “Develop Your People,” or Module 7, participants learn how to coach, train and develop team members. This Module helps participants to better appraise people, assess their individual training needs, provide coaching and empower them. This Module also thoroughly details delegating.

The closing Module, “Get the Extra Edge,” provides the extras needed to catapult a career to new heights of success, by showing exactly how to implement difficult change, take calculated risks, network, use diversity as an advantage and, when needed, how to show flexibility.

We’ll be launching “How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You” in our next newsletter. We hope you enjoy it!

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• The Mind Tools E-book: All of the articles on the Mind Tools website in one convenient, easily-downloadable, easily-printable PDF file. We have excluded advertising to enhance clarity and have formatted sections to be easy to read, print and use. More >>
  
  
• Make Time for Success!: Make Time for Success teaches the 39 essential time management and personal productivity techniques that help you bring your workload under control and maximize your effectiveness, so that you can make the most of the opportunities open to you. More >>
  
  
• Design Your Life E-Class: This e-class helps you think through what you want to do with your life, and helps you set the powerful, compelling goals you need to achieve your ambitions.
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Guest Article: Improve Your Workplace, Improve Your Life
By Nicholas Kabarow

What does “quality of life” mean to you?

Most people think of it in terms of lodging, car, financial income, medical services, and social position. That point of view, however, is not fully complete.

Ignoring sleep, many of us spend more than half of our waking lives at work. That is why the level of comfort at your workplace is an essential factor influencing your life. This article helps you improve your working environment.

At work you face three quite different factors influencing your personal comfort and efficiency. The first factor is your relations with other people - subordinates, colleagues, boss, partners, and contractors. The second factor is the physical environment in which you work, and the third is your technological environment.

Many books are devoted to the question of building good relations and proper communications between people. Take a look at “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie and “The 48 Laws of Power,” by Robert Greene to see evidence of this.

Others look at improving your physical working environment. With a little thought to layout, personal effects, use of plants and pictures and so on, you can make your environment much more pleasant.

When people speak about technology, however, they tend to focus on particular solutions aimed at solving a particular problem; usually, they do not pay enough attention to the psychological aspect of how people work with technology. This article focuses on that question.

Office work is mainly processing of information. One simple tool widely used in offices to write or store information on those little “sticky” notes. Sure, it is very natural to write short notes on small pieces of paper and stick them somewhere near you.

The downside of this technology is that your workplace becomes cluttered with those “stickies,” so you begin to see them everywhere: on your monitor, desk, and the wall in front of you.

Now, the real problem here is your inability to quickly find necessary information and control deadlines. The impact of this situation on one’s mentality is quite destructive, yet people continue to use that approach mainly because of its simplicity.

A reasonable way to manage your info is to make use of your personal computer and personal information management software (PIM). A PIM can help you store and find information, plan your time, remind you on scheduled events, etc. It can protect your mind from overstrain, reveal your creativity, and make your life easier.

It is very important to find a PIM that really fits your needs. Below are some useful guidelines you should follow when choosing personal info management software.

Since a PIM is supposed to be used quite intensively, it has to be extremely user-friendly. Try several programs and find the one that you find suits you.

All basic functions of the program should be easily accessible, so you could rapidly take a note, set up a reminder, and check your schedule. Your PIM software should require minimum efforts to operate it; ideally, the number of mouse clicks (and keystrokes) necessary to perform an action should be minimized.

Another useful feature of PIM software is the tracking capability. A history feature is useful to safely store and track your information. And finally, the most important question: how does a program actually remind you? Reminders should be non-annoying; the program should not interrupt your current work even when reminding you.

Spend a reasonable length of time on searching for a suitable PIM; this will spare lots of your time and efforts in the future. PIMs allow you to organize your workplace, reduce your workload, spare your energy, and make you time and efforts more productive. This will greatly contribute to the quality of your life and career.

The bottom line: Since you spend so much time at work, make sure that your workplace is comfortable, pleasant and well-organized. Make sure you do what you can to build good relationships with the people you work with. And make sure that the technology you work with (for example, your PIM) works smoothly and well.

One of the keys to success in your life and career is to enjoy positive emotions and quality of life at work. Good luck to you!

Nicholas Kabarow is a designer and software architect who has developed personal management software for personal use. He can be reached at: http://www.CuteReminder.com/contacts.php.

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A Final Note From James

Thanks to the newsletter reader who requested more information about delegating: We hope the information we provided you about this topic has been useful. Please let us know if you would like additional information or if there is another topic you would like to see covered.

There’s a lot coming up in the next newsletter. In part, this is related to the launch of “How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You”, which we've already mentioned.

You’ll also see quite a number of changes to site design and content, driven by some of the suggestions we received from readers in our June/July survey. Thank you for these, and we hope you find them useful. And in two articles from Kellie, we’ll look at “4MAT” and the “5 Whys” – thinking skills new to Mind Tools.

Best wishes, and until next time!

James & Kellie

James Manktelow & Kellie Fowler

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