Delegation
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Getting the help you need, when you need
it
Introduction:
There is a limit to the amount of work that
you can do on your own. There is only so
much value that you can deliver to your
organization without the help of other people.
If you are successful in your career, at
some stage the demands on you will become
greater than you are able to cope with on
your own. As they do, you must learn to
delegate parts of your work to be able to
manage your increased workload, and further
expand the value you can deliver.
Delegation is the skill that you must acquire
to manage this work, and to ensure that
it is successfully delivered. It is also
a skill you can use to bring other people's
expertise to bear in your your work, particularly
in areas where you do not have the skills
or the temperament to do the best possible
job. Furthermore, the transfer of responsibility
involved with delegation develops your staff,
and can increase their enjoyment of their
roles.
Using the Tool:
Delegation involves passing responsibility
for the successful delivery of work to other
people, while retaining a suitable level
of control over the process and the finished
product. To delegate work, go through the
following stages:
Decide What to Delegate:
A good place to start with this is your
Activity Log. Look for tasks in your
Activity Log that can be quickly taught
to someone else, or can be done by someone
else who already has the necessary skills.
Also, look for tasks that can be done better
by someone with a different set of skills.
For example, if you are a self-employed
consultant, a trained bookkeeper is more
likely to do a better job handling your
accounts than you are.
As far as possible, delegate complete jobs.
Complete jobs are much more satisfying to
work on than unconnected fragments of work.
By doing this, you are also more likely
to get back well-thought-out, properly integrated
deliverables.
Find the Right Person to Delegate
to:
Find someone who is capable and willing
to do the work, and who has the time to
do it properly. Ideally, find someone who
is trained to do the job and has been successful
in doing it in the past.
Sometimes you will have to delegate to
someone who does not have the necessary
experience. Where this happens, bear in
mind that inexperienced people will take
time to train and will initially need close
supervision to get the job completed to
the correct standard. You should also expect
that it will take several iterations before
the task is completed satisfactorily, and
should allow time for this in the commitments
you give to other people.
View this as an investment: as this person
learns the job, he or she will complete
it more and more effectively, consuming
less and less of your time.
Explain the Purpose of the Job and
What You Expect:
Explain:
- Why the job needs to be done, and how
this will help the client, the company
or the team;
- What needs to be done and what needs
to be delivered;
- The resources available and the constraints
within which work needs to be carried
out;
- When the work needs to be completed
by;
- The check points during the project
at which you will review progress; and
- Your willingness to give information
or coaching where needed.
Then let go!
Tip 1:
The setting of appropriate check points
is key to effective delegation. By
setting the expectation of what you
want to see at each checkpoint, you
can check the progress that is being
made towards the end goal.
By setting early and regular checkpoints
you can quickly pick up problems,
offer coaching or take corrective
action while there is still plenty
of time for these to be effective.
As you become more confident in the
person you are delegating to, you
can reduce the number of checkpoints
you use and give the person more autonomy
in what they are doing. |
Managing the Job:
Once you have decided to delegate a task
to someone, let him or her get on with it.
Review the project at the agreed project
check points, but do not micromanage the
task: Accept that there may be different
ways of achieving it.
Be available to answer questions or to
give coaching where appropriate.
Meet at the agreed-upon checkpoint times
and review progress. Be aware that you may
need to take contingency action if things
are not going as well as you hoped. Pragmatically
(and particularly when you first delegate
work to someone) you can expect that work
will not be completed fully to your liking.
Leave time for rework if appropriate.
Only Accept Back Good Quality Work:
When a job is delivered back to you, allow
enough time to check it through thoroughly.
If you are able to, only accept it back
when you are satisfied with it: If you accept
back partly completed work, then you will
have to invest time in completing it, and
the person you have delegated to will not
have learned to do the work to the required
standard.
The 80/20 rule holds for many jobs: what
seems like 80% of the work takes 20% of
the time to complete, while what seems like
the remaining 20% of work (which includes
tidying up, polishing and proofing) can
take 80% of the time to complete. If you
accept partially finished jobs, you can
end up taking back a lot of the work you
have delegated.
If Appropriate, Reward the Effort:
If someone has done good work for you, let
that person know. Appropriate praise will
help to build their self-confidence and
efficiency next time they do the job for
you.
Tip
2: When you first start to
delegate work, you will often find
that people take much longer than
you to complete it. This is because
you are an expert at doing the work,
while the person you are delegating
it to is still learning how to do
it. You may even find that you are
spending more time supervising work
than you would take to do the task
yourself. Be patient and persist!
If you choose the right
person to delegate to, and you are
delegating correctly, you will find
that he or she quickly becomes competent
and reliable.
On the other hand, if
the person you delegate is not up
to the job, then they will slow you
down and reduce your ability to manage
your workload. Managing this is a
real chore!
Tip 3:
Don't worry too much about asking
for help. Most managers have been
in the position of having so much
work that they need to delegate some
of it. This is expected when you are
under pressure.
Also, by working with
people and delegating work to them,
you are training them. This increases
the capability of these members of
staff, and therefore often benefits
the organization. |
Summary:
Delegation is an important skill for helping
you to manage a heavy workload. If you do
not delegate, you will quickly reach a stage
where you stop progressing in your career
because you simply cannot take on any more
work.
Use this process when you delegate work:
- Decide what to delegate;
- Find the right person to delegate to;
- Explain the purpose of the job and
what you expect;
- Let the delegated person get on with
the job and review work at appropriate
checkpoints;
- Only accept back good quality work;
and
- If appropriate, reward the effort.
The next
article helps you manage the stress
of problem jobs...
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