Steps to Effective Delegation
Delegation isn't only about telling someone what to do and how to do it. There are varying levels of freedom that you can give to your employees. The more reliable and experienced the person is, the more freedom and responsibility you can give them.
The tougher the task, the more precautions you need to take about delegating too much, especially if the job or your reputation depends entirely on getting good results. Being one of the most important management skills, effective delegation is based on logical techniques and rules. Good delegation will help to save time, and develop, groom and motivate good employees.
Delegation is very useful for personal development and succession planning. It allows you as a business owner to become more experienced and will enable you to take on more responsibilities. Effective delegation is crucial for succession planning.
As the person delegating tasks, it is very important for you to make sure that delegation takes place properly. Managing the way you delegate tasks is one of the key skills of a good manager.
Simple Steps for Effective Delegation
- Define the task at hand — Make sure that the task at hand is suitable for being delegated. Ask yourself if it meets the criteria for delegation.
- Select a team or an efficient individual — What are the reasons for you to delegate the task to a certain team or individual? How are they going to benefit from doing this? How will you benefit out of this?
- Assess their abilities — Is the team or individual capable of carrying out this task? Do they really understand the task? If they don't, then you need to either re-explain the task or rethink your decision to delegate it.
Delegation can be scary — but by doing it more often, you will be more productive and your business more efficient.
