subject: Effective delegating skills can be the secret to leadership success [print this page] Effective delegating skills can be the secret to leadership success
In what could come as music to many a manager's ears, the key to managing effectively is in not actually doing your work, but instead allocating it effectively amongst your employees. Okay, so in actuality this may be only partly true. Obviously as a manager there's a vast range of determinants that influence the status of success you could reach. Still, a major string any manager should have to their bow is the power to effectively man-manage. An essential segment of man-management is delegation.
By bestowing delegation as a critical management skill, leaders can considerably decrease their workload and focus their attention either on assisting workers to be able to do the tasks or to work on more important and pressing ventures. Alternatively, there is a risk that that if a leader is too buried by their own workload, they will not be capable to delegate effectively and therefore enter an ostensibly everlasting downward spiral of work and stress, which will simply grow worse over time. Efficient delegation can fix this.
Delegation can also be delegated, by warranting a subordinate to make choices on the leader's behalf, effectively shifting the choice-making control from one organisational level to one that is below.
The facility to master the art of delegation would hugely affect a manager's capability to move forward in their career. The growth of the workforce is a crucial determinant in company-wide prosperity.
On the other hand, leaders should be cautious not to delegate bad or demotivating projects for the sake of it, to meanly escape needing to do it themselves. They should also stay away from micromanaging tasks or controlling exactly how the work should be carried out - if this is the case then they might as well have done the task themselves rather than including themselves as well as another individual. 'Abdication' and 'dumping' might leave workers demoralised and bitter and therefore play no role in an efficient delegation plan of action.
Six guidelines for efficient delegation:
Choose the right tasks to delegate - as a general rule of thumb, only delegate tasks that do not need judgement. You're in the position of manager because your judgement is trusted.
Choose the right person for the job - choose a delegate whose capabilities parallel the set of skills required for the task.
Be apparent in your communication - make clear precisely what it is you you want from the subordinate. Intermittently taking a look at the progress of the work is essential to ensure the assignment is proceeding as you would've liked.
Ensure each person has the right tools and the necessary knowledge for the work. Added authority should motivate staff, but not if they feel out of their depth with the task at hand.
Establish accountability - be sure the subordinate is aware of when the deadline is as well as the importance of being sure that it has been completed by then, for example the consequences if it's late. As it was your original decision to delegate the job, the blame will fall on your shoulders if the work has not been finished on time.
Provide on-going feedback and communication - check on the progress of the job to ensure it will be finished to the standard needed and in time.
