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4 Simple Steps to Successful Delegation
by Inez Ng
Published on this site: July 29th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
Last month, my featured article was about creating a "Stop
Doing" list. Hopefully, if you followed my suggestion,
you now have a list of tasks that you are looking to delegate
away. It seems a natural progression that I now disclose a
few simple steps that will ensure your foray into delegation
is a success.
- Choose the right "delegatee"
Review the task and determine what skills are required.
Delegation goes much more smoothly if you match the person
with the appropriate skill set to the task you have to assign.
Now if you don't have a candidate that has all the skills
you are looking for, decide which is the most critical one
(analytical ability, attention to detail, communications
skills) and make that match.
One of the rewards of delegation is the opportunity to help
someone develop and grow. It is unlikely that you will always
have a candidate that you can hand off something to and
not have to provide some training or coaching. But learning
to empower your employees will reap big rewards as their
confidence grows with their abilities, and delegation becomes
easier and easier, and your "Stop Doing" list
gets longer and longer.
- State your expectations clearly
When you assign a task, be very clear about the deliverables
you expect, and qualify your expectations as much as possible.
As a minimum, you need to communicate the "what"
and the "when". For example: "I want these
invoices entered into my database by 5pm tomorrow".
Then, start adding qualifications to your request, such
as: "Please make sure that the expense categories are
correct, and if you are unsure, ask me and I will clarify
for you because I want the reports to be accurate."
In addition to communicating about the "what"
and "when" of an assignment, I recommend that
you also include information on the "why". For
example: "I need the monthly recap report done by 5pm
tomorrow because I have a meeting with client X the following
morning and need the information, so it is really critical
that I have it." Often, we assume that others should
know what we expect. But if you have a new working relationship
with someone, that is probably an unfair expectation. So,
take a few minutes to think about what you need to communicate
to save both of you a lot of aggravation, and possibly rework.
- Choose an appropriate oversight level
No one wants to work for a micro-manager, but some managers
are too hands-off when it is inappropriate. Note the skills
and experience level of your employee and adjust your oversight
level accordingly. The first couple of times they handle
a complicated task, you may want to check in more frequently.
After a few months, you could probably ease off on your
involvement as their knowledge and confidence increases.
- Provide feedback effectively and often
Once in a while, we get really lucky and have someone supporting
us who does things perfectly the first time. But that scenario
doesn't happen too often. However, we can get the employee
to the perfection level by providing appropriate feedback.
Tell them very specifically what they did well ("Your
accuracy is great. I rarely, if ever, find a mistake in
your work. Keep it up."), and what they need to improve
on ("I really needed the monthly recap report for Company
X done yesterday. I had a meeting with them this morning,
and was not able to provide them with the latest information.
That reflects poorly on my service. I need you to let me
know when you cannot meet a deadline I have given you. Will
you do that?")
Specific, constructive feedback is the most effective way
to improve performance. Even if you have a "star"
employee, you still need to provide the feedback so that
they will maintain their high level of performance. Work
on giving more positive feedback. If the only time you provide
feedback is when you are unhappy, your employees are not
going to be very eager to talk with you.
Follow these simple steps and dive right into delegation.
As you become more successful in delegating, you will feel
more confident in adding to your "Stop Doing" list.
Then use your time on something much more impactful for your
business, or much more pleasurable for you.
Inez Ng, Leadership coach, helps busy professionals
and entrepreneurs get better results quickly. Learn more about
coaching with her at http://www.realizationsunltd.com
Want to learn how to spend less time managing email? Check
out her ebook at http://www.easyemailstrategies.com
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