All managers and leaders should master the art of delegation. Understanding how and when to delegate responsibility to others is essential to maintaining a high level of productivity, both personal and organizational. Knowing how to delegate is also a necessary step for effective leadership.
Learning how to delegate means building a cohesive team that is effective and capable of meeting deadlines; In addition, knowing when and how to delegate work will reduce your workload, improve your well-being at work, and enhance your job satisfaction; Unfortunately, many leaders do not know how to delegate properly or are reluctant to do so.
In this guide, you’ll discover what delegation entails, how your team benefits from the tasks being delegated, and how you can delegate work effectively.
Importance of delegation:
A successful leader knows how to delegate; When you delegate some of your work, you free up your time and achieve more daily; Effective delegation also enhances productivity within the team by drawing on its members’ existing skillset, allowing them to develop new knowledge and competencies along the way; The result is a more flexible team that can share roles and perform various tasks when needed.
When you are ready to mandate, you foster an atmosphere of trust and confidence; Your actions send a clear signal that you are a leader and you trust your subordinates to achieve the desired results. As a result, they will think of you as a likable and influential leader who respects their skills and needs.
Delegating is not about issuing orders in the hope that your employees will follow them. A manager’s job is to get the best out of those under his supervision, which increases productivity and profit.
Careful delegation helps identify and capitalize on the unique strengths and weaknesses of team members, and promotes employee engagement; That’s because it proves that managers are interested in drawing on their talents.
Why are people afraid of delegating tasks?
While delegation enhances productivity, not all managers are willing or able to take it. Here are some common reasons for this:
Hate the idea that someone else might get credit for a project.
They are willing to mandate in principle, but fear that their team will not be able to assume an additional degree of responsibility.
They think their employees are already stressed, and they don’t want to overburden them.
They think that doing a task on their own is easier and faster.
They hate the idea of giving up on the tasks they enjoy.
They fear that if they delegate responsibility, their manager will conclude that they cannot handle their workload.
The difference between delegation and assignment of tasks:
Most people think that delegation and assignment are synonymous, but there is an important difference between the two; When you assign a task, you guide the subordinates to do a specific action, and you tell them what to do; As for delegation, it includes transferring some of your work and special tasks to another person, so that he not only receives a set of instructions, but is placed in a role in which decisions are required to be asked about their results.
How do you delegate tasks effectively? What’s the best way to fight fear of delegation, build a successful team, and work faster?
Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Know when to delegate:
By understanding how much control you must maintain in a situation, you can determine the best strategy for employee empowerment. There are 7 levels of delegation that offer workers different degrees of responsibility.
Delegation occurs at different levels, and the lowest level of delegation occurs when you tell others what to do, as this provides little opportunity for employees to try new methods; The most empowering form of delegation occurs when you are able to give up most of your control over the project and pass it on to the employee.
Knowing how to delegate work helps you understand how to connect people with the tasks that make the most of their talents, and doing it right ensures you get the best end result.
When deciding how to delegate work, ask the following questions:
Should you be in charge of the task, or could someone else get it done?
Does it take your attention to succeed?
Will this work help the employee develop his skills?
Do you have time to teach someone how to do the job?
Do you expect to repeat tasks of this nature in the future?
- Determine the best person for the job:
You have to pass the torch on (delegate the task) to the appropriate team member so he can get up and running. Your goal is to create a situation in which you – your company and the employee – have a positive experience.
Think about the team members’ skills, willingness to learn, their work styles and interests, as they would be able to do the work more effectively if they were able, cooperative, and interested; So give the employee a chance to demonstrate their strengths if possible.
Inexperienced employees may need more guidance than seasoned employees; And if you don’t have the time to prepare the new employee to be successful, it isn’t fair to delegate tasks to them.
You also need to think about how busy your employees are, as you should not confuse someone by giving them too many responsibilities.
- Provide feedback and feedback to gain member support:
After finding the ideal person for the job, you must enable them to take on the new burdens of responsibility.
Let him know why you chose you for this job; When you show others that you support their progress and development, a culture of trust is built between you, and they see delegated tasks as opportunities for advancement.
When working with new employees, express your desire to provide ongoing support and feedback, and take the ideas and experiences of seasoned employees into account.
