Are you delegating effectively?
pharmafile | October 22, 2003 | Feature | Business Services |Â Â delegation, recruitmentÂ
Delegation is a skill of which we have all heard but which few understand completely. It can be used either as an excuse for dumping failure onto the shoulders of subordinates or as a dynamic tool for motivating and training your team to realise their full potential.
Why delegate?
How often have you been driven to comment: 'There just arent enough hours in the day'? One important step in becoming more productive is to stop doing everything yourself.
Delegation allows you to achieve more through the proper selection, assignment and co-ordination of tasks and resources. It also gives you an opportunity to handle aspects of the job that no one else can do. These activities might include project planning and project team involvement, coaching and monitoring team members, and handling personnel issues as they arise. With the right use of delegation, you can focus on doing a few tasks really well rather than too many tasks poorly.
Delegation also offers you more time to focus on developing your own skills and knowledge, thereby enhancing your own potential for promotion while preparing others within your team to be able to assume your role in the future.
For your team members, delegation enables them to assume greater responsibility and develop their skills. A routine task for you may be a growth opportunity for a team member and people perform at their best when they are challenged and stimulated to learn. Delegation also encourages team members to understand and influence the work done by everyone else in the team and to see the bigger picture.
The company benefits too
If both you and your team members benefit from delegation, it follows that the organisation as a whole will also benefit. When you delegate tasks according to the skills and abilities of each individual, the team will function at a higher and more efficient level. Delegation helps you to make the best use of available human resources and achieve the highest possible rate of productivity. In addition, it allows new ideas, viewpoints and suggestions to flourish.
Effective delegation leads to faster, more effective decision-making. An organisation is most responsive to change when those individuals closest to the problems make decisions. As responsibility and decision-making are pushed further down the organisation, better customer service and greater competitiveness ensues.
Effective delegation also leads to greater flexibility within the team. When someone is absent or a crisis requires people to assist with tasks not regularly a part of their jobs, they will be able to step in. Delegation prepares individuals for promotion or rotation of responsibilities.
What to delegate?
What do you delegate and what do you do yourself? You should take a long-term view on this and delegate as much as possible to develop your team to become as good as you are now!
Ask yourself the following questions about particular tasks for which you are accountable:
- Is there someone who can do a specific task better than me? Am I really benefiting from the expertise of my team members?
- Is there someone who, while doing the task slightly differently from me, can still achieve an acceptable level of performance?
- Is there someone who is paid less than me who can do the task satisfactorily, thus lowering the cost of task performance?
- If I can't do the task until tomorrow, is there someone who can do it today?
- Is there someone who would benefit from doing the task, in terms of personal development?
If you are honest with yourself, you will probably be able to answer yes to at least some of these questions. If so, you and your team may well benefit from more effective delegation.
In terms of motivation for your staff, you should distribute the more mundane tasks as evenly as possible and sprinkle the more exciting ones as widely. In general, but especially with the boring tasks, you should be careful to delegate not only the performance of the task but also its ownership.
Task delegation, rather than task assignment, enables innovation. So someone who collates the monthly figures should not feel obliged to blindly type them in every first Monday but should feel empowered to introduce a more effective reporting format.
Effective delegation
Effective delegation is one of the most valuable skills that a regional business/sales manager can develop. Effective delegation reduces your workload and frees up time to do those things that only you can do. You acquire an opportunity to think more strategically and creatively about the achievement of your teams objectives, which in turn boosts your reputation as a manager. Effective delegation develops the skills, knowledge, job satisfaction and commitment of the individual(s) to whom you delegate, thus making your team highly motivated to achieve at the highest level.
How to delegate
Decide what to delegate: determine what can be delegated and what is essential for you to perform.
Find the right person: do they have the time to take on the task and how will it impact on their current responsibilities?
Delegate whole tasks: where possible, delegate a complete task rather than just a small section of a task.
Specify expected outcomes: describe how the assignment fits into the larger picture of both the team's and the company's success.
Delegate, then trust: let them get on with it and allow them to decide whether or not they need your guidance.
Monitor and recognise progress: praise, where appropriate, is a very powerful motivator.
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