Excerpted from read Executive Report: The 7 Essential Steps to Delegating Successfully
Delegating can
provide a manager with many advantages. That doesn't mean it's wise to delegate
just anything anytime. When done randomly and without thinking it through,
delegation can be a disaster.
So, first, be
sure to determine when delegation is the best course of action. To do that,
start by asking five key questions:
- Is there someone
else who I believe has what it takes - background, expertise, information, etc.
- to do the job? Absent that, is there someone I can get up to speed quickly to
take over the job?
- Does the task
provide an opportunity to grow and develop another person's skills, or am I
just foisting off an unpleasant task on someone else?
- Is this a task
that that's likely to come up again, so that if I invest time in someone, I'll
get multiple payoffs?
- Do I have enough
time to delegate the job effectively? If there's no time for training, feedback
and, yes, an occasional redo, I may be asking for trouble.
- Is this a task
that I should delegate? Let your instincts decide which responsibilities must
stay under your control.
Other factors to
take into consideration:
- How crucial are
deadlines? What are the consequences of not completing the job on time?
- Is
"good" good enough? In other words, could you get by with slightly
lower quality for the sake of delegation? If not, you'll have to have full
confidence in the person to deliver at the highest level.
- What are the
consequences of failure? Handing over the job could increase that possibility.
No one accepts failure, but you have to accept the possibility and be prepared
to deal with it.
Delegating is key
to becoming a great manager. To get more help, read the Executive Report: The 7 Essential Steps to Delegating Successfully
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