I Wish You Would Just … Delegate a Little
By Todd McDonald

Believe it or not our employees are ready, willing and, in most cases, able to pitch in and help, but we need to ask. Too often we take the word “super” in supervisor literally and think we can do everything. In today’s fast-paced business environment, there is no way we can keep up with everything; we need our employees to pitch in and help.

When delegating, keep the following five steps in mind:

Five Steps to Effective Delegation

1. Assess team member strengths
Take time before you need to delegate to understand the strengths of your employees. If you know their strengths, you can more easily decide whom to delegate when the situation rises. You might also want to consider the personal goals of your employees. Does one of your employees want a specific opportunity? If so, can you offer that opportunity through delegation?

2. Decide what to delegate
This can be the most difficult part of delegating because no one can do the job as well as we can do it ourselves. However, we must realize we can’t do everything. Consider looking at your “to-do” list each morning and instead of deciding what you should do first decide what someone else could do. When deciding what to delegate, consider delegating the following:

• Activities someone else can do as well or better than you.
• A learning opportunity for someone on your team.
• A task that must be done in a short period of time, and you don’t have time to do it.

3. Match employees to the task
If you’ve done your job in Steps 1 and 2 this should be straightforward. Be sure to consider if the employee you are delegating to has the time. If they don’t have the time, your delegated task may fail.

4. Define what is to be delegated
This may be the most important part of the process because if you aren’t clear as to what you expect, the employee, in most cases, will not be successful. The number one reason why employees don’t do what they are supposed to do is they don’t know what is expected.

5. Discuss what support the employee will need
You may have been very clear on your expectations, and your employee may be committed to the task, but if they don’t have the resources to be successful, your delegated task will suffer. Keep in mind resources such as physical supplies or equipment and even access to you for guidance. A final resource critical for you to provide is follow-up throughout the process to make sure they are on the right track.

About Todd McDonald:
Todd McDonald is the president of ATW Training & Consulting, Inc. He is the co-author of two books, “I Wish You Would Just …” and “Finding 100 Extra Minutes a Day.” ATW works with organizations to help unleash human potential through customized programs on customer service, communication, business writing, supervision and leadership.

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