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Effective delegation management

31 March 2009

As a business coach and mentor working in the Midlands and London, I am constantly involved in helping business owners, directors and managers create more effective management . This article will provide a structure and a process that will help you have more effective management by delegating more effectively, get the results that you need, create more time for yourself and give someone the opportunity to learn, grow and gain more experience.

After reading this tip sheet, you will:

• have an excellent understanding about what constitutes the delegation process
• know what to look for in someone to whom you need to delegate a project or responsibility
• be able to offer assistance and feedback at the right times to ensure that you are delegating and not abdicating
• ensure that the person to whom you have delegated some work gets the maximum out of the process
• know that you need to have regular feedback sessions to ensure that the project is on track

Effective Management through Delegation

How often do you need a job to be done by someone else, but you think it is easier just to get on and do it yourself, rather than to delegate?

The problem of delegation is not the fault of the person to whom you could delegate, but usually the fault of the person wishing to delegate – mainly due to a lack of clear communication about what’s required. Here’s some of my tips for successful delegation:

1. List everything that you could delegate in your job and against each item put the name to whom you could delegate the task.

2. Before delegating set your expectations and ensure that the recipient understands that:

• the task to be completed and the outcome you expect
• how they should approach the task, letting them decide how to do it
• they will be provided with the resources/training to complete the task
• their progress will be monitored during feedback sessions
• they are accountable for the success of the task

3. The first time you delegate start with something easy and build up to more complex tasks

4. Provide constructive feedback and suggestions, by using the “feedback sandwich technique”, (see other article) to the person that carried out the work so that they can apply what they learned to future tasks.

5. Delegate sufficient authority for the person to be able to complete the task, but ensure that they don’t abuse their newly-invested powers.

6. Make sure that to keep everybody on track that at the beginning you and all concerned:

• write down the details of the task
• agree the action steps and dates
• that the diaried dates for feedback sessions are written into or typed into diaries
• know what the final outcome is and when
• have a copy of all the notes, dates, goals and areas of responsibility

7. Don’t watch over the person doing the delegated task – this is off-putting – but do be available if there are any questions relating to the task.

8. Give support and direction, but don’t actually get involved in doing the task.

9. Ensure you praise the person for the work that has been completed. If there are any problems sort them out during the feedback sessions by finding out exactly what prevented the person from completing the task to the agreed specification at each stage

10. Review and evaluate the completed task. You should expect results, but not perfection. It also doesn’t matter exactly how the task was completed, in fact it is great learning for all concerned if they don’t do it “your way” and find a better way of doing the task.