One of my favourite things to read in the morning at work is the Wikihow’s How To’s for the day. What I love about them are that they are practical, 99% of the time they are helpful and overall, they are great reminders. As I was browsing through the site the other day, I noticed one about delegating work. Hard for some; too easy for others. How does one delegate well?
Some struggle with the feeling that by delegating work to others, their actions would be deemed “bossy”. They may even concern themselves with possible accusations of being “lazy” by staff or fellow co workers. On the other hand, you have those extremely comfortable bosses who love to delegate. They delegate so much of their own work that you sometimes wonder why you aren’t getting their salary. These people feel very comfortable delegating without appreciating the work they are delving onto others.
How to strike a balance? The Wikihow article had some great tips that I would like to share with you all.
1. Choose the candidate to delegate the job to
2. Tell your candidate why you chose them to do the job
3. Explain the benefit to the candidate
4. Let them know what the perfect outcome looks like
5. Give clear deadlines
6. Make help and resources available
7. Create a chain of command
8. Confirm that they understand
9. Arrange communication details
10. Implement back up plans and stand ready to jump in if need be
11. Recognize your helper when it counts
12. Follow up on the completed task
Try these 12 steps out at the office next time you are delegating and see how it improves the process.
~S
