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Learn More About Why Effective Delegation Can Help Managers


By Martin Haworth

As a manager, it's useful to understand what delegation is and how valuable it can be for you. In fact, any business is usually run by managers operating at various levels who all need to delegate authority and tasks to their team members, so that they themselves can handle more relevant activities.

Some tasks are delegated as a matter of routine, while others are so important that managers decide these kinds of tasks more suitable for their personal attention and hence will not be delegated. It is therefore important to ensure that you know which tasks are appropriate for delegation and those which should not be.

You must also appreciate that there is a right way to delegate things and a wrong way to delegate tasks. The wrong way will lead to failure, whilst the correct ways will ensure success.

It is necessary for you to provide the context within which the work is to be performed. This in turn will mean that you will need to explain the reasons why you need the work done and its importance to the bigger picture of your workplace. Finally, it's worth sharing where there could be difficulties along the way and how these should be dealt with - if and when the complications arise.

The key to valuable delegation lies in being determined that you do not abdicate your responsibilities. And this in turn will mean that you need to realize that it is not enough to just ask someone to perform a task and then forget about the task or the individual who will be doing the job for you. In fact, delegating tasks involves managing risk and also micromanaging it, yet not the person!

One vital thing you must do in order to delegate tasks or responsibilities, is make a list of activities that are worth delegating. Then you will need to find a team member who you feel is best suited to doing the job at hand. Once you have that person in mind, you must then meet with them and identify the objectives and then create a clear plan of action (which should be realistic).

However, even after delegating work/authority your job will not end there because you are, after all, going to be held responsible for the outcome for that you have delegated. You will always need to ensure that the work delegated is performed according to your high standards.

As a matter of fact, many companies view delegating tasks to be a means of developing an employee's capabilities. When you delegate you will be giving an employee more responsibility, which in turn can act as a motivating force for them to complete the task in the manner you require.

At the same time you will find that your team of workers will also, once they get the hang of doing the things you have delegated to them, start becoming much more productive too, whilst enjoying these new challenges all the more.

By keeping your expectations realistic of the employees to whom you are delegating work to start with, they will grow into delegated tasks with confidence.

A good manager who delegates, will be able to manage better and those entrusting new and interesting tasks will be more motivated and committed to their work - and an amazing win-win that works for all.

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