A key area for improving time management is delegation. When you keep a time log, you may find that many activities, which are eating into your time, should not be done by you at all!
For more in-depth coverage of delegation, we can arrange Effective Delegation Skills course with content tailored to meet your requirements.
It is important that you ask three questions in relation to each of your activities.
- What am I doing that need not be done at all?
- Which of my activities could be done by somebody else as well, if not better?
- What am I doing that wastes the time of others?
Why delegate?
Many managers see delegation as the answer to all their time management worries and almost as the quick fix we are all seeking. It isn’t!!
Successful and effective delegation involves giving a task to someone else ensuring that they know what’s expected and when it’s expected. Delegation is not the dumping of an unwanted task on unsuspecting members of staff with no instruction!
The result of effective delegation should be a saving of your own time so you can reallocate that time for more developmental tasks as well as:
- a saving of other people’s time
- developing the people you manage
- developing your competencies as a manager
See delegation as an investment of time now to save time later!
Delegation skills
- Know the strengths and limitations of your people
- Delegate responsibility not accountability
- Delegate WHOLE tasks
- Delegate in a fair way even if it means taking more time with individuals to develop skills
- Always check that an individual knows what’s expected. Be sure to be clear and specific
- Give as much responsibility as you can, making sure to take into consideration who, what, why and how
- Ensure the necessary resources are available to do the task
- Indicate that you are available for support whilst also allowing people get on with the task
- Be prepared for the fact that the task may not be carried out as you would have done it
- Give the person feedback on his/her work
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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on October 26th, 2007 | No Comments »
Here’s a simple checklist to help you to delegate more effectively. These strategies are explored in greater depth on our Effective Delegation Skills training course
- Analysis of the task
First and foremost decide if the task is appropriate for delegation. For instance make sure that it isn’t anything that you alone have been trained to do. What is also very necessary for you to bare in mind is that you must choose the right person for the job, you can’t be biased towards this sort of thing otherwise it will undoubtedly be your downfall. If there is no one capable then I’m afraid the responsibility falls to you to do it once again. But remember delegation is as much a reflection of you as it is on the people you delegate to, as it shows your ability to judge people correctly and can often be a marking that you are capable of this on a larger scale
- Make sure that there is a firm understanding of what needs to be done and why.
The person or people who give the job to should be fully aware of any responsibilities and expectations that come with it. Make sure that they know what sort of a priority this task is and why they were chosen. From the beginning state what you expect and what needs to be achieved, the person or team you have assembled should be under no pretences about what the results should be and when the deadline is. Similarly your team should be properly equipped with the resources and/ or equipment that they will need to get the job done.
Also it is vital at this stage, before the project gets underway, that you reach an understanding with the person, or persons delegated to about how you are going to monitor and check their performance on the project. If you do not breach this topic with your delegates then when you do begin to monitor the situation they might find it interfering or meddling.
- Monitoring and checking results.
This is a very important part of delegation, even though you yourself are not now working on the project at hand it is essential that you take an active interest in how things are going. As was said before it is as much you on the line as it is your delegates, so it is vital that you are fully aware of what is happening and are there on hand to correct any mistakes. If something does go wrong in the project make sure that you understand what went wrong and why it happened, so you will be able to rectify the problem and hopefully stop it from reoccurring.
When your team or delegate has finished the job successfully make sure to let them know that they have done a good job and that their efforts are appreciated. It can sometimes be the case that a manager will take the credit for work done through delegation and whilst you are entitled to credit you should remember that this should include your delegates also.
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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on April 3rd, 2009 | No Comments »
Delegation is about letting employees make decisions and work on their own initiative. To be successful, employees must have the resources to complete a delegated task. This may mean providing training, tools and support.
Managers can delegate authority however they cannot delegate responsibility, this is important. Although an employee is responsible for meeting deadlines, goals and objectives, the Manager is still ultimately responsible for the success of the delegated task.
DELEGATION BENEFITS
- Employees may do a better job when they feel personally accountable, even though responsibility ultimately rests with the individual who made the delegation.
- Delegation can make an employee’s work more varied and therefore motivate the employee.
- Managers have more time to innovate and plan.
- When delegation involves training and mentoring, the organisation will benefit from a more highly skilled workforce.
- Employees will learn to be better decision makers given more responsibility.
DELEGATION DRAWBACKS
- Managers may lack the knowledge or motivation to delegate.
- Managers may choose the wrong tasks to delegate.
- Managers may not communicate the task effectively, providing inadequate direction.
- Some managers get stuck in the belief that “if you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself.”
- Managers may:
- Lack trust in their employees
- Fear being seen as lazy
- Be reluctant to take risks
- Fear competition
Any of the above may result in incomplete or incorrectly completed tasks.
The manager is ultimately responsible for delegation and must take responsibility for:
- Delegating the wrong task
- Delegating to the wrong person
- Not providing proper guidance.
The employee is ultimately responsible for:
- Doing the task incorrectly when given adequate resources, guidance or training.
See our Delegation Skills training course if you are looking to improve the way you delegate.
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Posted by Heather Buckley in Management Skills Training on January 16th, 2008 | No Comments »
