Definition: The assignment to others of the authority for particular functions,
tasks and decisions
It's easy to talk about delegation, but it's not so easy to do.
And it's a critical decision, mainly because some tasks should be
handled only by you but others, which take up your valuable time,
can easily be handled by someone else.
What shouldn't you delegate? There's no rule of thumb; let your
instincts guide you. You probably wouldn't want to delegate deiding
what products your company will offer next year, but you might
decide to delegate conducting a customer survey regarding
improvements they'd like to see in your products. Either way, a
building block for effective delegation is knowing what tasks are
yours and yours alone.
The next step is to determine the results you want to achieve.
That doesn't mean telling employees to make some phone calls about
past-due invoices. That's too vague. Be specific. A more defined
goal might be to get customers with past-due bills to agree to a
set payment schedule. Knowing the results you want is your job, not
the job of employees to whom you delegate.
Next you must decide which person is right for the task. A
salesperson might not be the right person to make collection calls,
but perhaps your bookkeeper is. Either way, match skills and
personality to the task--that will maximize productivity.
The next step is to decide what controls and checkpoints you'll
put on the person to whom you're delegating. How often will the
person report back to you? Under what circumstances should he or
she shout for help? Be very specific about these details because
that will make delegation work smoothly, both for you and your
employees.
Next, motivate the person to whom you're delegating. If you're
handing off important work, you want your subordinate to be fired
up to get results. If the employee is there to learn, present the
task as a development opportunity. If visibility is important to
the employee, present it that way.
The last step is accountability. A common mistake among bosses
is expecting the employee to fail--and readily taking the task back
to handle yourself. Don't! That's a quick way to undermine employee
effectiveness and guarantee employees will never develop in the
ways you need them to if your business is to reach its
potential.