How do I delegate effectively?

Learn how to delegate effectively to your employees and staff members.

Tutorial

Learning to delegate is one of the most difficult tasks for most managers. Most managers are employees who performed well in their jobs because they liked to control their tasks and responsibilities. As they move up the corporate ladder, employees find their time is limited but its still difficult to delegate. Who can do a better job than them?

As a manager, this was one of the more difficult things for me to do. I had a hard time giving up tasks that I thought "it's just easier and faster to do this myself." As my responsibilities began to add up, it was increasingly difficult for me to be able to accomplish everything and still be able to return home at a decent hour! I began to delegate certain tasks and projects which helped me accomplish everything I needed to and be successful as a manager.

Find Someone You Trust

Start the process by identifying the employees you trust. This can be based on personal relationships and by the quality of the work the employee is doing in their day job. This will help you identify the individuals you feel comfortable delegating to. You may be required to delegate to everyone at some point in time, but identifying the employees who do the best job will help you as to who you delegate the important jobs to.

Start Small

Start small! Delegate small tasks to employees to test how they handle those activities. If they are successful, gradually increase the tasks you assign them and keep track of their results.

I knew I had done a good job delegating when I could travel or go on vacation and not receive any phone calls (or at least not too many!). You find no matter how deeply involved you are now, delegating really helps free up some time and improve the quality of your work and your team.