Effective Delegation

This is the "catch 22" dilemma of delegation. It is often easier and quicker to do it yourself rather than delegate a task properly - however if managers never delegate tasks they will end up doing everything and spend all their time fire fighting day to day problems and issues.  Managers have to accept that when delegating a task – there might be a short term loss but the aim is to get a longer term gain.

Very often managers do not delegate because they do not trust their staff to do it properly or they have been let down by their staff in the past. This course will look at how we can delegate in a way that ensures that we do get the results that we need. However managers do need to develop their staff and spend time coaching and helping them. But if the staff really cannot be trusted to do the job that is required, this must be treated as a performance issue (see the course “Dealing With Poor Performance”).  At the end of the day we have to give our staff work to do and then hold them accountable for completing it successfully. As a manager you cannot always be doing all the work and tidying up after your staff.

If there are not enough resources or the staff are too busy to have any more work given to them, there is not much that can be done. However, it then becomes an issue of priorities and productivity. In environments where there is too much work to do – not all the work can be done  (see the course “Time and workload Management”). Managers need to be very clear on the priorities of the team. Sometimes it is better to change the staff priorities and delegate some of the manager’s work. This will free up some management time to look at improving the procedures and processes i.e. looking at how “we can do more with less”. But at the end of the day if there is a lack of resources not everything will be done.

Some managers just do not want to delegate. (See the course “The Nature and Role of Management” for more details on this.) This can be for a variety of reasons e.g.:

• They like doing the task and want to carry on doing it.
• They are concerned that if they don’t do it then people will start asking “what do they do?”
• They often want to carry on doing the task because that is how they get their “Kudos” within the organisation.

However if they are not delegating tasks that they should be delegating, then they are not helping themselves, the organisation or their staff. The manager needs to focus on team performance and it is in the best interests of the organisation to be developing the skills of their team. If they are not doing this they are often making a rod for their own back and just creating more and more work for themselves, whilst also reducing the chances of their own career progression.  How can they move on if there is no one in their team capable of taking over from them?

Managers sometimes don’t delegate tasks because they are concerned about how the staff will react. However, management is not all about being best friends with your staff and winning a popularity contest. Sometimes we have to ask people to do things that they would rather not do. You have got to be careful that you don’t end up with the situation of “the tail wagging the dog” i.e. the staff telling the manager what they will do, and when, and to what standard.  When this happens the manager is no longer managing the team. (See the course “The Nature and Role of Management” for more details on this.)

Staff either tend to view delegation as a positive thing or they view it as a negative thing. There will always be boring mundane jobs that we need our staff to do, but perhaps the biggest factor in how staff perceive delegation is the way in which the manager has delegated the task. This course will look at this later on.  But, although not always possible, when delegating tasks, the manager needs as much as possible to find something in it for the staff member.  And do not judge other people by your own likes or dislikes – just because you find a particular task boring it does not mean that someone else will.

Managers who don’t delegate tend to spend all their time fire fighting and resolving day to day problems and issues. It is important that managers take responsibility for the team performance and have some time for considering the more strategic issues and looking at how the processes and procedures can be improved. (See the course “The Nature and Role of Management”.)

If managers don’t delegate they will always be doing everything and this is not sustainable.

By delegating effectively and using it as a coaching opportunity managers can use delegation to develop their staff and also ensure that there are potential successors in place.