Unlike empowerment, with delegation, responsibility can be passed on but accountability for ensuring the work is done stays with the person who delegated the task.
Delegation is one of the most important management skills, for two important reasons:
- To free up some of your time for more important aspects of your role
- To develop your own people in readiness for their next job role
Delegation isn’t just a matter of telling someone else what to do, delegation is not simply offloading work. When delegating, consider the nature of work and the importance. Consider who has the right skillset for the delegated task – play to the strengths within your team.
Try to where possible, to delegate to a range of people, providing they have the right skillsets and take into account individuals personal workloads.
Let’s look beyond simply passing work on to someone else, but first understand what has to happen.
Who is best suited for the task? Who has the right skillset and what is the benefit to them?
Are there additional training needs? Even when you feel that you know who to delegate to, do they need any additional training initially?
Explain the rationale. Why are you delegating the work?
What needs doing? What has to happen? How should this be done? How will this be measured?
Time issues. Does the person have the time capacity? If so, then agree timescales
Provide support as needed but don’t interfere. Make yourself available as needed, build in reviews if applicable, but once delegated…Don’t interfere!
Provide feedback. Let the person know how they are doing and finally the results of the end outcomes.
Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority,
and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided
upon is being carried out.
Ronald Reagan