Many of my management skills participants tell me that delegating effectively is one of the biggest problems for them. Delegation is a wonderful tool to improve motivation, take some stress away and improve employee skill sets.  There are two types of delegation. Delegating  Task Assignments and Delegating for Development. One mistake is that mangers often “dump” instead of delegate. Delegating a task or assignment effectively to another creates a partnership. Just as you trust the person will do a good job… they trust that you have given them all the information they need to be successful on the assignment.  No matter what type of delegating you are doing follow up is a critical step in ensuring the work is being done correctly.

Here are five tips to Delegate Effectively:

  1. Selection of the Delegatee- does the person have the right skill sets? Don’t delegate based on  “Potential” or “Enthusiasm.” Identify the right person.
  2. Clearly identify the outcomes and end deliverable. If you are not crystal clear on what the end product should look like… the delegatee won’t know either.
  3.  Develop a Delegatee Checklist. This check list outlines all the elements of the assignment. Including workload issues,  resources needed, and deliverable specifics.
  4.  Authority. How much authority will the delegatee have? Do they need to check with you first before spending funds? Does the delegatee have authority to talk to other departments ( if so make sure you send an e-mail informing them of the project and to provide assistance to your delegatee.
  5.  Follow up. How and when will you follow up. Come up with a simple system so you can stay on track and catch problems early.

If you would like a Delegatee Check list with directions on how to use it.  E-mail me and put ” Check List” in the subject line.

For the Check list email me at: info@breaking-boundaries.com

Listen in to Today’s Inspiring Women for more information on delegation.