Time to Delegate
by Dera DeRoche-Jolet

Do you still feel that 24 hours is just not enough time in the day? Then let me ask you a question: When you want something done do you always do it yourself?

If you believe that you must do everything yourself and your own way to have it done right you are wasting valuable time. If you hope to control your time, you have to get rid of that type of thinking. Here’s the problem: if you insist on doing everything yourself, then your job, and even your personal life, will be stuck in the same place.

To make matters worse, your employees or co-workers will become bored, since you're not giving them anything new or challenging. You’ll wind up looking like an easy boss who does all the work and you’ll have a reputation as a poor manager.

Let’s face it. Many managers don’t know how to delegate effectively. Some admit that they fear delegating important jobs because they are afraid of competition from those who work for them. In the end, those fears will seem insignificant compared to being able to take back control of your life and time.

The secret to delegating is to focus on the people and not the work. Show them that you want them to succeed. Take the time to learn about the people you work with and develop a closeness and team spirit. Not only will your business become more manageable, so will your time.

When you do delegate an assignment, make sure you cover all bases otherwise both of you will fail.

Be Specific. The person should know exactly what you want done. You may know what you want and because you’ve done it so many times before it may seem a simple task, but don’t forget, it’s new to them.

Give them a Vision. Let them see that what they are doing is important. Explain how the task fits in to a larger view for the department and the company.

Make them Responsible. Give them the scope and limits of the responsibility, so they know how far they may go.

Give them the Authority. Make sure you also give them some authority. Many people say that it is being given responsibility for a job without the authority to get it done properly that is most frustrating. Set things up in the company, so your delegates are recognized by everyone in the office as having the power and not merely your "servants."

Don’t do it for them. By taking the time to teach a task once, they will know how to do it the next time and you won’t have to do it. Don’t solve their problems either. Ask them for possible solutions and discuss it together.

Don’t Dictate. Don’t tell them exactly how to do the job. Let them be creative. Share information, background material and considerations with them, of course, and be available for questions.

Walk Don’t Run. Remember that you don’t have to delegate the whole project at once. Outline the project and ask your delegate to report when the first step has been finished. Then you can evaluate what they have done so far and have them proceed if there are no problems.

Listen. After you have given an assignment, listen carefully to what your employee says. Watch out for uncertainty. Investigate while it is still manageable so you can catch any problems before they arise.

Communicate. Make sure you are understood. If there is miscommunication, all the time spent doing the task is wasted. It’s a lot better if you take the time to be understood the first time, even if you have to go over it more than once.

Evaluate. Make sure that delegates know that you keep track of what you have given them and that the jobs are not just busy work. After a job is completed, take time to evaluate the work. Keep it private especially if you need to criticize. If you are going to praise them you can do that in front of the rest of the company as well as in private.

Still not sure if you should delegate? Try this. Ask employees how they would handle a certain situation if problems arise. Their answers will tell you how knowledgeable they are in those areas and should give you more confidence in their abilities.

Finally, keep everything in perspective. People die every day and the world still turns. You are important but not indispensable. Take the time to delegate and you just might find yourself with time to smell the flowers.