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You can never be effective in life if you can't delegate. Sounds a little strong, right? But you really can't do it all, and if you do try, you will end up being a very stressed person. Whether you manage other people or work for others, it is important to be able to delegate things to others. "But I don't have the power to delegate" you wail. Well, maybe. But you do have the power to delegate informally. You can't tell people what to do, but you can ask for their cooperation. Every time you are asked to coordinate a project you are actually delegating when you get other people to do the work for you. Here are some tips to help every one delegate more effectively, both at work and at home. Communicate the results you want, not the details of exactly how to do it. Everyone will approach something a little differently. And that's good! Tell them that you want the information on your desk by Wednesday next week at noon and let them figure out how they want to do it. Sure, you can make some helpful suggestions and be a resource, but refrain from detailing each step in the process. Don't take the monkey back. When someone encounters a problem with something, do they often come running to you for answers and therefore put the task you delegated back on you? Sure, it's ego inflating to have people ask for your advice, but all it does is make more work for you. Avoid taking the problem or "monkey" onto your back. Teach them to solve problems themselves. Turn questions around. When someone comes to you with a problem (often an attempt to get you to take on the problem yourself) first ask him for possible solutions. Lead them through the problem solving process and help them to find the answer themselves. This is a great coaching technique that will help develop all the people you come in contact with. Establish specific objectives for the delegation. People will feel more comfortable acting on their own if they know what the final objective is. Ask questions to make sure the person understands specifically what is to be accomplished. This also works well at home with children! Establish specific reporting times. Be cautious about just "dumping" the project. You need to have some idea of how things are going before you are presented with the final project. It's often too late at that point to change anything you don't like. Instead, schedule definite reporting times at points in the delegation. Keep track of your delegations. One system that I find helpful is to mark on my daily calendar when the each reporting session is due. I also have a delegation log where I note the exact task, the duties assigned, the reporting dates and when it is due. Delegate the right things to the right people. As you know, different people have different abilities and not everyone is good at the same things. Carefully consider which projects each person can handle. Don't give a person a projects with lots of numbers and figures, for instance, if they are not good with details. |
