Delegation is an important aspect of entrepreneurship and even for managers and leaders. As an entrepreneur, manager or a leader you probably want to do everything yourself especially if things are not getting done. You want to make sure that each task will be completed according to your standards. This drive for perfection, efficiency or effectiveness is crucial if you want to succeed in the world of business. However, doing everything on your own can be counterproductive as one cannot do that and will eventually succumb and then the stress becomes completely counterproductive.
Delegation hence becomes crucial and sometimes critical. By “sharing” your tasks with others, you allow yourself to focus on what matters most for your business. You will then be able to prioritize and also get more things done for self, team and the organization. Whether you are good in delegating, just started delegating, finding it difficult to delegate or have never delegated, this article will provide you with some practical techniques that can be used as a catalyst for your desire to become effective in delegation.
Some strategies –
1. Know Your People
When delegating tasks, some leaders choose people randomly. This method is risky and ineffective. It would be best if you’ll select people based on their skills, knowledge, and experience. No, don’t hand off your tasks to the first available person you’ll see in the corridor.
Consistency is also important. By giving similar tasks to a single person, you will improve his effectiveness for those kinds of tasks.
Also, when we say know your people it is not just the perception that you currently carry about that person!!! In fact that can become your block!!! It is important to monitor, regularly talk to understand, know what motivates and demotivates an individual and we can get a step further in ‘knowing’ your people! It is never enough and hence it has to be journey of learning and knowing your people! When you know them well, you can predict behaviours and when you can predict, you can influence!!!!
2. Give Complete Instructions with Clarity
Have you heard to ‘Chinese whispers?’ the way you perceive information may not be perceived in that same way! Be aware and beware!!!rnGive complete details with clarity and it is always a great idea to clarify what is been understood and it’s important to summarize no matter how basic it sounds. If you won’t, they will have problems meeting your standards and at times even understanding. ‘Do it as soon as possible’ has no clarity for example. How you interpret can be different and hence clarify and confirm! Detailed instructions will help your employees in completing the tasks at hand. If there are deadlines or crucial subtasks, let your employees know.
With this technique, you can prevent misinformation and misunderstanding. You and your employees will be on the same page. Thus, you will minimize disappointments and chances of failure. It is definitely not worth doing damage control later and we might just spend time in blame game!!!
3. Let Your Tasks Go
The art of letting go, trusting others and allowing others to also take over is the key and can be the biggest challenge for some who cannot delegate!rnYour natural desire for perfection might be preventing you from delegating tasks. You probably think that you are the only person who can deliver the expected results. But this assumption is rarely true!!!!!
In most cases, other people can take care of a task for you. If you aren’t used to delegation, you may start with minor activities. This way, you and your people will learn the basics of delegation without jeopardizing the quality of work.
4. Prioritize Tasks
Choosing the tasks to delegate can be difficult. But you can simplify the process by prioritizing tasks. Divide tasks into four categories:
â “High Skill, High Effort” Tasksrnâ “High Skill, Low Effort” Tasksrnâ “Low Skill, High Effort” Tasksrnâ “Low Skill, Low Effort” Tasks
Obviously, it would be risky to delegate tasks that require high levels of skill and effort. You need to keep those tasks on your “plate”. However, assigning tasks that require low skills and high effort can save you time.rnAlso integrate this with ‘knowing your people’, their strengths, weakness etc. this will definitely help!!!
5. Trust Your People
Humans tackle problems in different ways. Your method is likely to be different from that of your employees. This statement is true even if you are working on the same tasks. That means you have to trust your employees regarding their capacity to complete the tasks you assigned. The specific techniques they use don’t really matter, as long as they follow your general instructions and produce (or even exceed) the expected output.rnHave you heard of the ‘Pygmalion effect’?rnThe work of Rosenthal and Jacobsen (1968), among others, shows that teacher expectations influence student performance. Positive expectations influence performance positively, and negative expectations influence performance negatively. Rosenthal and Jacobson originally described the phenomenon as the Pygmalion Effect.
“When we expect certain behaviours of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behaviour more likely to occur.” (Rosenthal and Babad, 1985)rnIf you start trusting people it would start creating wonders within you and your behaviour will create wonders in others!!!!rnDelegation without trusting is not only difficult but done in that way is also set for an inevitable failure!!!!!
rnConclusion
It is all about realization,
leadership, insights and now willingness to change, self and others. Use this awareness to make a humble beginning and you will witness the magic very soon.