Are you delegating efficiently?

Jun 14th

“Climbing the corporate ladder requires you to hand over day-to-day tasks to others. But many people find this very difficult to do – or do it in a way that leaves everyone feeling unhappy and demotivated.”

I was asked recently by The Financial Times to comment on the knotty task of delegating efficiently. We discussed the most common problems in delegating, how to overcome a fear of letting go, how to delegate well, what tasks to delegate, and who actually gets the credit when you’ve delegated a task?

I think it’s important to create a sense of ownership and empowerment. The phrase we use at Stanton Marris is ‘freedom within a framework’. But don’t let go fully as that can be very demotivating. Monitor, but don’t meddle; follow up and offer support.

When deciding what to delegate, the question you always need to ask here is: ‘Can this task or decision be done or made by someone below me?’ If they have the knowledge or capability, then do it. Hang on to broad horizon things.

Read the full article The Careerist: Delegating efficiently

This article is filed under: delegating efficiently