Being a leader does not mean doing everything yourself. It doesn’t even mean that you need to be able to everything yourself. The best leaders are ones who recognize that they can’t do this and hire people who can do certain tasks – sometimes better than you as the leader could.
Learning how to delegate effectively is one of the best things you can do as a business leader. It will ensure that jobs are done properly and more efficiently. It will also free up your time to focus on more important things, like the big picture for your company, rather than the day-to-day running of projects and jobs.
- Recognize Why And When You Are Micromanaging
The most important step is to realize that you are not delegating and why. From this self-knowledge, you can start to redirect your efforts and get better at the practice of delegating. The most common reasons for not delegating include not trusting other people with the work, believing it will take too long to explain what to do, and simply not having the time to work out what to delegate and what to keep.
All of these can be addressed through a little bit of planning and training. You need to train yourself to work out which projects you should keep, and which ones can be handled by your employees. Then, you need to take the time to give them the resources and responsibility to run with the tasks. Once that is in place, delegation becomes a lot easier.
- Divide Tasks Responsibly
Not every single task should be delegated. As the boss, it’s important to ensure that you keep a handle on the highest priority tasks and the most sensitive ones. It’s also essential to give the rest of the tasks to the right people for the job. There’s no point in giving your accountant a task that includes marketing, and vice versa. Another consideration is time – who has enough time in their schedule to complete the tasks.
- Create A Process For Delegation
A project or task management system is a critical part of delegation. You need to be able to clearly provide instructions for the task, such as to visit this site, and be able to see what progress is being made. It will always be your job, as the boss, to ensure that tasks are being handled correctly once they’ve been delegated. This doesn’t mean watching every step, it just means having oversight to ensure things don’t slip through the cracks. A proper delegation process will help to make sure things run smoothly.
- Include Proper Training And Resources
In order to address the concerns about people not being able to do the job as well as you can, you need to give them what they need to get it done. This may take time to get right, but it’s an essential step. You need to provide any training necessary and access to all of the resources required to complete the task. You also need to give them the authority to run with the job and get it done.
