Delegation of work: a skill that is a must, yet few people do it properly

Delegation of work is handing over work to subordinates or colleagues. It sounds a trivial matter needing no explanation as everyone (and especially managers) surely know perfectly well what it means. Yet the opposite is true: not many people know how to delegate work effectively. So many managers unnecessarily create problems and inefficiencies for their team by delegating work poorly. How to delegate work properly? Today's article will explain.

Illustration

Know the strengths and weaknesses of your subordinates

As Forbes states, the first important prerequisite for effective work delegation is knowing the strengths and weaknesses of individual subordinates, in what areas they want to develop further and what their priorities are. No one is a genius at everything. Your job as a manager is not only to help yourself through delegation, but also to help your subordinates develop.

Always set clear expectations

Some managers delegate work to subordinates with a clear idea of what the outcome should look like. However, they often mistakenly assume the employees to whom they are handing over the task have the same vision, so it doesn't occur to them to explain any expectations in detail. When handing over tasks, you should always make it clear what the priorities are and what the main outcome of the task should be.

Expect workers to perform tasks on their own

When delegating work, you must be able to suppress your ego. If you always ask subordinates to do exactly what you would do and fail to give them any room for their own initiative, you will not only harm their personal development, but the quality of the result will also suffer. Accept that, as well as the task itself, you are also handing over to subordinates some responsibility for how they approach it and how they achieve the desired result.

Give subordinates feedback and praise them when they get something right

A major problem with many managers is the fact they delegate a task, receive the results from subordinates, and there it ends. However, in order for the whole process of delegating work to improve over time, it is necessary manager and subordinates talk to one another afterwards. Give subordinates feedback on their work. And if they do something exceptional, be sure to praise them sufficiently.

 

-mm-

Article source Forbes.com - prestigious American business magazine and website
Read more articles from Forbes.com