Are you Delegating or Dumping your work?
For all new managers, the whole notion of delegation can be a little daunting; it sounds easy enough, but in practice, all too often delegation turns into simply dumping a task on an unsuspecting colleague. So, what is the difference and how can we ensure that those charged with managing our teams, whether in sales, production marketing etc. are doing the former expertly and not the latter?
One of the first things you will learn as a new manager is that your boss is going to give you jobs and you can be sure that they are going to give you ‘loads’ of jobs! Rule number one is, don’t try and do all of them yourself or you run a high risk of being overwhelmed very quickly. This means that you need to be ready for them and have faith in those around you that when you in turn ask them to do something for you (or delegate that task) it is going to be done and executed to the standard required.
What to do when delegating a task:
- Ensure that they are happy to do the task you are giving them
When delegating a task to anyone, you are delegating the responsibility for that task to the individual, however, they will not perform the task to a high standard if they feel it is something they shouldn't have to do, or they do not want to do it.
- Review how the individual does with the task
By careful monitoring of the task (not interfering) to each person you delegate to, then you will also have a great opportunity to assess their current capabilities. By watching how they do with the job you have given them you can assess and decide on any future issues concerning their personal and professional development as a result of how they perform the task.
- Consider how you feel when being delegated a task
When you are delegating a task to someone else it’s always useful to consider how tasks are delegated to you and decide whether you are happy with that process. If you are then you can be sure that your boss has probably done a decent job of delegating to you, ensuring that you understand the task at hand.
How can we help?
At Maguire Training, not only do we offer classroom-based courses and programmes, but we are also proud to offer a versatile and intuitive suite of over 190 eLearning modules on our website, which covers a range of management. Including our Delegation & Empowerment Training Course, where delegates experienced and new will learn the professionalism of delegation.
Contact us
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in contact with us:
Phone: 0333 5777 144
Email: info@maguiretraining.co.uk
Or, simply fill in the ‘Contact Us’ form on any page of our website.
