As most of you already know, one of the surest way to win some time back is to delegate. However, delegating is nothing if you don’t do it right. You must delegate the right things and delegate things right! According to most, delegation is one of the hardest things to master.
Depending on your style or personal strengths, you may be tempted to delegate a little or lot, or perhaps delegate mostly a specific type of tasks. In reality, although your personal style, likes and dislikes are there to deal with, you should be most concerned with the task in itself:
- What is the timeline – if I delegate the task, will I have enough time to redo it, if required?
- What would be the consequences of not delivering on time?
- And what if I have to deliver below quality standards?
From the moment you decide to delegate, you have to deal with the results. Hard to do? Sure, it takes some skill and finesse, however not so complicated if you follow these 3 simple rules:
1. To whom?
Different motivations may be driving your decision:
- Gaining time – in delegating tasks to someone who can do the task in parallel or in less time will improve your productivity level
- Gaining profit – in doing the task at a reduced cost or by re-orienting your time to other tasks with higher return on investment, you are increasing your profitability
- Helping others – in providing opportunities for your employees or collaborators to develop skills they are looking to improve upon (by enabling them to take on certain mandates under your wing / supervision) is an excellent way to “pay it forward”. You will develop long term and mutually beneficial business relationships you can feel good about.
2. How?
When delegating, always remember that you are providing a new goal to your employee or collaborator, so think SMART!
Specific : The task must be specific in nature and clearly established. Sometimes the term « Simple » is also used;
Measurable : Numerical target, recognized by collaborators ;
Attainable : The goal must be realistic and under the collaborator’s influence and must be re-evaluated when the context changes ;
Relevant : The goal must be directly linked to the collaborator’s activities
Time-bound : Must be defined in time, with an end date and eventually a certain number of milestones.
3. Follow-ups:
Follow-ups are also a very key aspects of delegation which will vary from case to case, depending on each person’s personality type, the established level of confidence, expertise, etc
Although some may be tempted to forgo follow-ups, at least some level of follow-up, control or measure is required, which is where key performance indicators come in; a SMART acronym also exists, specific to thi:
- Significant, meaningful
- Measurable;
- Actionable (responsable person must have influence over the indicator);
- Have a Responsable of the indicator ;
- Time-bound.
Also note that there exists a version of SMART called SMARTER:
- SMART +
- Evaluate;
- Reevaluate.
4. Fully accept the consequences
Finally, once you have decided to delegate, you must ensure you do it well, as you remain fully responsible for the results and the way in which you decided to accomplish them.
I am convinced that if you put into practice these few tips, you will learn to grow your application and appreciation of the beautiful art of delegation!
Geneviève Carle PMP MBA is President of CGC services and Partner at the Groupe Conseil Larouche et Associés. She helps people succeed through focus on improving productivity and effectiveness.
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