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How many times do you find yourself taking work home in the evenings and on weekends? Do you feel as though you are under constant pressure, leaping from one task to another? Have the feeling of being overwhelmed, finding yourself too caught up in doing things to spend enough time on planning, organizing, directing and controlling?

If you have said yes to any of the above questions, you most likely agree with the following statements: “No one can do it as well as me; I’ll just do it myself.” “I’m too busy to stop to get organized.” “What good will it do?” “In a week it will be a mess again.”

Are you looking at the big picture or trying to do it all yourself? Let’s take a look at how your life could change by mastering correctly the art of delegation. In the next newsletter we will discuss how to implement the delegation process into procedures.

The Art of Delegation:

In the financial arena “OPM ”means using other peoples money. In the time savings it is called “OPE”, using other people’s effort, commonly known as DELEGATION.

Here is a six-step process to improve delegation:

Here is a general rule along with a few ground rules for effective delegation. Don't delegate what you can eliminate.

1. If you are thinking, “No one can do the job as well as I can”, if they can do it at 80% PASS IT ALONG. Critical issues may demand your personal attention, but everything isn’t critical. As stated by B. Eugene Griessman, he says in Time Tactics of Very Successful People: “You should do only that which only you can do!”  Some delegation is definitely better than no delegation at all. As the project comes back to you at 80%, edit with your personal notes and send it back for the next 10 to 20%. This leaves you with a smaller percentage to review and finalize.
2. Make sure you are selecting the right person to do the job.
1. If it's not important enough for you to do personally, it's probably not important enough for your people to do either. Respect their time and their ability.
2. Who is the best match in terms of skills and talent? Decide whether the person needs coaching. The time spent now will be well worth it in the long run. Invest in your employees.
3. Who needs to learn to do this job the most?
4. Will the job energize or drain the person selected? Make sure you are sharing the interesting work with your staff. Job fulfillment comes from being enriched and utilizing one’s talents. Don't restrict your delegation to the boring, mundane tasks –- mix up the interesting ones with the more challenging tasks.
5. Make sure you don't always delegate to the most capable people. Delegation is a great tool to developing others. Rotate delegation between to the most capable employees and the ones you are training. This will enforce an equalize team don’t let the strong get to strong, while the weak get weaker.
3. Clarify what needs to be done. Put it in writing avoids the “I don’t know syndrome.”
4. Verify that it is clearly understood of what needs to be done.  Ask who will work on the task to “mirror” your instructions.  Not taking this seriously is a form of managerial incompetence.  It isn’t about handing off your assignment and then disappearing. It has to be thought out organized and planned. Follow up with plan, do and check.  Allow your team the flexibility to manage the task or project, you team may find a more effective way.
5. Set a completion date. Get an agreement on the completion date. Have a system in place for follow-up. Refer to our Go System workshop.
6. Reward Success as unwillingness to delegate will cost you effectiveness. General George Patton said it best: “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

I look forward to hearing about any great strides that took place after you have delegated.

Productively,
Karen T. Cynowa

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