How to Delegate

Steps

1. Choose a candidate to delegate the job to. Choose wisely - the job was yours to begin with, and the way it's completed will reflect on you. If you choose well and the job is done on time and under budget, you will be the hero. If you choose poorly and the job is late, or shoddily done, you will be in the doghouse.
2. Tell your candidate why you choose him or her for the project. Explain why the job is a good match for him or her.
3. Explain the benefit to your delegate. Tell them what they can learn, what kind of exposure it offers, and what doors it can open.
4. Describe the photo finish. Let them know what a perfect outcome looks like. Be specific in describing what you want.
5. Give a clear deadline. Tell them when the job needs to be completed. Give them benchmarks for longer projects ("by this date, we need to have completed X, and by the next date, we need to have completed Y").
6. Make help available. Let them know what resources are available to help them complete the task.
7. Create a chain of command. Tell them how much authority they have, and when they need to consult you. Be sure the lines are clearly drawn.
8. Confirm understanding. Make sure all of your instructions were clear.
9. Arrange communication details. Set specific times for checking in with each other. If there's any lag in the first or second check-in, be sure to correct it immediately. The last thing you need is to have the VP waiting on a status report that ends up being four hours late because your delegate "forgot" (or dodged you when s/he got behind).
10. Implement backup plans and stand ready to jump in if things go wrong. Know what will happen if a benchmark or deadline is missed. Things come up all the time - we're all only human, and technology fails sometimes. Let your delegate trust in the fact that, if something comes up, you will understand and help him or her to meet that deadline - don't just throw them under the bus at the first whiff of trouble. If your delegate fears that s/he will be blamed, far more time will be spent in covering his or her own rear than in actually completing the task.
11. Recognize your helper when it counts. Do not fail to recognize the efforts of others on your behalf. Delegating tasks to someone else is necessary if you are to take on more and more responsibility. It becomes impossible if you delegate the task, your helper works hard, and then you take all the credit. Promising exposure and a higher profile with upper management only works one time if you fail to deliver.
12. Conduct the follow-up. Be sure every detail of the task was completed perfectly. When the task is finished, congratulate your delegate, and yourself - you've just created an excellent right-hand man (or woman) whom you can lean on when things get hairy.

Tips

• Think of delegation as a tool to develop your employees. That way, if it seems to take longer than doing it yourself, you know that it was time invested, not wasted.
• Delegating also frees you to take on more projects. In this way, you show your supervisors that (A) you can handle a lot more than the average Joe, and (B) you can effectively manage others. In other words, now you look like management material!
• Create a delegation wish-list of everything you would like to get off your plate and on to someone else's. Don't edit anything in your wish list. Get it all out there on paper and decide later what is and isn't workable. You'll be amazed at how many things you are doing yourself that someone could help you with.

Warnings

• Don't dump unpleasant tasks and pretend you're doing them a favor. If there isn't a genuine benefit to them, don't pretend there is. This is best done after completing one or more tasks as a team. It will allow you to be able to honestly say, "Walt, this is a crap job, but I really need your help," or "I promise that if there's any positive credit to be taken from this, I'll make sure you get it, Laurie. I know it's not a great assignment, but it needs to get done, and I know I can trust you to do it." There are any number of unpleasant, thankless jobs that need to be done; the way to get them done is to make sure that when the plum assignments are available, you don't forget your good right hand person.
• Don't assume any understanding. Be specific about everything.
• Don't skip the follow-up.

Sources and Citations

• http://www.speakstrong.com/Howtodelegatework.html

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