Delegating Work !!


One way to manage your time more effectively is to delegate work to others on your staff or to contract workers you hire for specific projects. How often I hear such comments as, "It takes too much time to delegate." "If I delegate the work there is no guarantee that the work will be done properly. It is just easier to do it myself." "No one can do this as well as I can." If others who have a lower hourly rate can do the work while you focus on the work only you can do, your cash flow will be better because you can do more of the work that only you can do.

1. Be specific about what you want done. Be clear as to the purpose of the delegated work and what kind of results you expect. Take the time to answer the person's questions. This takes less time than redoing work.

2. Set a realistic deadline for the delegated work and make sure that this is workable for the person to whom you are delegating the work.

3. Give the person the information he/she will need and point them toward other resources he/she may use to complete the work

4. Be available for questions and require periodic progress reports.

5. If you are delegating because you have so much to do that you do not have time to give explicit instructions, be sure to delegate to a member of your team or a contract worker who can do the work with a minimum of direction. Perhaps they have done this job before or they have had experience with similar projects.

6. Once you delegate to someone who is well equipped to handle the task, allow the person space to be imaginative in his/her approach and to take the initiative to do something differently or do it in a bigger way (as long as you get the results you are looking for!).

7. If you want to use the delegation of the task (problem) as a way to develop a member of your staff or a contract worker, leave time in your schedule to provide enough detail as to how to go about getting the task done as is necessary for that particular person. (Developing a team member means eventually you will not have to give as much direction.)

8. Have a system to report back to you so that you get feedback without being constantly interrupted during your day. Have a list of critical dates so that you get the feedback regularly.

9. Keep a log of all the projects you delegate and their status. Update the log as you get feedback.

10. Give credit and praise for the successful completion of the task or solution of the problem.


Written by Alvah Parker

:SugarwareZ-064:
 

roshcrazy

MP Guru
How To Delegate: What Should You Do And What Should You Delegate?
Finally, A Simple Approach To Employee Management - One That Supervisors and Managers Can Use To Determine Who Does What...
By Anna Johnson

As a supervisor or manager, you're expected to decide what needs to be done, gather the resources to do it, and then decide who does what.

I know, I know - there's a bit more to managing than that... but it certainly does include setting goals, delegating tasks, and providing necessary resources.

However, if you're like many managers, sometimes it isn't obvious what work you should do, and what work your staff should do.

And of course, you may not be a "pure" manager in the sense that you undertake some of the "technical" work as well as supervise and manage people.

You might get behind the counter of your store occasionally... you might go out into the field and sell at times... you might liaise with clients... in fact, you might do a myriad of tasks that match those of your staff.

At the same time, you'll want to make the most of your time - and the time of the people who work for you - in order to generate optimal results from your team as a whole. This is the foundation for good employee management.

So how exactly do you decide who does what? How do you decide what you should do, and what your staff should do? Time to beef up your delegation skills!

Now, you're probably aware that just because someone likes doing a specific task, it doesn't mean they're necessarily good at it... so I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you allocate tasks based solely on what people like to do.

However, what you may not fully grasp, is that it's also a mistake to allocate work on the basis of whoever is "best" at that work.

You see, although a particular individual may be better at a certain task than someone else... they may generate even more value (however you measure it) by doing another task altogether.

I won't bore you with the theory, but according to the economic principle of comparative advantage, when allocating tasks within a group, you should get each person to do not what they're best at, but what they're "most best" at.

In other words, each team member should do the things that generate the most value for or from the group as a whole.

So, now its time to learn how to delegate. Let's say you run a consulting firm, where you do two things very well - you're an excellent manager and an outstanding consultant. In fact, you're better at managing and consulting than everyone you employ.

Now, given that you're the best consultant there is, you may be tempted to forego some of your management duties to spend more time consulting.

But before you do so... ask yourself: what is likely to generate the best overall value (as in revenues, profits or however else you measure value)? Is it focusing wholly on managing, or doing less managing and more consulting?

The answer is, of course, that it depends on what you're "most best" at.

If you're better at employee management than consulting - that is, for every hour you spend on people management you actually generate greater value than that generated from every hour spent consulting - then you should spend all your time managing. Irrespective of how much you enjoy consulting or that you're better at consulting than everyone else in your firm!

The principle of comparative advantage equally applies to allocating and delegating work among your staff members... and in fact, to non-staff members too, such as vendors, freelancers and contractors.

In fact, it applies to allocating every conceivable resource.

So next time you're confronted with the "do or delegate" question, apply this approach to employee management. You might be amazed at how much more time it gives you... as well as how much more productivity and performance it yields from both you and your staff.
 
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