Jojo Bejo

Delegation is the art of assigning people a job to be done and letting them perform it. The process can vary depending on the type of position from doing something in-house or turning over the task to an outside firm, but in either case, delegation opens up more time for the project lead.

There are four basic steps before delegating a task:

1. Carefully Define Job Requirements – Make sure you define the job to be done clearly and concisely. People should understand what is expected of them.
2. Assess Competency and Skill – You must know if the person you about to delegate a task to have:
   1. a. The knowledge, ability, skills needed in order to accomplish the job or project b. The skills that are most important for completing it successfully c. And the willingness to do it
3. Plan a Schedule – You will want to set time aside for this project, so be sure to get the schedule together in advance and keep up with it through completion.
4. Delegate to a Competent Person – Select a person you trust and who has the skills for the job. Give him or her plenty of time and support to complete the job.

Delegation can be done. For easy tasks, an informal memorandum may do the trick. However, any task that has some complexity or requires long-term follow-up should be documented formally. You could do this in a memo, but a formal delegation document is the best way to go.

Tip: The key to delegation is giving instructions that are clear. Discussing the goals of the task, why it is important, who will be affected and how they will be affected. It’s also a good idea to offer feedback on performance – which can be done positively. It might sound old-fashioned, but don’t forget to say please!

Delegation removes tasks from your list which you cannot do or not interested in taking on.

Why is delegation important?

• Delegation makes work easier for managers and leaders. Without delegation, leaders would have to do all their work by themselves which could lead to excessive workloads and stress.
• The success of an organisation depends on the quality of the decisions made by the leader. If the leader is good at delegating, then he could focus more on goals and objectives and long-term planning, while his team would deal with all other issues or problems that may arise.
• Delegation also enables a leader to give other people opportunities to learn and develop in the organisation.
• Delegation helps leaders to gain a sense of trust and confidence from their team members. As a result, they could have greater respect and power from their team members.
• Delegation makes leaders transparent and increases the efficiency of the functioning of the organisation.
• Delegation also decreases the stress that is felt by leaders because they no longer have to do everything themselves. This allows them to become less stressed and more active and productive in their jobs.
• Delegation allows leaders to focus more on the overall operations of the organisation rather than just focusing on small things that occur frequently.
• When leaders delegate tasks, they will become more productive and can be able to perform their own jobs better and more effectively. This is because they are less stressed, so they no longer have to work very hard just to do all the work by themselves. Now, they can put in greater effort into other aspects of the job such as planning, meeting with people and representing the organisation.