A Leader’s Guide to Effective Delegation
It would not be difficult to find several people defining delegation as shifting stuff you don’t want to do to other people. And in some cases that may be true, however, there is so much more to delegation when it is done effectively. The act of delegation is an act of leadership when done correctly. There are many pieces to how to assign work to other people and ensure you continue to get the results you desire.When you look at delegating as something more than just pushing work to another person, you can find that multiple positive outcomes come from this skill. Let’s take a look at some of the steps you can take when honing your delegation abilities.
It still starts with planning
As is the case with many other leadership skills, delegation begins with an effective planning process. You need to scan the horizon for what is upcoming and start to determine the resources you will need to complete this tasks. This is where you can match skills to projects, including for yourself.
What purpose does this task serve?
Evaluate the purpose and outcome of each task - does this work even need to be done? As you are reviewing the work that is assigned and planning how and when it will be completed, ask the question about ‘why you are doing this?’ Not everything that doesn’t have a clear purpose can be eliminated, but you may be surprised to find some old practices that have continued merely by habit. Consider which of those should be removed from everyone’s plate.
Manage the time
Schedule the time it will take to assign and potential train others to complete the tasks that you are delegating. If you build in this time from a planning perspective, it will eliminate the excuse of not having enough time to show others how to do something. Think of it as an investment the first time, one that will pay multiple dividends in the future as you expand the capabilities of the team around you.
Enjoy the benefits
How nice would it be to get work completed twice as fast or achieving twice as much in the same period of time? Depending on how large your team is, the multiples only increase. Consider your store activities for a moment - pricing needs to occur, products must go to the shelf, planograms have to be set - all of those require people to complete them. You cannot do them all yourself, certainly not efficiently or effectively, having your team able to work on those areas frees you up to plan the next steps, identify ways to increase business, or work on developing the team to the next level.
More than just assigning work
There is something that is far greater than can come from effectively delegating work to others. In a word - development. The real benefit of effective delegation comes from developing others in the process. The initial benefit as noted above may be that you can get more work completed in the same period of time, but there is a long-term outcome that stems from effective delegation. Not only did the work get done, but now more people are capable of doing that work again in the future. You are setting them up for more assignments, growth, and self-confidence. This doesn’t even take into consideration the fact that all of those generate engagement with those associates. They become capable as well as willing.There are steps you can take to ensure you get more work done and through other people. The benefits are numerous, albeit not always evident at first. Take time to refine your processes and the skills to identify the work that is best suited for yourself and that for others. Effectively delegating will establish you as someone who gets things done and cultivates a culture of learning and engagement.How will you change how you are delegating today? Share your thoughts in the comments section.Join other retail leaders in continuing their development journey with Effective Retail Leader.com. SUBSCRIBE today to receive leadership tips directly to your inbox and monthly newsletters that provide many tools to help further develop your leadership skills. JOIN NOW!No spam ever - just leadership goodness.