To Delegate or not Delegate

“Just delegate it,” they say.  As if it was that easy.  What do I delegate?  Why should I delegate?  When should I delegate?  How should I delegate?  It seems like everyone has a handle on this but me.  Actually, most managers do not find this to be very easy to do.  and what many consider to be delegation, actually turns into micro-management.

Delegation involves entrusting another person with a task for which the delegator remains ultimately responsible.  Delegation can range from a major appointment, such as the leadership of a team developing a new product, to one of any number of smaller tasks like interviewing a job candidate.  Examining the overall structure of an organization will reveal a complex web of delegated authority, usually in the form of management chains, providing a mechanism for reporting and control.

Delegation takes time to organize and prioritize, but the costs of avoiding it are even higher.  The manager who does not delegate will not only seem disorganized, but will spend many hours each week completing low-priority tasks.  This can result in excessive hours worked by senior managers;  low morale among underemployed staff, basic processes slowed down by bottlenecks, poor quality of work, or missed deadlines.  Surely, you don’t want to be the one responsible for all this. Learn to delegate and get the monkey off your back.