DON’T DO EVERYTHING: REASONS TO DELEGATE
Many of my clients find themselves frustrated because they often do operational work, yet they were hired to play a more strategic role.
Why do many of us end up operating one tier below our desired management level?
Managers who are supposed to focus on strategy are sucked into daily tasks and, rather than focus on management, they take over some of the technical responsibilities that someone else could be doing. This creates a lot of role ambiguity and, more often than not, the technical people are unsure of their role in the organisation. Evidently, ineffective delegation in the culprit of this role ambiguity. If you find yourself in this position, I’ve outlined some thought-provoking reasons, to inspire you to assign more day to day tasks to your team, and focus on the bigger picture that will make your organisation a powerhouse.
1. Delegation helps you to focus on what you can do as a manager. This means you are
now freed up to plan, strategise and network.
2. Delegation allows people who are better than you the opportunity to do what they do best. Being
a manager does not mean that you are the best at everything. Often you are managing people who
are more capable than you in certain areas. It’s important to allow them to function in these areas.
3. Delegation gives your team members the opportunity to shine before the rest of the organisation.
Often we mentor the people to whom we delegate. An important aspect of mentoring is
sponsorship. This is where you speak positive things about the accomplishments of your protégés. Delegating challenging tasks in which you know they will succeed, is such an opportunity.
4. Delegation is an opportunity to test the capability of your staff. Often you have seen the
individual’s CV and heard what they say about themselves. Delegation gives you
the opportunity to evaluate their current level of competence.
5. Delegation provides team members a more realistic view of their abilities. Often
enthusiastic, inexperienced employees want to be in a leadership position on day two of their
orientation process. Delegation of certain tasks early on in their careers gives them a taste of the challenges associated with higher levels of responsibility.
6. Lastly, delegation assists in job enrichment and ultimately, talent retention. It’s important to keep your star performers motivated and challenged. Giving them interesting assignments goes far in helping to retain them. One of the biggest needs people have in the workplace is the need to grow.
Delegation is a good source of this growth and when team members grow, they will likely stay.