The Art of Delegating

There are few things that can sap profitability and efficiency from any office more than having the wrong people doing the wrong tasks. There is a fine art of learning how to cascade the work down to the least expensive, competent level in order to increase productivity and profitability. It also makes life easier so much easier. The intangible effects of poor delegation can and does also directly impact the bottom line. Learning to delegate is skill which is critically important in order to develop and maintain efficiently run offices and companies. Very similar to many other organizing skills, delegating is a process that involves setting goals, careful planning, and follow-up. In order to delegate well, we need to change the way we think and go about when asking other people to participate in the tasks at hand. Delegating means sharing the work load, but it can also mean sharing the satisfaction that comes from accomplishing something. There can be, of course, obstacles outside of your control that may preclude all efforts to delegate: Staff and Management deficiencies, the “I can do it better and faster” attitude, and adversity to risk. One must re-evaluate, when faced with one of these situations, the personal bias involved and overcome it for their own good. In order to delegate effectively, one must be certain of the following: the person you are delegating to know and understands what you want and expect, they have the authority to achieve the task, and they have the knowledge and experience for the task. It is crucial that you do communicate clearly the nature of the task, the extent of their discretion and the sources available for relevant information and knowledge. Once you have overcome your obstacles, found the right person for the job… then what? You will need to monitor the tasks that you have delegated to ensure that they are being completed correctly and timely. You must know when to back away from competent people and when to intervene if things start to go wrong or take too long. Help yourself by taking time now and learn how to more effectively delegate. This will make your life and the lives of the people around you easier. Vivi Gonzalez is the owner of eProServices – Virtual Business Center….. offering the best in Virtual Assistance for all business types and sizes. www.eproservices.com  mailto:mail@eproservices.com