DELEGATING EFFECTIVELY. Getting The Job Done Right Without Doing It Yourself

DELEGATING EFFECTIVELY
Getting The Job Done Right Without Doing It Yourself

If you are in a position of authority on your job, or even if you?re a parent, chances are you need to delegate tasks to others around you. If you are too vague when you delegate, you cause your staff to be unsure as to what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. This lack of direction and unclear objectives causes frequent interruptions to you for questions and clarifications, as well as wasted time and efforts. The factors that must be present for effective delegating are as follows:

Purpose
Importance
Parameters
Deadline
Authority

When delegating, it is crucial that you be specific. Define the project, the purpose of the project, its importance, any deadlines involved and the scope of the staff?s responsibility/authority in the project. The more clear and detailed information you provide, the better result you can expect.

Suppose you?re planning a company event and you want to have fresh, locally grown flowers on each dining table. If you say to your assistant, ?Get me some information on flowers?, she may get back to you in four days with 20 pages of growing information on 50 different types of flowers. Although she spent valuable time and effort on this assignment, the information wouldn?t be helpful in planning your event, would it? Your unclear communication just wasted a whole lot of company time and you?re no closer to having the information you wanted.

Now suppose you said, ?I?d like you to find three types of flowers grown locally, which can be delivered for our meeting on September 7th. It?s very important that this part of the event be right, as we are entertaining the company?s top executives. I?ll need 27 centerpieces and the budget is $1000. Order nine arrangements of each type of flower if it fits into the $1000 budget and let me know by the end of the day tomorrow where we stand.? Your assistant now has specific guidelines and can more effectively complete her task, reducing the likelihood of doing the wrong work or wasting time coming to you with questions or asking for clarification.

She knew the purpose of the assignment (flowers for meeting on September 7th), she knew the importance (you said it was a very important part of the event) she knew the specific parameters involved (locally grown, three different types, 27 tables, $1000 budget) she knew the deadline (report back the status by the end of tomorrow), and she knew she had the authority to order the flowers provided that the cost fit into the $1000 budget. By being clear and specific up front, you gave her everything she needed to successfully complete the assignment the first time through. The result was a double win because you got the task handled effectively, and she got the opportunity to succeed wildly. When communication is clear and your staff succeeds, the job gets done right and everyone benefits.