I CAN DO THAT TOO - WHY STAFF DELEGATION IS IMPORTANT

Delegating employees is one of the duties of a manager and can create many positive synergies, such as faster achievement of objectives, a strong team cohesion and high quality results. In order to guarantee these successes, employees and managers need to understand why we use delegation and which strings have to be pulled in the background.

During a coaching with a manager of a german industrial enterprise we heard about the worries that employees do not take care of responsibilities as he intended to. The issues were that the employee had completed the task differently than discussed, the instruction took too long or the employee had not informed the manager of any progress. These objections are understandable, but can be avoided with simple tips.

• At the beginning it must be mutually agreed between employees and managers what the intention is. This is the only way to ensure that it will be a success for both parties.
• For complex tasks and projects, a good delegation talk takes a little longer but the time should necessarily be taken. If a similar project appears in the future, the employee knows what to expect from the beginning. For a briefing it is also a good method to document how to work on some tasks or to create a guideline. They can be read and looked at if something similar has to be handled.
• As a manager you should set dates for feedback sessions and shoulder glances already at the beginning. If in the meantime, you have questions about the status of the project, talk to your staff. Communication is a key role in terms of delegation. It is important not constantly catching the employee but allow him some freedom in the processing, otherwise the positive effects of delegation will get lost.

Managers need to delegate to provide relief for themselves and to be able to focus on their management tasks. This simple principle leads to the fact that tasks are carried out by employees who are recognized experts in certain fields and the editing will be done particularly well qualified. Therefore, the manager should also take time to scrutinize the role of the employee and especially understand the tasks he is doing.

By delegating tasks, employees are simultaneously promoted and encouraged in their development. Relevant for both parties is a common definition of objectives and determination of feedback intervals, on one hand to inform the manager of the task's progress and on the other hand to have the opportunity for the employee to ask questions and make comments. In practice, a common mistake is that employees are quickly overwhelmed with challenging tasks. As a manager you need to get an overview of previous projects and tasks, skills and personality of the employee, because they grow with their duties. Compromises create dissatisfaction on both sides.

With successful delegation you automatically increase the commitment and motivation of your employees, because appreciation gets recognized.The  independent work and responsibility of a task leads them to their best work - with the manager as their “coach”at their side.

You need to remind yourself that there are tasks where delegation is inopportune and is part of the job of the manager. These are mainly management tasks, crisis management, particularly important decisions and personnel matters.

Delegation is one of the most important management tasks as a leader. A supervisor who does not sufficiently invest in clarity, definition of objectives and continuous coaching staff, has not yet fully understood their own job. And someone who delegates everything - even the "Decision making" should ask himself, if he is needed.