Delegating Defined

If management can be defined as a set of skills for achieving results through people, then all levels of managers should delegate.

Delegate means trusting another person with the appropriate responsibility and authority to accomplish a specific task. It involves briefing another person to carry out a task for which the delegator holds individual responsibility, but which need to be carried out by him or her directly. The delegated task would be one that the delegate is not already paid to do, as part of his or her job.

Delegates should have positive aims, such as supporting employee development and should not simply seek to pass on unpopular tasks to others. It is important that the delegator has a clear understanding of both the purpose and process of the task that is delegated.

Delegating work, responsibility, and authority, is difficult in a company because it means letting others make decisions which involves spending the owner-manager’s money. At a minimum, you should delegate enough authority to get the work done, to allow assistants to take initiative and to keep the operation moving in your absence.

Click here to view a video on effective delegation.