Delegation is more than hiring and managing people—it is guiding, inspiring, and
motivating them. The process is key because as business owners, managers, and
supervisors we can’t possibly be everywhere and doing everything all of the time.
However, many managers fear delegation because of the old adage, “If you want
something done right, you have to do it yourself.” Get over it.
When you get over it, you will find that effective use of delegation will motivate your
staff while increasing their self-confidence, and providing them with opportunities to
learn and grow through new experiences. By helping your staff with the opportunity to
succeed, it will ripple back to you by allowing you the time and energy to focus on the
bigger picture of having your company grow.
Delegation done right offers multiple areas of effectiveness. The effective use of
delegation can enhance the following:
 Motivate your staff while increasing their self-confidence,
 Provide staff with opportunities to learn and grow through new experiences,
 Allows assessment of your staff abilities while developing and training them.
 Allows you to use your time and talents where they can make the biggest
difference.
Key areas affected by delegation are:
 Stress
 Teamwork
 Train
Stress
One of the most crucial and challenging tasks many leaders frequently complain about is
that they have too much to do and too little time. Unchecked, this feeling leads to stress
and ineffectiveness. In many cases, executives could greatly reduce their stress by
practicing effective delegation.
2
Historically, delegation has been a vertical process with managers and supervisors
delegating to subordinates in a clearly defined hierarchical structure. However, today’s
successful businesses are emphasizing both horizontal and vertical delegation. The
horizontal delegation is considered to be collaboration.
With horizontal delegation (collaboration), managers and supervisors are delegating
lateral to other managers on the same hierarchical level. Delegation on both horizontal
and vertical levels can lead to more cohesive and powerful team structures.
Teamwork
With more emphasis on teamwork these days, the ability to influence and delegate to
others over whom you have no direct authority (horizontal delegation) is critical to team
success.
What I mean by that is with horizontal collaboration you have no authority over other
managers and supervisors because they are not your subordinates. Therefore, you must
establish a very good working relationship with your cohorts to have them be
stakeholders in the tasks and willing to accept what you delegate to them.
Simply put, the objective of delegation is not only to get the job done by someone else,
but also to develop and enhance competent team members. Through effective
delegating, leaders teach team members to:
 accept responsibility
 use critical thinking skills
 make sound decisions
 achieve desired results
To avoid lack of participation from team members, you must know your people’s
interests and capabilities. Never delegate tasks to someone that has no interest or
qualifications to perform the task well, that would be a setup for failure.
As a leader, you must assess staff. If you don’t understand your people’s strengths,
weaknesses, skills, and ambitions you will not be able to make effective matches
between tasks and people. Mismatches invite failure, and no one benefits from failure.
Train
Do not miss opportunities to train your staff by assuming they have too much work to
do and not delegate to them. That is a big mistake!
3
You should not be the person that decides what another person is capable of
accomplishing. Your goal should be to train them to replace you. Delegation is
grooming someone to take over some of your duties to free you to work on the big
picture.
Keep in mind that it t can be difficult to let go of familiar activities. In many cases, you
might be able to do a better job than others. However, by failing to delegate, you can
stymie the growth of employees and your own growth as an owner, manager or
supervisor.
Delegating well is a “win win” yielding motivating benefits