Effective Delegation

Delegation is one of those skills that is much talked of, but seldom practised well. We all know the theory but, in practice, how does it really work?Delegation is a critical part of any manager's time management skills. If you don't do it, you will always end up doing things that others should do and you will always be running to catch up.To be able to delegate you need people to delegate to and you need people with sufficient skills and knowledge to carry out the tasks that you need of them. In turn this means some coaching may have to take place*.If you always do it yourself - you always WILL do it yourself. People become demotivated as nointeresting or new tasks come their way and your best people move on to bigger and better things leaving you with those people who are satisfied with a mundane existence. If there is little creativity or innovative thought in your department what will happen?*See Coaching & Developing Staff - Book 4 in the Managing People series Delegation is not abdication - nor is it merely dishing out tasks. A good delegater ensures that the person Effective Delegation 4 being asked to carry out the job is competent,understands the bigger picture and has the authority to make any decisions required to achieve the desired outcome. So how do you hone your delegation skills?