How to overcome your reluctance to delegate
Even though there are very good reasons for delegating, there is sound evidence to suggest that delegation does not occur as often as it should. And why not? Because managers talk themselves out of it. In fact, they are capable of citing a whole array of ‘reasons’ why they are reluctant to delegate; but all such reasons can be discredited. If you are to be an effective manager, you simply must delegate. You must...
1. Find the time to delegate.
If you refuse to delegate because you are ‘too busy to delegate’, ‘the project is too complicated to explain to someone else’, you ‘don’t have the time to train someone’, or ‘the process takes too long’, not only do you have a delegation problem, but you have a time-management problem as well. Remember, skilful delegation saves time.
2. Admit that others can do it as well as you can.
The perfectionist thinks ‘no one can do the job as well as I can’. If you think you can do the job better yourself and therefore do it yourself, then you’ll find yourself doing all the work in future: nobody else has learned how to! In the long run, your ability and energy can hinder delegation and the development of your staff.
3. Accept that others might make mistakes.
So you think your subordinates might make a mess of the job? Everyone makes mistakes. Your staff must be allowed to also, and the cost must be regarded as a staff development expense. Through skills development training, counselling, detailed instructions, and so on, you can avoid repeated mistakes without discouraging delegation.
